Gene Littler

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Gene Alec Littler (July 21, 1930 – February 15, 2019)[1] was an American professional golfer and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.[2] Known for a solid temperament and nicknamed "Gene the Machine" for his smooth, rhythmical swing,[2] he once said that, "Golf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the best misses. The people who win make the smallest mistakes."

Early years and amateur career

Littler was born in San Diego, California.[3][4] He played on the 1953 United States Walker Cup team, and won the U.S. Amateur[5] and the California State Amateur[6] that same year.[2] In 1954, he won a PGA Tour event as an amateur,[7] a rare achievement which was not to be repeated until Doug Sanders won the Canadian Open in 1956. Littler is one of only very few players who won both a U.S. national junior tournament (he won the 1948 U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce Tournament in Lincoln, Nebraska) and the U.S. Amateur.

Littler graduated from San Diego State University, and after that served in the United States Navy from 1951 to 1954.[5][6][7][8]

Professional career

File:Gene Littler with family 1956.jpg
Gene Littler with family in 1956

An early highlight of Littler's professional playing career was a second-place finish at the 1954 U.S. Open. He finished one shot behind Ed Furgol.

In 1955, he won four times on the tour, but fell into a slump in the late 1950s after tinkering with his swing. In 1959 after taking advice he received from Paul Runyan and adjusting his grip,[9] he recovered to have his best year with five PGA Tour victories. He finished second on the money list that year, which was to remain his career best. Only once from 1954 to 1979 did Littler finish out of the top 60 on the final money list. He was stricken with melanoma cancer found in a lymph node under his left arm in 1972,[2] but came back to win five more times on the PGA Tour. He won many championships including 29 PGA Tour wins. He played on the Men's Senior PGA Tour and also won two major tournaments in Japan and one in Australia. In his book, Gene Littler The Real Score with Jack Tobin an Appendix B states that "through the 1975 season only eight players in the history of golf had earned over $1 Million in sanctioned professional golf play" (listed in order the eight were Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Bruce Crampton, Tom Weiskopf, Gene Littler, Gary Player).

One of Littler's 29 PGA Tour wins was unique. When he won the 1975 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, it marked the first and (so far) only time that a player won that event as a professional after having previously won the pro-amateur portion, which Littler did as a 23-year-old amateur in 1954.[10]

Littler won one major championship – the 1961 U.S. Open. He shot a 68 in the final round to overtake Doug Sanders. He accumulated 17 top-10 finishes in the three U.S.-based majors: seven at the Masters Tournament, five at the PGA Championship, and five at the U.S. Open. In addition to his U.S. Open victory, he had one second-place finish in each of the three U.S. majors, losing playoffs to Billy Casper at the 1970 Masters and to Lanny Wadkins at the 1977 PGA Championship. The latter was the first-ever sudden-death playoff in a major. He was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup teams of 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1975, and had a 14-5-8 win/loss/tie record including five wins and three ties in 10 singles matches.

Littler received the Ben Hogan Award in 1973 for a courageous comeback from injury or illness, after returning to the tour following treatment for malignant melanoma. Also in 1973, he was given the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. In the 1980s and 1990s, Littler played on the Senior PGA Tour, winning eight times. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990.[2]

Personal life and death

On January 5, 1951, ten days before joining the Navy, Littler married Shirley Warren, his university classmate. They had a son, Curt, born in March 1954 and a daughter, Suzanne, born in October 1957.[11][12] Littler died at the age of 88 on February 15, 2019.[13][14]

In popular culture

Littler inspired Sandy Mac Divot, the main character of the long running comic strip Mac Divot by Jordan Lanski (a former schoolmate of Littler) and Mel Keefer.[15]

Professional wins (54)

