Ben Crenshaw

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Ben Crenshaw
— Golfer —
Crenshaw in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Ben Daniel Crenshaw
Nickname	Gentle Ben
Born	(1952-01-11) January 11, 1952 Austin, Texas
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight	157 lb (71 kg; 11.2 st)
Nationality	United States
Residence	Austin, Texas
Spouse	Julie (m. 1985-present) Polly (m. 1976-1985)
Children	Claire Susan, Anna Riley, Katherine Vail
Career
College	University of Texas
Turned professional	1973
Current tour(s)	Champions Tour
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	29
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	19
European Tour	1
Other	8 (regular) 1 (senior)
Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 2)
Masters Tournament	Won: 1984, 1995
U.S. Open	T3: 1975
The Open Championship	T2: 1978, 1979
PGA Championship	2nd: 1979
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	2002 (member page)
Haskins Award	1971, 1972, 1973
Bob Jones Award	1991
Old Tom Morris Award	1997
Payne Stewart Award	2001

Ben Daniel Crenshaw (born January 11, 1952) is an American professional golfer who has won 19 events on the PGA Tour, including two major championships: the Masters Tournament in 1984 and 1995. He is nicknamed Gentle Ben.^[1]

Biography

Born in Austin, Texas, Crenshaw attended and played golf at Austin High School and the University of Texas, where he won three NCAA Championships from 1971 to 1973. He was also a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. He turned professional in 1973.

In 1973, Crenshaw became the second player in Tour history to win the first event of his career; this accomplishment was achieved earlier by Marty Fleckman (1967) and later repeated by Robert Gamez (1990), Garrett Willis (2001), and Russell Henley (2013). Following five runner-up finishes in major championships without a victory, including losing a sudden-death playoff for the 1979 PGA Championship, in 1984 he won The Masters. In the mid-1980s, he suffered from Graves' disease, a disease of the thyroid, but he continued to accumulate victories, finishing with 19 on the PGA Tour, including an emotional second Masters victory in 1995, which came a week after the death of his mentor Harvey Penick.

In 1999, he was selected as captain of the United States Ryder Cup team for the matches at The Country Club, Brookline, Massachusetts. He was criticized from some quarters for his captaincy over the first two days as his team slipped to a 10-6 deficit; however, he was ultimately credited for providing the inspiration behind his side's remarkable turnaround in the Sunday singles, as the U.S. won 8 ½ of the final day's 12 points to regain the Cup.

Crenshaw won several professional events outside the PGA Tour, including individual and team titles in the World Cup of Golf in 1988. He spent 80 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking from 1987 to 1989.^[2]

Crenshaw is widely regarded as one of the best putters in golf history. His instructor growing up, Harvey Penick, taught him a smooth, effortless stroke on the greens, which allowed him to master even the speediest of greens–including those at Augusta National Golf Club. In winning the Masters in 1995, "Gentle Ben" did not record a single three-putt during the tournament.

Since 1986, Crenshaw has been a partner with Bill Coore in Coore & Crenshaw, a golf course design firm.

Amateur wins (13)

1968 International Jaycee Junior Golf Tournament
1971 NCAA Championship, Eastern Amateur, Southern Amateur
1972 NCAA Championship (tie with Tom Kite), Eastern Amateur, Porter Cup, Trans-Mississippi Amateur
1973 NCAA Championship, Western Amateur, Sunnehanna Amateur, Southern Amateur, Northeast Amateur

Professional wins (29)

PGA Tour wins (19)

Legend
Major championships (2)
Other PGA Tour (17)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Nov 4, 1973	San Antonio Texas Open	−14 (65-72-66-67=270)	2 strokes	Orville Moody
2	Jan 25, 1976	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	−7 (75-67-70-69=281)	2 strokes	Mike Morley
3	Feb 1, 1976	Hawaiian Open	−18 (70-69-65-66=270)	4 strokes	Larry Nelson
4	Sep 19, 1976	Ohio Kings Island Open	−9 (69-69-67-66=271)	1 stroke	Andy North
5	May 15, 1977	Colonial National Invitation	−8 (65-70-68-69=272)	1 stroke	John Schroeder
6	Jan 22, 1979	Phoenix Open	−14 (67-61-71=199)	1 stroke	Jay Haas
7	Oct 28, 1979	Walt Disney World National Team Championship (with George Burns)	−33 (62-66-62-65=255)	3 strokes	Peter Jacobsen & D. A. Weibring Jeff Hewes & Sammy Rachels Scott Bess & Dan Halldorson
8	Sep 28, 1980	Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic	−16 (66-67-68-71=272)	4 strokes	Jack Renner
9	May 1, 1983	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	−7 (71-69-67-66=273)	1 stroke	Brad Bryant, Hal Sutton
10	Apr 15, 1984	Masters Tournament	−11 (67-72-70-68=277)	2 strokes	Tom Watson
11	Jul 27, 1986	Buick Open	−18 (69-67-66-68=270)	1 stroke	J. C. Snead, Doug Tewell
12	Oct 26, 1986	Vantage Championship	−14 (65-67-64=196)	1 stroke	Payne Stewart
13	Mar 22, 1987	USF&G Classic	−20 (66-68-67-67=268)	3 strokes	Curtis Strange
14	Mar 6, 1988	Doral-Ryder Open	−14 (70-69-69-66=274)	1 stroke	Chip Beck, Mark McCumber
15	May 20, 1990	Southwestern Bell Colonial	−16 (68-67-68-69=272)	3 strokes	John Mahaffey, Corey Pavin, Nick Price
16	Jul 5, 1992	Centel Western Open	−12 (70-72-65-69=276)	1 stroke	Greg Norman
17	Mar 21, 1993	Nestle Invitational	−8 (71-70-69-70=280)	2 strokes	Davis Love III, Rocco Mediate, Vijay Singh
18	Apr 3, 1994	Freeport-McMoRan Classic	−15 (69-68-68-68=273)	3 strokes	José María Olazábal
19	Apr 9, 1995	Masters Tournament	−14 (70-67-69-68=274)	1 stroke	Davis Love III

