American professional golfer
Allen Lee Geiberger Sr.
(born September 1, 1937) is an American former
professional golfer
.
Professional career
[
edit
]
Geiberger turned pro in 1959 and joined the PGA Tour in 1960. Geiberger won 11 tournaments on the
PGA Tour
, the first being the 1962
Ontario Open
and the biggest being the
1966 PGA Championship
, a
major
title.
[1]
He won the
Tournament Players Championship
in
1975
, and played on the
Ryder Cup
teams in
1967
and
1975
. Geiberger also won 10 times on the
Senior PGA Tour
, now called the
Champions Tour
.
Mr. 59
[
edit
]
During the second round of the
Danny Thomas Memphis Classic
in
1977
, Geiberger became the first player in history to post a score of 59 (?13) in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
[2]
[3]
Starting on the tenth tee of the
Colonial Country Club
in
Cordova, Tennessee
, he shot a bogey-free round of six pars, 11 birdies, and an eagle on the 7,193-yard (6,577 m) layout.
[4]
He sank a forty-foot (12 m) putt for birdie on his opening hole, and ended the round with a birdie from eight feet (2.4 m); the lone eagle was a holed-out wedge shot.
[3]
Geiberger won the tournament, though not handily. He shot even-par 72 in the first and third rounds,
[5]
and was two strokes down to
Gary Player
on Sunday after a 38 (+2) on the front nine put him at 241 (?11) for 63 holes. He regained the lead with a 32 (?4) on the back nine to finish at 273 (?15), two strokes ahead of Player and
Jerry McGee
.
[6]
Scorecard:
Friday, June 10, 1977
Hole
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
Par
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
5
|
4
|
5
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
Score
|
3
|
4
|
2
|
4
|
4
|
2
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
To par
|
?1
|
?1
|
?2
|
?2
|
?2
|
?3
|
?4
|
?5
|
?6
|
?8
|
?9
|
?10
|
?10
|
?10
|
?11
|
?12
|
?12
|
?13
|
- Source:
[4]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Geiberger was born in
Red Bluff, California
, the son of Ray and Mabel Geiberger. His first big tournament win was the 1954
National Jaycee Championship
. He graduated from
Santa Barbara High School
, attended
Menlo College
and graduated from the
University of Southern California
in 1959.
[7]
[8]
Geiberger has six children. His son
Brent Geiberger
is also a professional golfer who won two PGA Tour events. Another son, John, was the coach of the
Pepperdine University
golf team from 1996-2012, and won the
NCAA Championship
in 1997.
[7]
Geiberger's father was one of the victims of the
Tenerife airport disaster
in 1977.
[9]
[10]
[11]
Geiberger had surgery in 1980 to remove his colon due to
inflammatory bowel disease
and has an
ileostomy
.
Professional wins (30)
[
edit
]
PGA Tour wins (11)
[
edit
]
Legend
|
Major championships (1)
|
Players Championships (1)
|
Other PGA Tour (9)
|
No.
|
Date
|
Tournament
|
Winning score
|
To par
|
Margin of
victory
|
Runner(s)-up
|
1
|
Oct 21,
1962
|
Ontario Open Invitational
|
69-67-70-70=276
|
?8
|
1 stroke
|
Gardner Dickinson
,
Bob Goalby
,
Tommy Jacobs
,
Chuck Rotar
,
John Ruedi
|
2
|
Nov 3,
1963
|
Almaden Open Invitational
|
69-67-67-74=277
|
?11
|
1 stroke
|
Dutch Harrison
,
Dick Lotz
|
3
|
Aug 29,
1965
|
American Golf Classic
|
70-69-69-72=280
|
E
|
4 strokes
|
Arnold Palmer
|
4
|
Jul 24,
1966
|
PGA Championship
|
68-72-68-72=280
|
E
|
4 strokes
|
Dudley Wysong
|
5
|
Oct 6,
1974
|
Sahara Invitational
|
70-68-66-69=273
|
?11
|
3 strokes
|
Wally Armstrong
,
Jerry Heard
,
Dave Hill
,
Mike Hill
|
6
|
Apr 27,
1975
|
MONY Tournament of Champions
|
67-67-70-73=277
|
?11
|
Playoff
|
Gary Player
|
7
|
Aug 24, 1975
|
Tournament Players Championship
|
66-68-67-69=270
|
?10
|
3 strokes
|
Dave Stockton
|
8
|
Apr 4,
1976
|
Greater Greensboro Open
|
70-65-65-68=268
|
?16
|
2 strokes
|
Lee Trevino
|
9
|
Jun 27, 1976
|
Western Open
|
71-71-73-73=288
|
+4
|
1 stroke
|
Joe Porter
|
10
|
Jun 12,
1977
|
Danny Thomas Memphis Classic
|
72-59-72-70=273
|
?15
|
2 strokes
|
Jerry McGee
,
Gary Player
|
11
|
May 20,
1979
|
Colonial National Invitation
|
68-69-64-73=274
|
?6
|
1 stroke
|
Don January
,
Gene Littler
|
PGA Tour playoff record (1?1)
PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)
[
edit
]
Other wins (6)
[
edit
]
Senior PGA Tour wins (10)
[
edit
]
No.
