Leo Diegel

Leo Diegel
Personal information
Full name Leo Harvey Diegel
Born April 27, 1899(1899-04-27)
Detroit, Michigan
Died May 5, 1951(1951-05-05) (aged 52)
North Hollywood, California
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight 164 lb (74 kg; 11.7 st)
Nationality  United States
Career
Turned professional 1916
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Professional wins 34
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 30
Other 4
Best results in Major Championships
(Wins: 2)
Masters Tournament T16: 1934
U.S. Open T2: 1920
The Open Championship T2: 1930
PGA Championship Won: 1928, 1929
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 2003 (member page)

Leo Harvey Diegel (April 27, 1899 – May 5, 1951) was a prominent American professional golfer of the 1920s and early 1930s. He captured two PGA Championships for his only major titles, and played on four Ryder Cup teams. Diegel is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Diegel was born in Detroit, Michigan. He won his first significant event, the 1916 Michigan Open, at age 17. He won 30 PGA circuit events, and was a four-time winner of the Canadian Open (1924–25, 1928–29); this is a record for that event. In 1925, Diegel outperformed over 100 competitors to win the Florida Open (billed as the "Greatest Field Of Golfers Ever to Play in Florida") at the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club.

Diegel was selected for the inaugural 1927 Ryder Cup team, and went on to play on the 1929, 1931, and 1933 teams as well. Diegel's greatest season was 1928. He won the Canadian Open and, in winning the 1928 PGA Championship, stopped the four-year winning streak of Walter Hagen (defeating him in the quarter-final to avenge defeats by Hagen in the 1925 quarter-final and the 1926 final). Diegel achieved the rare feat of defending both titles successfully in 1929, this time defeating Hagen in the semi-finals of the PGA. Diegel was a runner-up to Bobby Jones at the British Open in 1930.

Diegel was an excellent ball-striker, but struggled with his putting after joining the Tour. After extensive experimentation, he eventually developed an unusual putting style where he pointed both elbows outwards; this was referred to as 'Diegeling'. He was a Tour winner from 1920 to 1934, but dropped out of regular Tour contention when he reached his mid-30s.

Diegel died in North Hollywood, California, aged 52; he had taken a position there as a club professional after scaling back his Tour play. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003.

Contents

Professional wins (34)

PGA Tour wins (30)

PGA Tour says Diegel won 30 tournaments; one is missing above.

Major championships are shown in bold.

Other wins (4)

this list is probably incomplete

Major championships

Wins (2)

Year Championship Winning Score Runner-up
1928 PGA Championship 6 & 5 Al Espinosa
1929 PGA Championship (2) 6 & 4 Johnny Farrell

Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958

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 T2 T26 7 T8 T25 8 T3 T11 T18 T8
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP T25 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP 3
PGA Championship R32 DNP DNP DNP R32 QF 2 DNP 1 1
Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
The Masters NYF NYF NYF NYF T16 T19 DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open T11 3 4 T17 T17 CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship T2 DNP DNP T3 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship R16 R32 DNP R32 R32 DNP DNP R64 R32 R32

NYF = Tournament not yet founded
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = 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.

See also

External links

Match play era
1916 Jim Barnes • 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I • 1919 Jim Barnes • 1920 Jock Hutchison • 1921 Walter Hagen • 1922 Gene Sarazen • 1923 Gene Sarazen • 1924 Walter Hagen • 1925 Walter Hagen • 1926 Walter Hagen • 1927 Walter Hagen • 1928 Leo Diegel • 1929 Leo Diegel • 1930 Tommy Armour • 1931 Tom Creavy • 1932 Olin Dutra • 1933 Gene Sarazen • 1934 Paul Runyan • 1935 Johnny Revolta • 1936 Denny Shute • 1937 Denny Shute • 1938 Paul Runyan • 1939 Henry Picard • 1940 Byron Nelson • 1941 Vic Ghezzi • 1942 Sam Snead • 1943 Cancelled due to World War II • 1944 Bob Hamilton • 1945 Byron Nelson • 1946 Ben Hogan • 1947 Jim Ferrier • 1948 Ben Hogan • 1949 Sam Snead • 1950 Chandler Harper • 1951 Sam Snead • 1952 Jim Turnesa • 1953 Walter Burkemo • 1954 Chick Harbert • 1955 Doug Ford • 1956 Jack Burke, Jr. • 1957 Lionel Hebert

Stroke play era
1958 Dow Finsterwald • 1959 Bob Rosburg • 1960 Jay Hebert • 1961 Jerry Barber† • 1962 Gary Player • 1963 Jack Nicklaus • 1964‡ Bobby Nichols • 1965 Dave Marr • 1966 Al Geiberger • 1967 Don January† • 1968 Julius Boros • 1969‡ Raymond Floyd • 1970 Dave Stockton • 1971 Jack Nicklaus • 1972 Gary Player • 1973 Jack Nicklaus • 1974 Lee Trevino • 1975 Jack Nicklaus • 1976 Dave Stockton • 1977 Lanny Wadkins† • 1978 John Mahaffey† • 1979 David Graham† • 1980 Jack Nicklaus • 1981 Larry Nelson • 1982‡ Raymond Floyd • 1983‡ Hal Sutton • 1984 Lee Trevino • 1985 Hubert Green • 1986 Bob Tway • 1987 Larry Nelson† • 1988 Jeff Sluman • 1989 Payne Stewart • 1990 Wayne Grady • 1991 John Daly • 1992 Nick Price • 1993 Paul Azinger† • 1994 Nick Price • 1995 Steve Elkington† • 1996 Mark Brooks† • 1997 Davis Love III • 1998 Vijay Singh • 1999 Tiger Woods • 2000‡ Tiger Woods† • 2001 David Toms • 2002 Rich Beem • 2003 Shaun Micheel • 2004 Vijay Singh† • 2005 Phil Mickelson • 2006 Tiger Woods • 2007 Tiger Woods • 2008 Pádraig Harrington • 2009 Y. E. Yang • 2010 Martin Kaymer† • 2011 Keegan Bradley†
† indicates the event was won in a playoff ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire