Gene Sarazen

Gene Sarazen Personal Information Birth February 27, 1902
Harrison, New York, U.S.Death May 13, 1999(age 97)
Marco Island, Florida, U.S.Nationality United StatesCollege None Career Professional wins 41 (PGA Tour: 39, PGA Seniors Tour: 2) Major Championship Wins (7) MastersWon (1) 1935 U.S. OpenWon (2) 1922, 1932 British OpenWon (1) 1932 PGA ChampionshipWon (3) 1922, 1923, 1933 Awards World Golf Hall of Fame1974 Associated Press
Male Athlete of the Year1932 Bob Jones Award1992 PGA Tour Lifetime
Achievement Award1996

Gene Sarazen (born Eugenio Saraceni) (February 27, 1902 – May 13, 1999) is one of only five golfers (along with Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tiger Woods) to win all the major championships in his career, the Career Grand Slam: U.S. Open in 1922, 1932, PGA Championship in 1922, 1923, 1933, British Open in 1932, and The Masters in 1935.

He was born in Harrison, New York and died on Marco Island, Florida. Sarazen began caddying at age ten at local golf clubs, took up golf himself, and gradually developed his skills; he was essentially self-taught. He used the somewhat unusual, at the time, interlocking grip to hold the club.

Sarazen won his first major championships -- the 1922 U.S. Open and PGA Championship -- at age 20. He was a contemporary and great rival of Bobby Jones, who was born in the same year.

The winner of 39 PGA Tournaments, Gene Sarazen was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. He was the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 1932, a charter member of the World Golf Hall of Fame (1974), and won the PGA Tour's first Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.

He played on six U.S. Ryder Cup teams: 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1935, and 1937.

Sarazen invented the modern sand wedge and debuted the club at the British Open at Prince's Golf Club in 1932 (which he won). He called it the sand iron and his original club is still on display at Prince's. There had been previous sand-specific clubs, but Sarazen's innovation was to weld solder onto the lower back of the club, building up the flange so that it sat lower than the leading edge when soled. The flange, not the leading edge, would contact the sand first, and explode sand as the shot was played. The additional weight provided punch to power through the thick sand. Sarazen's new developed technique with the new club was to contact the sand a couple of inches behind the ball, not actually contacting the ball at all. Every top-class golfer since has utilized this wedge design and technique.

Sarazen hit "The shot heard 'round the world" in the 1935 Masters Tournament. It was a final round 235-yard 4-wood on the par-5 15th hole that went in, giving him a very rare albatross 2 on the hole. He trailed the leader by three shots at the time, and made them up all at once. It led to his later winning the tournament in a playoff over Craig Wood. At the time of his second shot a check for $1,500, the winning prize, had already been written to Craig Wood.

Sarazen was a small (5 ft 4 ins) man, who nevertheless could hit the ball a very long way, even when compared with larger, stronger players. As a multiple past champion, he was eligible to continue competing after his best years were past, and occasionally did so in the top events, well into the 1960s, and occasionally into the 1970s. Throughout his life, Sarazen competed wearing knickers or plus-fours, which were the fashion when he broke into the top level.

For many years after his retirement, Sarazen was a familiar figure as an honorary starter at the Masters. From 1981-1999, he joined Byron Nelson and Sam Snead in hitting a ceremonial tee shot before each Masters tournament. He also popularized the sport with his role as a commentator on the Wonderful World of Golf television show.

At the age of 71, Sarazan made a hole-in-one at the 1973 British Open Championship.

In 1992, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.

Asked how to say his name, he told the Literary Digest "Veteran Gene Sarazen/ Aims to play par again": (IPA: /ˈsɑrəzɛn/). (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)

Sarazen had what is still the longest-running endorsement contract in professional sports - with Wilson Sporting Goods from 1923 until his death, a total of 75 years.

