American professional golfer (1930?2019)
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
[
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]
Littler was born in
San Diego
,
California
. He played on the 1953 United States
Walker Cup
team, and won the
U.S. Amateur
and the
California State Amateur
that same year.
[2]
In 1954, he won a
PGA Tour
event as an amateur, a rare achievement which was not to be repeated until
Doug Sanders
won the
Canadian Open
in 1956.
Littler graduated from
San Diego State University
, and after that served in the
United States Navy
from 1951 to 1954.
Professional career
[
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]
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,
[3]
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 ended his career with 29 PGA Tour wins, and also won two tournaments in
Japan
and one in
Australia
.
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.
[4]
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
[
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]
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.
[5]
[6]
Littler died at the age of 88 on February 15, 2019.
[7]
[8]
In popular culture
[
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]
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
.
[9]
Professional wins (54)
[
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]
PGA Tour wins (29)
[
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]
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
|
Dutch Harrison
|
2
|
Jan 9, 1955
|
Los Angeles Open
|
?8 (72-67-68-69=276)
|
2 strokes
|
Ted Kroll
|
3
|
Feb 6, 1955
|
Phoenix Open
|
?5 (66-70-68-71=275)
|
1 stroke
|
Billy Maxwell
,
Arnold Palmer
|
4
|
May 1, 1955
|
Tournament of Champions
|
?8 (69-71-68-72=280)
|
13 strokes
|
Jerry Barber
,
Pete Cooper
,
Bob Toski
|
5
|
Aug 28, 1955
|
Labatt Open
|
?8 (67-69-68-68=272)
|
Playoff
|
Stan Leonard
|
6
|
Feb 19, 1956
|
Texas Open Invitational
|
?12 (68-73-70-65=276)
|
2 strokes
|
Mike Fetchick
,
Frank Stranahan
,
Ernie Vossler
|
7
|
Apr 29, 1956
|
Tournament of Champions
(2)
|
?7 (70-71-69-71=281)
|
4 strokes
|
Cary Middlecoff
|
8
|
Jun 10, 1956
|
Palm Beach Round Robin
|
+55 pts (69-69-68-68-70=344)
|
24 points
|
Ted Kroll
|
9
|
Apr 21, 1957
|
Tournament of Champions
(3)
|
?3 (73-73-69-70=285)
|
3 strokes
|
Billy Casper
,
Jimmy Demaret
,
Dow Finsterwald
,
Billy Maxwell
|
10
|
Feb 8,
1959
|
Phoenix Open Invitational
(2)
|
?12 (67-63-67-71=268)
|
1 stroke
|
Art Wall Jr.
|
11
|
Feb 15, 1959
|
Tucson Open Invitational
|
?14 (65-67-68-66=266)
|
1 stroke
|
Joe Campbell
,
Art Wall Jr.
|
12
|
May 17, 1959
|
Arlington Hotel Open
|
?18 (67-69-64-70=270)
|
1 stroke
|
Jim Ferree
|
13
|
Jul 19, 1959
|
Insurance City Open Invitational
|
?12 (64-66-72-70=272)
|
1 stroke
|
Tom Nieporte
|
14
|
Aug 30, 1959
|
Miller Open Invitational
|
?15 (68-66-64-67=265)
|
1 stroke
|
Bob Rosburg
,
Bo Wininger
|
15
|
Jun 12,
1960
|
Oklahoma City Open Invitational
|
?11 (71-64-70-68=273)
|
1 stroke
|
Art Wall Jr.
|
16
|
Jul 31, 1960
|
Eastern Open Invitational
|
?15 (65-68-73-67=273)
|
2 strokes
|
Gary Player
|
17
|
Jun 17,
1961
|
U.S. Open
|
+1 (73-68-72-68=281)
|
1 stroke
|
Bob Goalby
,
Doug Sanders
|
18
|
Jan 28,
1962
|
Lucky International Open
|
?10 (65-68-68-73=274)
|
2 strokes
|
George Knudson
|
19
|
Jun 10, 1962
|
Thunderbird Classic Invitational
|
?13 (67-71-70-67=275)
|
2 strokes
|
Jack Nicklaus
|
20
|
Jul 17,
1965
|
Canadian Open
|
?7 (70-68-69-66=273)
|
1 stroke
|
Jack Nicklaus
|
21
|
Feb 16,
1969
|
Phoenix Open Invitational
(3)
|
?21 (69-66-62-66=263)
|
2 strokes
|
Miller Barber
,
Don January
,
Billy Maxwell
|
22
|
Apr 6, 1969
|
Greater Greensboro Open
|
?10 (66-70-69-69=274)
|
Playoff
|
Julius Boros
,
Orville Moody
,
Tom Weiskopf
|
23
|
Apr 18,
1971
|
Monsanto Open
|
?8 (71-67-71-67=276)
|
3 strokes
|
George Archer
,
Pete Brown
|
24
|
May 23, 1971
|
Colonial National Invitation
|
+3 (72-68-74-69=283)
|
1 stroke
|
Bert Yancey
|
25
|
Jul 22,
1973
|
St. Louis Children's Hospital Golf Classic
|
?12 (66-66-68-68=268)
|
1 stroke
|
Bruce Crampton
|
26
|
Jan 26,
1975
|
Bing Crosby National Pro-Am
|
?8 (68-71-68-73=280)
|
4 strokes
|
Hubert Green
|
27
|
May 25, 1975
|
Danny Thomas Memphis Classic
|
?18 (67-68-69-66=270)
|
5 strokes
|
John Mahaffey
|
28
|
Aug 3, 1975
|
Westchester Classic
|
?17 (68-68-69-66=271)
|
Playoff
|
Julius Boros
|
29
|
May 1,
1977
|
Houston Open
|
?12 (70-65-67-74=276)
|
3 strokes
|
Lanny Wadkins
|
PGA Tour playoff record (3?8)
No.
