Harry Cooper (golfer)
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| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | August 6, 1904 Leatherhead, England |
| Death | October 17, 2000 (age 96) White Plains, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality |  United States |
| College | None |
| Career | |
| Professional wins | 31 (PGA Tour: 31) |
| Best Results in Major Championships | |
| Masters | 2nd/T2: 1936, 1938 |
| U.S. Open | 2nd: 1927, 1936 |
| British Open | DNP |
| PGA Championship | T3: 1925 |
| Awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 1992 |
| Vardon Trophy | 1937 |
Harry E. Cooper (August 6, 1904 – October 17, 2000) was a prominent PGA Tour golfer of the 1920s and 1930s. He was born in the town of Leatherhead, England. His father was a professional golfer who had served as an apprentice to Old Tom Morris at St. Andrews. Cooper's family moved to Texas when Cooper was young, and his father took a job as a club professional in Dallas.
A perennial U.S. Open contender (with seven top-10 finishes and second place in 1927 and 1936), "Lighthorse Harry", as he was nicknamed, also placed second in the 1936 and 1938 Masters as well as reaching the semi-finals of the 1925 PGA Championship. In all, he finished 20 times in the top-10 at major championships.
In the 1936 U.S. Open at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, Cooper was involved in a highly controversial match with Tony Manero, who was suspected of cheating. Manero defeated Harry Cooper by two shots to win the tournament. In later years, Cooper would say that he had a mental hangup during major tournaments and couldn't picture himself in the winner's circle. His greatest successes were across the border, as he won the Canadian Open in 1932 and 1937. Cooper won 31 PGA Tour titles in all and the inaugural Vardon Trophy in 1937. Subsequently was active as a senior golfer, placing sixth in the 1955 Senior PGA Championship. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992.
Cooper was the golf professional at Glen Oak Country Club in Glen Ellyn, Illinois from 1930-1937 and at Northmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Illinois from 1941-1942. He piled up many other titles, including wins in the first three tournaments held on Medinah Country Club's No. 3 Course. He dropped an 18-hole playoff to Tommy Armour in the 1927 U.S. Open and advanced to the semifinals of the 1925 PGA Championship, falling to eventual champion Walter Hagen. Statistically, Cooper's best year was 1937, when he won eight times on Tour, and was both the leading money winner and the first winner of the Vardon Trophy.
After his PGA tour career ended, he became the head professional at the Metropolis Country Club in Greenburgh, NY. He held that position for many years. Following his retirement from Metropolis, he took a teaching position at Westchester Country Club in Rye, NY, where he remained until his death. Harry Cooper was remarkable for his ability to work in the golf industry into his nineties.
In the 1960s and 1970s, he was the Director of Golf on the Oceanic Cruise Liner, which sailed between New York City and the Caribbean during the Christmas season.
Harry Cooper is erroneously classified as the greatest golfer who never won a major tournament, his major victory coming at the 1934 Western Open, one of golf's major championships in that era.
Harry Cooper had no children. He died in a hospital in White Plains, New York at the age of 96. He is interred beside his wife Emma in Lot 15, Graves 1 and 2, in the Kensico Gardens Section of the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. Harry Cooper's grave is now marked with a headstone, but his grave marker erroneously shows 1906 instead of 1904 as his birth year.
Contents |
[edit] PGA Tour wins (31)
- 1923 Texas Open
- 1924 Texas Open
- 1926 Los Angeles Open, Del Monte Open
- 1929 Western N.Y. PGA, Medinah Open, Oklahoma Open, Shawnee Open
- 1930 Pasadena Open, St. Paul Open
- 1932 Canadian Open, Tri-State Open
- 1933 Illinois Open
- 1934 Western Open, Illinois Open, Illinois PGA Championship
- 1935 St. Paul Open, Medinah Open, Illinois Open
- 1936 St. Paul Open, Florida West Coast Open
- 1937 Los Angeles Open, Houston Open, St. Petersburg Open, Canadian Open, True Temper Open, Oakland Open, New Orleans Open, Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Horton Smith)
- 1938 Crescent City Open
- 1939 Goodall Round Robin
[edit] Other wins
this list is probably incomplete
- 1942 Minnesota State Open
[edit] Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | NYF | NYF | NYF | NYF | NYF | NYF | NYF |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT | 2 | CUT | T51 |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | T17 | DNP | T3 | T17 | T9 | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | NYF | NYF | NYF | NYF | WD | T25 | 2 | 4 | T2 | T33 |
| U.S. Open | 4 | T15 | T7 | T29 | T3 | T28 | 2 | 4 | T3 | T12 |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | T9 | DNP | DNP | T9 | T9 | T33 | T9 | T5 | T33 | T33 |
| Tournament | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | T4 | T14 | T18 |
| U.S. Open | CUT | DNP | NT |
| The Open Championship | NT | NT | NT |
| PGA Championship | T33 | DNP | T5 |
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10
