Gene Littler
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| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | July 21, 1930 San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Nationality |  United States |
| College | San Diego State University |
| Career | |
| Turned Pro | 1954 |
| Professional wins | 47 (PGA Tour: 29, Other: 3, Champions Tour: 8, Other senior: 7) |
| Best Results in Major Championships Wins: 1 |
|
| Masters | 2nd: 1970 |
| U.S. Open | Won 1961 |
| British Open | T18: 1974 |
| PGA Championship | 2nd: 1977 |
| Awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 1990 |
| Bob Jones Award | 1973 |
Gene Alec Littler (born July 21, 1930) is an American golfer. He was born in San Diego, California. A graduate of San Diego State University, he was one of the first of a new breed of college-educated golfers who turned professional after graduation. Littler had a solid temperament and was nicknamed "Gene the Machine" on account of his smooth rhythmical swing. He believed that, "Golf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the most misses. The people who win make the smallest mistakes."
Contents |
[edit] Career outline
Littler played in the 1953 United States Walker Cup team, and won the U.S. Amateur Championship in the same year. In 1954 he won a PGA Tour event as an amateur, an achievement which was not to be repeated until Scott Verplank won the Western Open in 1985. He also finished runner up at the 1954 U.S. Open. Littler turned professional later in 1954. In 1955 he won four times on the Tour, but by 1958 he was in a slump. After taking advice from Paul Runyan he recovered in 1959 to have his winningmost year with five PGA Tour victories. He finished second on the money list that year, which was to remain his best career placing. He was stricken with cancer of the lymph system in 1972, but came back to win five more times on the PGA Tour. He won 29 times on the PGA Tour in total and he also won two tournaments in Japan and one in Australia.
Littler's only major championship title was the 1961 U.S. Open. He shot a 68 in the final round to overtake Doug Sanders. He accumulated seventeen top ten 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 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 5 wins and 3 ties in 10 singles matches.
In the 1980s and 1990s Littler played on the Senior PGA Tour, winning eight times. In 1973, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990.
[edit] PGA Tour wins (29)
- 1954 (1) San Diego Open (as an amateur)
- 1955 (4) Los Angeles Open, Phoenix Open, Tournament of Champions, Labatt Open
- 1956 (3) Texas Open Invitational, Tournament of Champions, Palm Beach Round Robin
- 1957 (1) Tournament of Champions
- 1959 (5) Phoenix Open Invitational, Tucson Open Invitational, Arlington Hotel Open, Insurance City Open Invitational, Miller Open Invitational
- 1960 (2) Oklahoma City Open Invitational, Eastern Open Invitational
- 1961 (1) U.S. Open
- 1962 (2) Lucky International Open, Thunderbird Classic Invitational
- 1965 (1) Canadian Open
- 1969 (2) Phoenix Open Invitational, Greater Greensboro Open
- 1971 (2) Monsanto Open, Colonial National Invitation
- 1973 (1) St. Louis Children's Hospital Golf Classic
- 1975 (3) Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, Danny Thomas Memphis Classic, Westchester Classic
- 1977 (1) Houston Open
Major championship is shown in bold.
Source: (Barkow 1989, pp. 264)
[edit] Other wins (3)
this list may be incomplete
- 1954 California State Open
- 1974 Pacific Masters
- 1975 Pacific Masters
[edit] Champions Tour wins (8)
- 1983 (2) Greater Daytona Senior Classic, Greater Syracuse Senior's Pro Classic
- 1984 (1) Seiko-Tucson Senior Match Play Championship
- 1986 (2) Sunwest Bank Charley Pride Senior Golf Classic, Bank One Senior Golf Classic
- 1987 (2) NYNEX/Golf Digest Commemorative, Gus Machado Senior Classic
- 1989 (1) Aetna Challenge
[edit] Other senior wins (7)
- 1981 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Bob Rosburg)
- 1985 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Don January)
- 1986 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Don January)
- 1994 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Legendary Division (with Don January)
- 1997 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Legendary Division (with Don January)
- 2001 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Don January)
- 2004 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Don January)
[edit] Major Championships
[edit] Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | Winning Score | Margin | Runners Up |
| 1961 | U.S. Open | +1 (73-68-72-68=281) | 1 stroke | Doug Sanders, Bob Goalby |
[edit] Results timeline
| Tournament | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | T22 | T22 | T12 | CUT | 42 | T8 |
| U.S. Open | 2 | 15 | T34 | T32 | 4 | T11 |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | T33 | DNP | T10 |
| Tournament | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | CUT | T15 | 4 | T24 | T13 | T6 | T44 | T26 | T43 | T8 |
| U.S. Open | CUT | 1 | T8 | T21 | T11 | T8 | T48 | CUT | DNP | CUT |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | CUT | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | T18 | T5 | T23 | T34 | T33 | T28 | T3 | T7 | T30 | T48 |
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | 2 | T4 | DNP | T17 | T39 | T22 | T12 | T8 | T24 | T10 |
| U.S. Open | T12 | T37 | DNP | T18 | CUT | T49 | T50 | DNP | T35 | CUT |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T18 | CUT | T32 | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | T4 | T75 | DNP | CUT | T28 | T7 | T22 | 2 | CUT | T16 |
| Tournament | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | 49 | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | T38 | DNP | T22 | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | CUT | CUT | T49 | CUT |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10
[edit] See also
[edit] References
Barkow, Al (1989), The History of the PGA TOUR, Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-26145-4