|
Date
|
Tournament
|
Winning score
|
To par
|
Margin of
victory
|
Runner(s)-up
|
1
|
Oct 4,
1987
|
Vantage Championship
|
72-67-67=206
|
?4
|
2 strokes
|
Dave Hill
|
2
|
Oct 18, 1987
|
Seniors International Golf Championship
|
70-68-71=209
|
?4
|
Playoff
|
Jim Ferree
|
3
|
Oct 25, 1987
|
Las Vegas Senior Classic
|
68-73-62=203
|
?13
|
4 strokes
|
Chi-Chi Rodriguez
|
4
|
Mar 20,
1988
|
Pointe/Del E. Webb Arizona Classic
|
63-69-67=199
|
?17
|
1 stroke
|
Orville Moody
|
5
|
Aug 20,
1989
|
GTE Northwest Classic
|
68-68-68=204
|
?12
|
3 strokes
|
Frank Beard
|
6
|
Jul 7,
1991
|
Kroger Senior Classic
|
66-69-68=203
|
?10
|
1 stroke
|
Larry Laoretti
|
7
|
Jan 12,
1992
|
Infiniti Senior Tournament of Champions
|
71-67-71-73=282
|
?6
|
3 strokes
|
Bruce Crampton
,
Chi-Chi Rodriguez
|
8
|
Jan 10,
1993
|
Infiniti Senior Tournament of Champions
(2)
|
70-70-69-71=280
|
?8
|
2 strokes
|
Jim Dent
|
9
|
Mar 7, 1993
|
GTE West Classic
|
67-65-66=198
|
?12
|
2 strokes
|
Isao Aoki
,
George Archer
|
10
|
Feb 11,
1996
|
Greater Naples IntelliNet Challenge
|
68-63-71=202
|
?14
|
1 stroke
|
Isao Aoki
|
Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1-1)
Other senior wins (2)
[
edit
]
Major championships
[
edit
]
Wins (1)
[
edit
]
Results timeline
[
edit
]
Win
Top 10
Did not play
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Summary
[
edit
]
- Most consecutive cuts made ? 20 (1963 PGA ? 1970 Masters)
- Longest streak of top-10s ? 2 (twice)
The Players Championship
[
edit
]
Wins (1)
[
edit
]
Results timeline
[
edit
]
Win
Did not play
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Jenkins, Dan
(August 1, 1966).
"A Happy Stroll For Golf's Smiling Gei"
.
Sports Illustrated
. p. 16
. Retrieved
January 13,
2015
.
- ^
"Al Geiberger's achievement 'phenomenal'
"
.
Spokesman-Review
. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 12, 1977. p. D11.
- ^
a
b
"Geiberger near perfect (59)"
.
Pittsburgh Press
. UPI. June 11, 1977. p. A7.
- ^
a
b
"Geiberger fires PGA mark 59, 11 birds, eagle"
.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
. Associated Press. June 11, 1977. p. 11
. Retrieved
June 10,
2013
.
- ^
"Al slips 13 shots but leads by three"
.
Spokesman-Review
. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 12, 1977. p. D5.
- ^
"Geiberger turns off Player, McGee bids"
.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
. Associated Press. June 13, 1977. p. 18
. Retrieved
June 10,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
Kelley, Brent.
"Al Geiberger profile"
. About.com. Archived from
the original
on April 16, 2013
. Retrieved
July 12,
2013
.
- ^
Ballard, Sarah (May 15, 1989).
"Building A New Life: Thanks to his family and to senior golf, Al Geiberger has another chance at happiness"
.
Sports Illustrated
. Retrieved
January 13,
2015
.
- ^
"Crewlist and the Passenger list of the PanAm, that crashed on Tenerife, on 27th March 1977"
(PDF)
.
project-tenerife.com
.
- ^
"Champ plays despite grief"
.
Chillicothe Gazette
. Ohio. Associated Press. March 31, 1977. p. 16.
- ^
"Geiberger's Perspective is Changed by Tragedy"
.
Chicago Tribune
. April 9, 1989
. Retrieved
June 30,
2020
.
External links
[
edit
]