Gene Sarazen

Gene Sarazen was born in 1902 and started out as an assistant professional at the Fort Wayne club because he had been advised to work out of doors. He entered the US Open in 1920 and his entry fee was paid by the members. Two years later he won the title and also the USPGA Championship, which was then still a match-play event. He was only twenty. Sarazen won the USPGA again the following year but after that he experienced a period in the wilderness when he experimented with his swing, crying to compensate for his height which was only 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m). In 1930 he was runner-up in the USPGA and then crossed the Atlantic to win the Open in 1932. The Masters tournament had started in 1934 and Sarazen entered for the first time the following year. Craig Wood was the leader in the clubhouse with a total of 282 when Sarazen stood on the 15th tee in his final round. He required two birdies in the last four holes to tie with Wood, three to win. On the 15th hole, after a good drive, he hit a 4-wood 235 yards (215m) across the water guarding the green, which rolled across the green and into the hole. He had an alba­tross 2 and after three pars to tie with Wood he won the play-off the next day by five shots. This made Sarazen the first player to win the four major tournaments: the Open, the US Open, the USPGA Championship and the Masters. Most people will remember him when he returned to Troon in 1973 to play in the Open, 50 years after the year when, as US Open champion, he had failed to qualify there. In full view of everybody and recorded for posterity on the television, he holed in one at the famous "Postage Stamp", 8th hole.