Stan Leonard

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1 PGA Tour wins
2 Other Wins
3 References

Stan Leonard (February 2, 1915–December 15, 2005) was a Canadian professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1950s and 1960s.

Leonard was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He became a professional golfer in 1938, and played exclusively on the Canadian Tour until 1954. He won the Canadian PGA Championship 8 times from 1940–1961; he was the low Canadian in the Canadian Open 9 times from 1945–1961; he won the British Columbia Open 5 times, the Alberta Open 9 times, and the Saskatchewan Open twice. He won a total of six amateur and 40 professional tournaments in Canada over the course of his career – more than any other professional golfer in Canadian history.^[1]

Leonard joined the PGA Tour in 1954. He won 3 PGA Tour events between 1957 and 1960. He enjoyed a great deal of success in one major tournament – The Masters. His best finishes at Augusta National were T-4 in 1958 and 1959, T-8 in 1955 and T-9 in 1960. Leonard quit the Tour in the 1960s and took a club pro job at the Desert Island Golf Club in Palm Springs, California; however, he eventually made his way back home to Vancouver.

Leonard was one of the best ball strikers of his era despite being a diminutive 5' 6" in height. Part of his powerful swing could be attributed to his massive forearms. The other players noticed this physical feature and gave him the nickname Popeye .

Leonard was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1964, the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1966, and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1972. He died of heart failure in Vancouver at the age of 90.