In 2000, Sarazen was ranked as the 11th greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine.[1]

1 PGA Tour wins (39)
2 Other wins
3 Senior wins
4 Major Championships
- 4.1 Wins (7)
- 4.2 Results timeline
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

PGA Tour wins (39)

1922 (3) Southern (Spring) Open, U.S. Open, PGA Championship
1923 (1) PGA Championship
1925 (1) Metropolitan Open
1926 (1) Miami Open
1927 (3) Long Island Open, Miami Open, Metropolitan PGA
1928 (4) Miami Beach Open, Miami Open, Nassau Bahamas Open, Metropolitan PGA
1929 (2) Miami Open, Miami Beach Open
1930 (8) Miami Open, Agua Caliente Open, Florida West Coast Open, Concord Country Club Open, United States Pro Invitational, Western Open, Lannin Memorial Tournament, Middle Atlantic Open
1931 (3) Florida West Coast Open, La Gorce Open, Lannin Memorial Tournament
1932 (4) True Temper Open, Coral Gables Open, U.S. Open, British Open
1933 (1) PGA Championship
1935 (3) The Masters, Massachusetts Open, Long Island Open
1937 (2) Florida West Coast Open, Chicago Open
1938 (1) Lake Placid Open
1941 (1) Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball (with Ben Hogan)

(missing one win)

Major championships are shown in bold.

Source: (Barkow 1989, pp. 266)

Other wins

this list may be incomplete

1928 Miami International Four-Ball (with Johnny Farrell)

Senior wins

1954 PGA Seniors' Championship
1958 PGA Seniors' Championship

Major Championships

Wins (7)

Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runner(s) Up 1922 U.S. Open4 shot deficit +8 (72-73-75-68=288) 1 stroke Bobby Jones 1922 PGA ChampionshipN/A 4 & 3 4 strokes Emmet French 1923 PGA Championship(2) N/A 38th hole 1 stroke Walter Hagen 1932 U.S. Open(2) 1 shot deficit +6 (74-76-70-66=286) 3 strokes Bobby Cruickshank, Phil Perkins 1932 The Open Championship4 shot lead (70-69-70-74=283) 5 strokes Macdonald Smith 1933 PGA Championship(3) N/A 5 & 4 5 strokes Willie Goggin 1935 The Masters3 shot deficit -6 (68-71-73-70=282) Playoff 1 Craig Wood

Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958
1 Defeated Craig Wood in 36-hole playoff - Sarazen (144), Wood (149)

Results timeline

Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 The MastersNYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF U.S. OpenT30 17 1 T16 T17 T5 T3 3 T6 T3 The Open ChampionshipDNP DNP DNP DNP F? DNP DNP DNP 2 9 PGA ChampionshipDNP QF 1 1 R16 R32 R16 QF SF QF

Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 The MastersNYF NYF NYF NYF DNP 1 3 T24 T13 5 U.S. OpenT28 T4 1 T26 2 T6 T28 T10 10 T47 The Open ChampionshipDNP T3 1 T3 T19 DNP T5 CUT DNP DNP PGA ChampionshipF SF DNP 1 R16 R32 R64 R32 QF R64

Tournament 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 The MastersT21 T19 T29 NT NT NT DNP T26 T23 T39 U.S. Open2 T7 NT NT NT NT CUT T39 CUT CUT The Open ChampionshipNT NT NT NT NT NT DNP DNP DNP DNP PGA ChampionshipQF SF DNP NT DNP R64 DNP R16 R16 R32

Tournament 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 The MastersT10 T12 WD T36 T53 WD T49 CUT CUT CUT U.S. OpenT38 T35 T33 CUT WD DNP DNP CUT CUT DNP The Open ChampionshipDNP DNP T17 DNP T17 DNP WD DNP T16 DNP PGA ChampionshipDNP R64 DNP DNP DNP R64 QF DNP CUT CUT

Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 The MastersCUT CUT WD 49 WD CUT CUT WD DNP CUT U.S. OpenDNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP The Open ChampionshipWD DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP PGA ChampionshipDNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 The MastersCUT CUT CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP U.S. OpenDNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP The Open ChampionshipCUT DNP DNP CUT DNP DNP WD PGA ChampionshipDNP CUT WD DNP DNP DNP DNP

NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
F? = Finish unknown
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.