PGA Tour wins (29)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (28)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 Jan 21, 1954 San Diego Open
(as an amateur) 		−14 (67-66-69-72=274) 4 strokes Template:Flagicon Dutch Harrison
2 Jan 9, 1955 Los Angeles Open −8 (72-67-68-69=276) 2 strokes Template:Flagicon Ted Kroll
3 Feb 6, 1955 Phoenix Open −5 (66-70-68-71=275) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Billy Maxwell, Template:Flagicon Arnold Palmer
4 May 1, 1955 Tournament of Champions −8 (69-71-68-72=280) 13 strokes Template:Flagicon Jerry Barber, Template:Flagicon Pete Cooper,
Template:Flagicon Bob Toski
5 Aug 28, 1955 Labatt Open −8 (67-69-68-68=272) Playoff Template:Flagicon Stan Leonard
6 Feb 19, 1956 Texas Open Invitational −12 (68-73-70-65=276) 2 strokes Template:Flagicon Mike Fetchick, Template:Flagicon Frank Stranahan,
Template:Flagicon Ernie Vossler
7 Apr 29, 1956 Tournament of Champions (2) −7 (70-71-69-71=281) 4 strokes Template:Flagicon Cary Middlecoff
8 Jun 10, 1956 Palm Beach Round Robin +55 pts (69-69-68-68-70=344) 24 points Template:Flagicon Ted Kroll
9 Apr 21, 1957 Tournament of Champions (3) −3 (73-73-69-70=285) 3 strokes Template:Flagicon Billy Casper, Template:Flagicon Jimmy Demaret,
Template:Flagicon Dow Finsterwald, Template:Flagicon Billy Maxwell
10 Feb 8, 1959 Phoenix Open Invitational (2) −12 (67-63-67-71=268) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Art Wall Jr.
11 Feb 15, 1959 Tucson Open Invitational −14 (65-67-68-66=266) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Joe Campbell, Template:Flagicon Art Wall Jr.
12 May 17, 1959 Arlington Hotel Open −18 (67-69-64-70=270) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Jim Ferree
13 Jul 19, 1959 Insurance City Open Invitational −12 (64-66-72-70=272) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Tom Nieporte
14 Aug 30, 1959 Miller Open Invitational −15 (68-66-64-67=265) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Bob Rosburg, Template:Flagicon Bo Wininger
15 Jun 12, 1960 Oklahoma City Open Invitational −11 (71-64-70-68=273) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Art Wall Jr.
16 Jul 31, 1960 Eastern Open Invitational −15 (65-68-73-67=273) 2 strokes Template:Flagicon Gary Player
17 Jun 17, 1961 U.S. Open +1 (73-68-72-68=281) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Bob Goalby, Template:Flagicon Doug Sanders
18 Jan 28, 1962 Lucky International Open −10 (65-68-68-73=274) 2 strokes Template:Flagicon George Knudson
19 Jun 10, 1962 Thunderbird Classic Invitational −13 (67-71-70-67=275) 2 strokes Template:Flagicon Jack Nicklaus
20 Jul 17, 1965 Canadian Open −7 (70-68-69-66=273) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Jack Nicklaus
21 Feb 16, 1969 Phoenix Open Invitational (3) −21 (69-66-62-66=263) 2 strokes Template:Flagicon Miller Barber, Template:Flagicon Don January,
Template:Flagicon Billy Maxwell
22 Apr 6, 1969 Greater Greensboro Open −10 (66-70-69-69=274) Playoff Template:Flagicon Julius Boros, Template:Flagicon Orville Moody,
Template:Flagicon Tom Weiskopf
23 Apr 18, 1971 Monsanto Open −8 (71-67-71-67=276) 3 strokes Template:Flagicon George Archer, Template:Flagicon Pete Brown
24 May 23, 1971 Colonial National Invitation +3 (72-68-74-69=283) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Bert Yancey
25 Jul 22, 1973 St. Louis Children's Hospital Golf Classic −12 (66-66-68-68=268) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Bruce Crampton
26 Jan 26, 1975 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am −8 (68-71-68-73=280) 4 strokes Template:Flagicon Hubert Green
27 May 25, 1975 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic −18 (67-68-69-66=270) 5 strokes Template:Flagicon John Mahaffey
28 Aug 3, 1975 Westchester Classic −17 (68-68-69-66=271) Playoff Template:Flagicon Julius Boros
29 May 1, 1977 Houston Open −12 (70-65-67-74=276) 3 strokes Template:Flagicon Lanny Wadkins

PGA Tour playoff record (3–8)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1955 Labatt Open Template:Flagicon Stan Leonard Won with par on first extra hole
2 1956 Texas International Open Template:Flagicon Cary Middlecoff, Template:Flagicon Peter Thomson Thomson won with birdie on second extra hole
3 1957 Western Open Template:Flagicon George Bayer, Template:Flagicon Doug Ford,
Template:Flagicon Billy Maxwell 		Ford won with par on third extra hole
Littler and Maxwell eliminated by par on first hole
4 1960 Memphis Open Invitational Template:Flagicon Tommy Bolt, Template:Flagicon Ben Hogan Bolt won 18-hole playoff;
Bolt: −2 (68),
Hogan: −1 (69),
Littler: +1 (71)
5 1962 Memphis Open Invitational Template:Flagicon Lionel Hebert, Template:Flagicon Gary Player Hebert won with birdie on first extra hole
6 1966 Tucson Open Template:Flagicon Joe Campbell Lost to birdie on first extra hole
7 1969 Greater Greensboro Open Template:Flagicon Julius Boros, Template:Flagicon Orville Moody,
Template:Flagicon Tom Weiskopf 		Won with birdie on fifth extra hole
Weiskopf eliminated by par on first hole
8 1970 Masters Tournament Template:Flagicon Billy Casper Lost 18-hole playoff;
Casper: −3 (69),
Littler: +2 (74)
9 1975 Westchester Classic Template:Flagicon Julius Boros Won with par on first extra hole
10 1977 Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open Template:Flagicon Bruce Lietzke Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole
11 1977 PGA Championship Template:Flagicon Lanny Wadkins Lost to par on third extra hole

