Gene Sarazen

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Gene Sarazen (born Eugenio Saraceni) (February 27, 1902 – May 13, 1999) is one of the few golfers to win all the Major Championships in his career, the Career Grand Slam: U.S. Open in 1922, 1932, PGA Championship in 1922, 1923, 1933, British Open in 1932, and Masters in 1935

He was born in Harrison, New York and died in Naples, Florida.

The winner of 39 PGA Tournaments, Gene Sarazen was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. He was the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 1932, a charter member of the World Golf Hall of Fame (1974), and won the PGA Tour's first Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.

He played on six U.S. Ryder Cup teams: 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1935, and 1937.

Sarazen invented the modern sand wedge and debuted the club at the British Open in 1932. He called it the sand iron.

Sarazen hit "The shot heard 'round the world" in the 1935 Masters. It was a final round 225-yard 4-wood on the par-5 15th hole that went in, giving him a very rare double eagle 2 on the hole. It led to his later winning the tournament in a playoff over Craig Wood.

For many years after his retirement, Sarazen was a familiar figure as an honorary starter at the Masters. From 1981-1999, he joined Byron Nelson and Sam Snead in hitting a ceremonial tee shot before each Masters tournament. He also popularized the sport with his role as a commentator on the Wonderful World of Golf television show.

At the age of 71, Sarazan made a hole-in-one at the 1973 Open Championship.

In 1992, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.

Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest "Veteran Gene Sarazen/ Aims to play par again": (IPA pronunciation: ['sɑrəzɛn]). (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)

Contents

[edit] PGA Tour wins (39)

  • 1922 (3) Southern (Spring) Open, U.S. Open, PGA Championship
  • 1923 (1) PGA Championship
  • 1925 (1) Metropolitan Open
  • 1926 (1) Miami Open
  • 1927 (3) Long Island Open, Miami Open, Metropolitan PGA
  • 1928 (4) Miami Beach Open, Miami Open, Nassau Bahamas Open, Metropolitan PGA
  • 1929 (2) Miami Open, Miami Beach Open
  • 1930 (8) Miami Open, Agua Caliente Open, Florida West Coast Open, Concord Country Club Open, United States Pro Invitational, Western Open, Lannin Memorial Tournament, Middle Atlantic Open
  • 1931 (3) Florida West Coast Open, La Gorce Open, Lannin Memorial Tournament
  • 1932 (4) True Temper Open, Coral Gables Open Invitational, U.S. Open, British Open
  • 1933 (1) PGA Championship
  • 1935 (3) The Masters, Massachusetts Open, Long Island Open
  • 1937 (2) Florida West Coast Open, Chicago Open
  • 1938 (1) Lake Placid Open
  • 1941 (1) Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball (with Ben Hogan)

(missing one win)

Major championships are shown in bold.

[edit] Major Championships

[edit] Wins (7)

Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin of Victory Runners Up
1922 U.S. Open 4 shot deficit +8 (72-73-75-68=288) 1 stroke United States Bobby Jones
1922 PGA Championship N/A 4 & 3 4 strokes United States Emmet French
1923 PGA Championship (2) N/A 38th hole 1 stroke United States Walter Hagen
1932 U.S. Open (2) 1 shot deficit +6 (74-76-70-66=286) 3 strokes England Phil Perkins, Scotland Bobby Cruickshank
1932 The Open Championship 4 shot lead (70-69-70-74=283) 5 strokes United States Macdonald Smith
1933 PGA Championship (3) N/A 5 & 4 5 strokes United States Willie Goggin
1935 The Masters 3 shot deficit -6 (68-71-73-70=282) Playoff 1 United States Craig Wood

Note: PGA Championship was match play until 1958
1 Defeated Craig Wood in 36-hole playoff - Sarazen (144), Wood (149)

[edit] Results timeline

Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
The Masters NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF
U.S. Open T30 17 1 T16 T17 T5 T3 3 T6 T3
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP F? DNP DNP DNP 2 9
PGA Championship DNP T5 1 1 T9 T17 T9 T5 T3 T5
Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
The Masters NYF NYF NYF NYF DNP 1 3 T24 T13 5
U.S. Open T28 T4 1 T26 2 T6 T28 T10 10 T47
The Open Championship DNP T3 1 T3 T19 DNP T5 CUT DNP DNP
PGA Championship 2 T3 DNP 1 T9 T17 T33 T17 T5 T33
Tournament 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
The Masters T21 T19 T29 NT NT NT DNP T26 T23 T39
U.S. Open 2 T7 NT NT NT NT CUT T39 CUT CUT
The Open Championship NT NT NT NT NT NT DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship T5 T3 DNP NT DNP T17 DNP T9 T9 T33
Tournament 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
The Masters T10 T12 WD T36 T53 WD T49 CUT CUT CUT
U.S. Open T38 T35 T33 CUT WD DNP DNP CUT CUT DNP
The Open Championship DNP DNP T17 DNP T17 DNP WD DNP T16 DNP
PGA Championship DNP T17 DNP DNP DNP T17 T5 DNP CUT CUT
Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
The Masters CUT CUT WD 49 WD CUT CUT WD DNP CUT
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship WD DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976
The Masters CUT CUT CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT DNP DNP CUT DNP DNP WD
PGA Championship DNP CUT WD DNP DNP DNP DNP

NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
F? = Finish unknown
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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