|
Year
|
Tournament
|
Opponent(s)
|
Result
|
1
|
1955
|
Labatt Open
|
Stan Leonard
|
Won with par on first extra hole
|
2
|
1956
|
Texas International Open
|
Cary Middlecoff
,
Peter Thomson
|
Thomson won with birdie on second extra hole
|
3
|
1957
|
Western Open
|
George Bayer
,
Doug Ford
,
Billy Maxwell
|
Ford won with par on third extra hole
Littler and Maxwell eliminated by par on first hole
|
4
|
1960
|
Memphis Open Invitational
|
Tommy Bolt
,
Ben Hogan
|
Bolt won 18-hole playoff;
Bolt: ?2 (68),
Hogan: ?1 (69),
Littler: +1 (71)
|
5
|
1962
|
Memphis Open Invitational
|
Lionel Hebert
,
Gary Player
|
Hebert won with birdie on first extra hole
|
6
|
1966
|
Tucson Open
|
Joe Campbell
|
Lost to birdie on first extra hole
|
7
|
1969
|
Greater Greensboro Open
|
Julius Boros
,
Orville Moody
,
Tom Weiskopf
|
Won with birdie on fifth extra hole
Weiskopf eliminated by par on first hole
|
8
|
1970
|
Masters Tournament
|
Billy Casper
|
Lost 18-hole playoff;
Casper: ?3 (69),
Littler: +2 (74)
|
9
|
1975
|
Westchester Classic
|
Julius Boros
|
Won with par on first extra hole
|
10
|
1977
|
Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open
|
Bruce Lietzke
|
Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole
|
11
|
1977
|
PGA Championship
|
Lanny Wadkins
|
Lost to par on third extra hole
|
Source:
[10]
PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)
[
edit
]
PGA Tour of Australia wins (1)
[
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]
PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (1?0)
Other wins (3)
[
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]
Senior PGA Tour wins (8)
[
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]
Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1?2)
Japan Senior Tour wins (2)
[
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]
- 1983 Coca-Cola Grandslam Championship
- 1987 Coca-Cola Grandslam Championship
Other senior wins (10)
[
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]
Major championships
[
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]
Wins (1)
[
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]
Amateur wins (1)
[
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]
Results timeline
[
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]
Win
Top 10
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
[
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]
- 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
[
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]
Amateur
Professional
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Gene Littler, golfer who won the US Open and was admired for the beauty of his swing ? obituary"
.
Daily Telegraph
. March 21, 2019
. Retrieved
March 21,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"World Golf Hall of Fame profile"
. Retrieved
January 15,
2014
.
- ^
Kelley, Brent.
"Gene Littler profile"
. About.com. Archived from
the original
on October 16, 2011
. Retrieved
August 20,
2011
.
- ^
Shain, Jeff (February 1, 2013).
"AT&T Pebble Beach ? First Look"
. PGA Tour
. Retrieved
February 2,
2013
.
- ^
White, Gordon S. (August 4, 1975).
"Comeback Star of Pro Golf Tour"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Wright, Alfred (May 14, 1962).
"Loud Noise From the Quiet Man"
.
Sports Illustrated
.
- ^
Strege, John (February 15, 2019).
"Gene Littler, a U.S. Open champion and member of World Golf Hall of Fame, has died"
.
Golf Digest
.
- ^
Goldstein, Richard (February 16, 2019).
"Gene Littler, Golfer With a Gorgeous Swing, Dies at 88"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on February 17, 2019
. Retrieved
February 17,
2019
.
- ^
Trinkle, Jim (January 26, 1978).
"On tour with Sandy"
.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
. p. 37
. Retrieved
February 17,
2022
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
Barkow, Al
(November 1989).
The History of the PGA TOUR
. Copyright
PGA Tour
.
Doubleday
. p.
264
.
ISBN
0-385-26145-4
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
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|
† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire; # indicates the event was won by an amateur; 1942?1945
cancelled due to
World War II
|
|
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|
- † indicates the event was won in extra holes.
|
|
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|
---|
| | Won
: 19.5 – 12.5
Johnny Pott
: Made the team, but did not participate in the event due to a back injury.
|
|