Source:[16]

PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runners-up
1 Oct 12, 1975 Taiheiyo Club Masters −6 (69-66-73-70=278) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Lee Elder, Template:Flagicon Hubert Green,
Template:Flagicon Allen Miller, Template:Flagicon Masashi Ozaki

PGA Tour of Australia wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 Mar 2, 1980 Australian Masters −4 (70-74-67-77=288) Playoff Template:Flagicon Rodger Davis

PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1980 Australian Masters Template:Flagicon Rodger Davis Won with bogey on first extra hole

Other wins (3)

Senior PGA Tour wins (8)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 Mar 20, 1983 Greater Daytona Senior Classic −13 (65-70-68=203) 6 strokes Template:Flagicon Guy Wolstenholme
2 Jul 10, 1983 Greater Syracuse Senior's Pro Classic −9 (69-69-70-67=275) 2 strokes Template:Flagicon Don January
3 Jan 4, 1984 Seiko-Tucson Senior Match Play Championship 1 up Template:Flagicon Don January
4 May 4, 1986 Sunwest Bank Charley Pride Senior Golf Classic −14 (65-66-71=202) 2 strokes Template:Flagicon Don January
5 Aug 31, 1986 Bank One Senior Golf Classic −12 (71-63-67=201) Playoff Template:Flagicon Miller Barber, Template:Flagicon Bob Goalby
6 Aug 2, 1987 NYNEX/Golf Digest Commemorative −10 (67-68-65=200) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Dale Douglass
7 Nov 22, 1987 Gus Machado Senior Classic −6 (71-67-69=207) 3 strokes Template:Flagicon Orville Moody
8 Feb 26, 1989 Aetna Challenge −7 (70-70-69=209) 2 strokes Template:Flagicon Harold Henning

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1981 Peter Jackson Champions Template:Flagicon Miller Barber Lost to par on first extra hole
2 1986 Greater Grand Rapids Open Template:Flagicon Jim Ferree, Template:Flagicon Chi-Chi Rodríguez Ferree won with birdie on first extra hole
3 1986 Bank One Senior Golf Classic Template:Flagicon Miller Barber, Template:Flagicon Bob Goalby Won with par on third extra hole
Goalby eliminated by par on first hole

Japan Senior Tour wins (2)

  • 1983 Coca-Cola Grandslam Championship
  • 1987 Coca-Cola Grandslam Championship

Other senior wins (10)

Major championships

File:Billy Casper and Gene Littler 1970.jpg
Gene Littler (right) congratulates Billy Casper with winning the 1970 Masters Tournament

Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runners-up
1961 U.S. Open 3 shot deficit +1 (73-68-72-68=281) 1 stroke Template:Flagicon Bob Goalby, Template:Flagicon Doug Sanders

Amateur wins (1)

Year Championship Winning score Runner-up
1953 U.S. Amateur 1 up Template:Flagicon Dale Morey

Results timeline

Tournament 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
Masters Tournament T22 T22 T12 CUT 42 T8
U.S. Open 2 15 T34 T32 4 T11
The Open Championship
PGA Championship R64 T10
U.S. Amateur R64 QF 1 – – – – – –
Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
Masters Tournament CUT T15 4 T24 T13 T6 T44 T26 T43 T8
U.S. Open CUT 1 T8 T21 T11 T8 T48 CUT CUT
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship T18 T5 T23 T34 T33 T28 T3 T7 T30 T48
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Masters Tournament 2 T4 T17 T39 T22 T12 T8 T24 T10
U.S. Open T12 T37 T18 CUT T49 T50 T35 CUT
The Open Championship T18 CUT T32
PGA Championship T4 T75 CUT T28 T7 T22 2 CUT T16
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983
Masters Tournament 49
U.S. Open T38 T22
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUT CUT T49 CUT

<templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />

  Win

<templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />

  Top 10

<templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />

  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
DQ = disqualified
WD = withdrew
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur: USGA Championship Database

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 1 0 3 8 18 26 24
U.S. Open 1 1 0 3 5 12 25 20
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 2
PGA Championship 0 1 1 4 7 11 25 20
Totals 1 3 1 10 20 42 80 66
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 14 (1962 PGA – 1967 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (1961 U.S. Open – 1962 U.S. Open)

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

External links

Script error: No such module "Side box".

Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:U.S. Amateur champions Script error: No such module "navboxes". Template:1961 United States Ryder Cup team Template:1963 United States Ryder Cup team Template:1965 United States Ryder Cup team Template:1967 United States Ryder Cup team Template:1969 United States Ryder Cup team Template:1971 United States Ryder Cup team Template:1975 United States Ryder Cup teamScript error: No such module "navboxes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Script error: No such module "Authority control".

Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Gene_Littler&oldid=1444255"