PGA Tour playoff record (0–8)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1978	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	Tom Watson	Lost to par on second extra hole
2	1979	Western Open	Larry Nelson	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
3	1979	PGA Championship	David Graham	Lost to birdie on third extra hole
4	1981	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	Bobby Clampett, John Cook Hale Irwin, Barney Thompson	Cook won with par on third extra hole Clampett, Crenshaw, and Thompson eliminated with birdie on first hole
5	1981	Texas Open	Bill Rogers	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
6	1987	Los Angeles Open	T.C. Chen	Lost to par on first extra hole
7	1989	NEC World Series of Golf	David Frost	Lost to par on second extra hole
8	1992	GTE Byron Nelson Classic	Billy Ray Brown, Raymond Floyd, Bruce Lietzke	Brown won with birdie on first extra hole

Major championships

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1984	Masters Tournament	2 shot deficit	−11 (67-72-70-68=277)	2 strokes	Tom Watson
1995	Masters Tournament	Tied for lead	−14 (70-67-69-68=274)	1 stroke	Davis Love III

Results timeline

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	T19 LA	T24 LA	T22	T30	2	T8	T37	CUT
U.S. Open	T36 LA	T27	CUT	CUT	DNP	T3	T8	T49	CUT	T11
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T28	DNP	DNP	T5	T2	T2
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T63	T10	T8	DNP	T16	2

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Masters Tournament	T6	T8	T24	T2	1	T57	T16	T4	4	T3
U.S. Open	T32	T11	T19	CUT	CUT	CUT	T6	T4	T12	CUT
The Open Championship	3	T8	T15	CUT	T22	T35	T21	T4	T16	T52
PGA Championship	T41	CUT	CUT	T9	CUT	T59	T11	T7	T17	T17

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament	T14	T3	46	CUT	T18	1	CUT	45	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	T33	T71	CUT	T65	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	T31	T80	DNP	CUT	T77	T15	T27	DNP	CUT	DNP
PGA Championship	T31	WD	T73	T61	T9	T44	T69	CUT	CUT	CUT

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Masters Tournament	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	47	T55	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	WD	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013
Masters Tournament	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

LA = Low Amateur
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	2	2	2	8	11	18	42	25
U.S. Open	0	0	1	2	4	8	26	15
The Open Championship	0	2	1	5	6	11	21	18
PGA Championship	0	1	0	1	6	10	26	18
Totals	2	5	4	16	27	47	115	76

Most consecutive cuts made – 13 (twice)
Longest streak of top-10s – 6 (1975 U.S. Open – 1977 Masters)

Notable

He played on four Ryder Cup teams (1981, 1983, 1987, 1995) and captained the 1999 team.
In 1987, he became one of the few players in history to record top-10 finishes in all four major championships in the same season. Ed Dudley, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Doug Sanders, Miller Barber, Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods, Sergio García, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh have also achieved the feat.
In 1991, Crenshaw was given the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor bestowed by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.
His stepmother, Roberta Crenshaw, was an Austin-area philanthropist.
He is now a noted golf course designer, working in partnership with Bill Coore.
He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002.
He is the 2006 Kappa Alpha Order Sportsman of the Year.
"If we are to preserve the integrity of golf as left to use by our forefathers, it is up to all of us to carry on the true spirit of the game."^[4]

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Eisenhower Trophy: 1972 (winners)

Professional

Ryder Cup: 1981 (winners), 1983 (winners), 1987, 1995, 1999 (winners, non-playing captain)
World Cup: 1987, 1988 (winners, individual winner)
Dunhill Cup: 1995

References

↑ Jenkins, Dan. "Gentle Ben Is Very Tough". Sports Illustrated.
↑ "69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
↑ "1997 Nitro Texas State Open". Retrieved December 23, 2013.
↑ Apfelbaum, Jim, ed. (2007). The Gigantic Book of Golf Quotations. Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60239-014-0.

