George Knudson
| George Knudson | |
|---|---|
| — Golfer — | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | George Alfred Christian Knudson |
| Born |
June 28, 1937 Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Died | January 24, 1989 (aged 51) |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Weight | 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st) |
| Nationality |
 Canada |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1958 |
| Retired | 1980 |
| Former tour(s) |
Canadian Tour PGA Tour |
| Professional wins | 27 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 8 |
| Other | 19 |
| Best results in major championships | |
| Masters Tournament | T2: 1969 |
| U.S. Open | T17: 1965 |
| The Open Championship | DNP |
| PGA Championship | T20: 1965 |
George Alfred Christian Knudson, CM (June 28, 1937 – January 24, 1989) was a Canadian professional golfer, who along with Mike Weir holds the record for the Canadian with the most wins on the PGA Tour, with eight career victories.
Born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Knudson learned to play golf at the St. Charles Country Club. He won the 1954 and 1955 Manitoba Junior Championships,[1] and the 1955 Canadian Junior Championship.[2] He moved to Toronto in 1958, and worked at the Oakdale Golf Club, where he received instruction and encouragement from the Club, to improve his game. He was then able to secure some financial backing to try the PGA Tour. He won the Manitoba Open in 1958, 1959, and 1960, and the Ontario Open in 1960, 1961, 1971, 1976 and 1978.[3]
Between 1961 and 1972, he won eight tournaments on the PGA Tour. He won the Canadian PGA Championship five times, and won the World Cup with Al Balding in 1968. He wrote a book, The Natural Golf Swing (ISBN 0-7710-4534-4) with Lorne Rubenstein.
Knudson tied for second in the 1969 Masters Tournament, one shot behind champion George Archer. In seven Masters appearances, Knudson posted three top-10s, including 10th in his 1965 debut and sixth a year later.
He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1969, and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.[4]
Knudson left tournament golf in the late 1970s, and started teaching golf, with success, at a facility in the Toronto area. His teaching methods have since been adopted by the Canadian PGA.
In 1988, he was inducted into both Royal Canadian Golf Association Hall of Fame, the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and was made a member of the Order of Canada.
He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1988. He recovered, and was about to make a comeback at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf Senior tournament, but left because he felt weak. The cancer had spread to his brain, and he would die from it in 1989.
He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario.
Professional wins (27)
PGA Tour wins (8)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dec 10, 1961 | Coral Gables Open Invitational | −11 (65-71-71-66=273) | 1 stroke |  Gay Brewer |
| 2 | Sep 22, 1963 | Portland Open Invitational | −17 (69-67-68-67=271) | Playoff | Mason Rudolph |
| 3 | Oct 4, 1964 | Fresno Open Invitational | −8 (73-69-71-67=280) | Playoff | Al Balding |
| 4 | May 14, 1967 | Greater New Orleans Open Invitational | −11 (71-66-70-70=277) | 1 stroke | Jack Nicklaus |
| 5 | Feb 18, 1968 | Phoenix Open Invitational | −12 (67-64-70-71=272) | 3 strokes | Julius Boros, Sam Carmichael, Jack Montgomery |
| 6 | Feb 25, 1968 | Tucson Open Invitational | −15 (70-67-71-65=273) | 1 stroke | Frank Beard, Frank Boynton |
| 7 | Sep 20, 1970 | Robinson Open Golf Classic | −16 (67-69-69-63=268) | Playoff | George Archer |
| 8 | Oct 22, 1972 | Kaiser International Open Invitational | −17 (66-69-66-70=271) | 3 strokes | Hale Irwin, Bobby Nichols |
Other wins (19)
This list is probably incomplete
- 1958 Manitoba Open
- 1959 Manitoba Open
- 1960 Manitoba Open, Ontario Open
- 1961 Ontario Open
- 1962 Maracaibo Open, Puerto Rico Open
- 1963 Panama Open
- 1964 Canadian PGA Championship, Caracas Open
- 1966 Canada Cup (individual event)
- 1967 Canadian PGA Championship
- 1968 Canadian PGA Championship, World Cup (team event with Al Balding)
- 1971 Ontario Open
- 1976 Canadian PGA Championship
- 1976 Ontario Open
- 1977 Canadian PGA Championship
- 1978 Ontario Open
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | DNP | DNP | DNP | 10 | T6 | T31 | T28 | T2 | T45 | DNP | DNP | CUT | DNP |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | T17 | T44 | DNP | DNP | T36 | T61 | DNP | DNP | DNP | T51 |
| PGA Championship | T51 | DNP | T28 | T20 | T43 | DNP | DNP | T25 | T55 | CUT | CUT | T56 | DNP |
Note: Knudson never played in The Open Championship.
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10.
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 |
| Totals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 18 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 16 (1962 PGA – 1970 PGA)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)
Team appearances
- World Cup (representing Canada): 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966 (individual winner), 1967, 1968 (winners), 1969, 1976, 1977
See also
References
- ↑ History of Golf in Canada, by Lawrence Vincent Kavanagh, Toronto, Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1973, p. 185
- ↑ Barclay, James A. (1992). Golf in Canada: A History. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 978-0-7710-1080-4.
- ↑ "Ontario Golf Hall of Fame – George Knudson". Golf Association of Ontario. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
- ↑ "George Knudson". Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
External links
- Profile at Canadian Golf Hall of Fame
- George Knudson's biography at Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
- George Knudson at the PGA Tour official site
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