Arthur Jonathan Wall Jr. (November 25, 1923 – October 31, 2001) was an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

, best known for winning the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Early life

Wall was born and raised in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. He and his younger brother "Dewey" caddied for their parents, starting around age ten, and began playing shortly after. The brothers served in the military during World War II. Art served in the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and Dewey in the Navy. Dewey was killed at the age of 20 in October 1944 when his submarine USS ''Shark'' was sunk in the Pacific Ocean near Taiwan.

Amateur career

Wall won the

Pennsylvania Amateur The Pennsylvania Amateur Golf Championship is an annual golf tournament in the American state of Pennsylvania. Jay Sigel Robert Jay Sigel (born November 13, 1943) is an American professional golfer. He enjoyed one of the more illustrious caree ...

in 1947 and 1949. He attended

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

and graduated in 1949 with a business degree.

Professional career

Wall won 14 titles on the PGA Tour, including four in 1959. That year he was chosen as the PGA Player of the Year, and also won the money title and Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average. His most notable career achievement was his victory at the Masters. In the final round in 1959, he birdied five of his last six holes to shoot a 66 and overtake Cary Middlecoff and defending champion Arnold Palmer. He was a member of three United States

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

teams:

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

, and

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

. Wall is also notable for sinking 45

holes-in-one In golf, a hole in one or hole-in-one (also known as an ace, mostly in American English) occurs when a ball hit from a tee to start a hole finishes in the cup. A ball hit from a tee following a lost ball, out-of-bounds, or water hazard is not a ho ...

in his playing career (including casual rounds), a world record for many years.

Final win

Wall's final tour win came as a grandfather at age 51 years 7 months at the Greater Milwaukee Open in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, which was his first tour win in nine years.

Death

Wall died at the age of 77 from respiratory failure after a lengthy illness. He is buried at Glen Dyberry Cemetery in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.

Amateur wins

*1947

*1949 Pennsylvania Amateur

Professional wins (31)

PGA Tour wins (14)

PGA Tour playoff record (5–5)

Caribbean Tour wins (7)

* 1963 Caracas Open * 1964

Maracaibo Open Invitational The Maracaibo Open Invitational was a golf tournament in Venezuela played from 1960 to 1974. It was part of the Caribbean Tour. The event was played at Maracaibo Country Club in Maracaibo, Venezuela. In the 1970s the event was sponsored by Ford. ...

, Puerto Rico Open,

Los Lagartos Open The Los Lagartos Open or Abierto Internacional de Los Lagartos is a golf tournament that has been held at Los Lagartos Country Club in Bogotá, Colombia since 1964. Between 1964 and 1974, it was a fixture on the PGA Tour-sponsored Caribbean To ...

* 1965 Panama Open,

* 1966

Latin American wins (3)

* 1964 Ciudad Baranquilla Open, Mexican Open * 1966 Caracas Open

Other wins (5)

*1956

Philadelphia PGA Championship The Philadelphia PGA Championship is the annual section championship of the Philadelphia Section of the PGA of America. It has been played since 1922 on courses throughout the Philadelphia area, including courses in Delaware and New Jersey. The mos ...

*1962

*1963

*1965

*1971

Other senior wins (2)

*1980 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Tommy Bolt) *1996 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Doug Ford)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

''Note: Wall never played in The Open Championship.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1972 PGA – 1976 Masters) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (five times)

References

External links

Duke University Athletics Hall of Fame
– Art Wall Jr.

– Art Wall

– Art Wall Jr. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, Art Jr. American male golfers Duke Blue Devils men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Pennsylvania United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II People from Honesdale, Pennsylvania 1923 births 2001 deaths