External links

Official website
Ben Crenshaw at the PGA Tour official site
Ben Crenshaw at the European Tour official site

v t e Masters Tournament champions

1934 Horton Smith 1935 Gene Sarazen† 1936 Horton Smith 1937 Byron Nelson 1938 Henry Picard 1939 Ralph Guldahl 1940 Jimmy Demaret 1941‡ Craig Wood 1942 Byron Nelson† 1943-45 Cancelled due to World War II 1946 Herman Keiser 1947 Jimmy Demaret 1948 Claude Harmon 1949 Sam Snead 1950 Jimmy Demaret 1951 Ben Hogan 1952 Sam Snead 1953 Ben Hogan 1954 Sam Snead† 1955 Cary Middlecoff 1956 Jack Burke, Jr. 1957 Doug Ford 1958 Arnold Palmer 1959 Art Wall, Jr. 1960‡ Arnold Palmer 1961 Gary Player 1962 Arnold Palmer† 1963 Jack Nicklaus 1964 Arnold Palmer 1965 Jack Nicklaus 1966 Jack Nicklaus† 1967 Gay Brewer 1968 Bob Goalby 1969 George Archer 1970 Billy Casper† 1971 Charles Coody 1972‡ Jack Nicklaus 1973 Tommy Aaron 1974 Gary Player 1975 Jack Nicklaus 1976‡ Raymond Floyd 1977 Tom Watson 1978 Gary Player 1979 Fuzzy Zoeller† 1980 Seve Ballesteros 1981 Tom Watson 1982 Craig Stadler† 1983 Seve Ballesteros 1984 Ben Crenshaw 1985 Bernhard Langer 1986 Jack Nicklaus 1987 Larry Mize† 1988 Sandy Lyle 1989 Nick Faldo† 1990 Nick Faldo† 1991 Ian Woosnam 1992 Fred Couples 1993 Bernhard Langer 1994 José María Olazábal 1995 Ben Crenshaw 1996 Nick Faldo 1997 Tiger Woods 1998 Mark O'Meara 1999 José María Olazábal 2000 Vijay Singh 2001 Tiger Woods 2002 Tiger Woods 2003 Mike Weir† 2004 Phil Mickelson 2005 Tiger Woods† 2006 Phil Mickelson 2007 Zach Johnson 2008 Trevor Immelman 2009 Ángel Cabrera† 2010 Phil Mickelson 2011 Charl Schwartzel 2012 Bubba Watson† 2013 Adam Scott†

† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire

Ben Crenshaw in the Ryder Cup

United States Ryder Cup captains

v t e United States Ryder Cup team – 1981

Ben Crenshaw Raymond Floyd Hale Irwin Tom Kite Bruce Lietzke Johnny Miller Larry Nelson Jack Nicklaus Jerry Pate Bill Rogers Lee Trevino Tom Watson Dave Marr (non-playing captain)

Won: 18.5 – 9.5

v t e United States Ryder Cup team – 1983

Ben Crenshaw Raymond Floyd Bob Gilder Jay Haas Tom Kite Gil Morgan Calvin Peete Craig Stadler Curtis Strange Lanny Wadkins Tom Watson Fuzzy Zoeller Jack Nicklaus (non-playing captain)

Won: 14.5 – 13.5

v t e United States Ryder Cup team – 1987

Andy Bean Mark Calcavecchia Ben Crenshaw Tom Kite Larry Mize Larry Nelson Dan Pohl Scott Simpson Payne Stewart Curtis Strange Hal Sutton Lanny Wadkins Jack Nicklaus (non-playing captain)

Lost: 13 – 15

v t e United States Ryder Cup team – 1995

Fred Couples Ben Crenshaw Brad Faxon Jay Haas Peter Jacobsen Tom Lehman Davis Love III Jeff Maggert Phil Mickelson Corey Pavin Loren Roberts Curtis Strange Lanny Wadkins (non-playing captain)

Lost: 13.5 – 14.5

v t e United States Ryder Cup team – 1999

David Duval Jim Furyk Tom Lehman Justin Leonard Davis Love III Jeff Maggert Phil Mickelson Mark O'Meara Steve Pate Payne Stewart Hal Sutton Tiger Woods Ben Crenshaw (non-playing captain)

Won: 14.5 – 13.5

Persondata
Name	Crenshaw, Ben
Alternative names	Crenshaw, Ben Daniel
Short description	Professional golfer
Date of birth	January 11, 1952
Place of birth	Austin, Texas
Date of death
Place of death

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