Horton Smith
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| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | May 22, 1908 Springfield, Missouri, U.S. |
| Death | October 15, 1963 (age 55) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Nationality |  United States |
| College | None |
| Career | |
| Turned Pro | 1926 |
| Professional wins | 34 (PGA Tour: 32, Other: 2) |
| Best Results in Major Championships Wins: 2 |
|
| Masters | Won 1934, 1936 |
| U.S. Open | 3rd: 1930, 1940 |
| British Open | T4: 1930 |
| PGA Championship | T3: 1928 |
| Awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 1990 |
Horton Smith (May 22, 1908 – October 15, 1963) was an American golfer, who is best known as the first man to win the Masters Tournament. He was born in Springfield, Missouri and died in Detroit, Michigan of Hodgkin's Disease.
Contents |
[edit] Tournament career
Smith's turned professional in 1926 and won his first tournament, the Oklahoma City Open in 1928. In 1929 he won eight titles. This was an era of expansion and reorganisation for professional golf. The PGA Tour was founded in 1934, and Smith was one of the leading players of the early years of the tour, topping the money list in 1936. He accumulated 32 PGA Tour titles in total, the last of them in 1941. Smith's two major championships both came at The Masters, the first at the inaugural tournament in 1934 and the second in 1936. He played in every Masters until his death in 1963. He played for the United States in the Ryder Cup five times: 1929, 1931, 1933, 1935, and 1937.
[edit] PGA Tour wins (32)
- 1928 (2) Oklahoma City Open, Catalina Island Open
- 1929 (8) Berkeley Open Championship, Pensacola Open Invitational, Florida Open, La Gorce Open, Fort Myers Open, North and South Open, Oregon Open, Pasadena Open
- 1930 (4) Central Florida Open, Savannah Open, Berkeley Open, Bay District Open
- 1931 (1) St. Paul Open
- 1932 (1) National Capital City Open
- 1933 (1) Miami International Four-Ball (with Paul Runyan)
- 1934 (3) The Masters, Grand Slam Open, California Open
- 1935 (3) Palm Springs Invitational, Miami Biltmore Open, Pasadena Open
- 1936 (2) The Masters, Victoria Open
- 1937 (3) North and South Open, Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Harry Cooper), Oklahoma Four-Ball (with Harry Cooper)
- 1941 (2) Florida West Coast Open, St. Paul Open
(missing two wins)
Major championships are shown in bold.
Source: (Barkow 1989, pp. 265)
[edit] Other wins
this list is probably incomplete
- 1940 Massachusetts Open
- 1948 Michigan PGA Championship
[edit] Major Championships
[edit] Wins (2)
| Year | Championship | Winning Score | Margin | Runner Up |
| 1934 | The Masters | -4 (70-72-70-72=284) | 1 stroke |  Craig Wood |
| 1936 | The Masters (2) | -3 (74-71-68-72=285) | 1 stroke | Harry Cooper |
[edit] Results timeline
| Tournament | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | NYF | NYF | NYF |
| U.S. Open | T44 | T28 | 10 |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | T24 |
| PGA Championship | DNP | SF | R32 |
| Tournament | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | NYF | NYF | NYF | NYF | 1 | T19 | 1 | T19 | T22 | T26 |
| U.S. Open | 3 | T27 | T55 | T24 | T17 | T6 | T22 | T36 | T19 | 15 |
| The Open Championship | T4 | T12 | DNP | T12 | DNP | DNP | DNP | 10 | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | QF | QF | R32 | R32 | DNP | QF | QF | R16 | QF | QF |
| Tournament | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | T47 | T19 | 5 | NT | NT | NT | T21 | T22 | 34 | T23 |
| U.S. Open | 3 | T13 | NT | NT | NT | NT | CUT | WD | CUT | T23 |
| The Open Championship | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | R64 | R16 | DNP | NT | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | R64 | R32 |
| Tournament | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | T12 | T32 | T30 | T46 | T38 | T59 | 76 | CUT | CUT | CUT |
| U.S. Open | CUT | CUT | T15 | CUT | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | R64 | DNP | R16 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF, F = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
[edit] Miscellaneous
- Served as the club pro at Detroit Golf Club (Detroit, Michigan) for several years following his professional career.
- Rated as the finest chipper and putter of his era by Byron Nelson. Co-author of a 1961 book, The Secret of Holing Puts.
- Smith was the last man to defeat Bobby Jones before Jones retired in 1930.
- According to the World Golf Hall of Fame Smith was the first man to use a sand wedge, although the concave wedge he invented was later banned by the USGA and superseded by a style introduced by Gene Sarazen.
- Smith was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990.
- President of the Professional Golfers' Association of America 1952-1954
- In 1962, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.
- The PGA of America annually grants the Horton Smith Award to a PGA professional who has made "outstanding and continuing contributions to PGA education."
[edit] See also
[edit] References
Barkow, Al (1989), The History of the PGA TOUR, Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-26145-4
