Craig Ralph Wood (November 18, 1901 – May 7, 1968) was an American professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

er in the 1930s and 1940s, the winner of 21

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

titles including two major championships and a member of three

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 . Wood was the first player to lose all four major championships in extra holes. His major wins came late in his career at age 39, winning the first two of

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January– August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...

, the Masters and U.S. Open.

Playing career

Born in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsbur ...

, Wood turned professional in 1920 at age 18. Despite his two major championships, he is probably most well known as the victim of

Gene Sarazen Gene Sarazen (; born Eugenio Saraceni, February 27, 1902 – May 13, 1999) was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s, and the winner of seven major championships. He is one of five players (along ...

's famous

double eagle A double eagle is a gold coin of the United States with a denomination of $20. (Its gold content of 0.9675 troy oz (30.0926 grams) was worth $20 at the 1849 official price of $20.67/oz.) The coins are 34 mm x 2 mm and are made fro ...

in the 1935 Augusta National Invitational (now known as 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 ma ...

). The shot left the two players tied at the end of regulation and Sarazen went on to victory in a 36-hole playoff. This was the fourth runner-up and third playoff loss for Wood in a major in just two years. In the 1933 British Open at

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's four ...

, Denny Shute had defeated Wood in another 36-hole playoff. In the spring of 1934, Wood was the runner up by a single shot to Horton Smith at the first Masters and later that year he was defeated on the 38th hole by Paul Runyan in the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

, then a

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

event. At the 1939 U.S. Open he birdied the 72nd hole and was again in a playoff, but this time

Byron Nelson John Byron Nelson Jr. (February 4, 1912 – September 26, 2006) was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hog ...

was the winner, making Wood the first player to lose all four major championships in extra holes.

Greg Norman Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournamen ...

is the only other player to suffer this fate. At age 39 in 1941, Wood finally beat his "jinx" in noteworthy fashion. He won the eighth 1941 Masters Tournament in April, its first wire-to-wire champion with rounds of 66-71-71-72=280 for a three-shot victory over runner-up

. Two months later, he won the 45th U.S. Open, held at Colonial Country Club in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...

. His score of 284 (+4) was three strokes ahead of Denny Shute, another on-course nemesis. This was the first time the winner of the Masters had won the U.S. Open in the same year for the first half of the grand slam. Subsequent winners of the first two majors were

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory and ...

(1951, 1953),

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...

(1960),

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tou ...

(1972),

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

(2002), and

Jordan Spieth Jordan Alexander Spieth (born July 27, 1993) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a three-time major winner and the 2015 FedEx Cup champion. Spieth's first maj ...

(2015). In 1954, the Lake Placid Golf and Country Club changed its name to the "Craig Wood Golf Course" in honor of its native son.

Death

Wood died in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intraco ...

in 1968 at age 66, of a heart attack. He was the second Masters champion to die, preceded by Horton Smith in 1963 and followed by

Jimmy Demaret James Newton Demaret (May 24, 1910 – December 28, 1983) was an American professional golfer. He won 31 PGA Tour events in a long career between 1935 and 1957, and was the first three-time winner of the Masters, with titles in 1940, 1947, and ...

in 1983. Wood and his wife are buried in North Elba, New York, just south of Lake Placid. He was elected to the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 g ...

in 2008 on the PGA Tour ballot.

Professional wins (28)

PGA Tour wins (21)

*1928 (1)

New Jersey PGA Championship The New Jersey PGA Championship is a golf tournament that is the section championship of the New Jersey section of the PGA of America. It has been played annually since 1928 at a variety of courses around the state. The format from 1932 to 1934 a ...

*1929 (2) Oklahoma City Open, Hawaiian Open *1930 (2)

, Reddy Tee Tournament *1931 (1) Harlingen Open *1932 (3) New Jersey PGA Match Play Championship, San Francisco National Match Play Open,

Pasadena Open The Pasadena Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1929 to 1938, held at the Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena, California. Winners *1938 (Jan.) Henry Picard *1936–37 ''No tournament'' *1935 (Dec.) Horton Smith (2) *1934 Harold "Jug" ...

*1933 (2) Los Angeles Open, Radium Springs Open *1934 (2) Galveston Open Championship, New Jersey Open *1936 (1)

General Brock Open The General Brock Open was a golf tournament played at Lookout Point Country Club, Fonthill, Ontario, Canada, west of Niagara Falls. It was played from 1935 to 1937. The event was sponsored by the General Brock Hotel. The 1935 event was played ...

*1938 (1) Augusta Open-Forest Hills *1940 (2)

Metropolitan Open The Metropolitan Open is a golf tournament organized by the Metropolitan Golf Association. In the early 20th century it was one of the top events in the country and was retroactively given PGA Tour-level status. History The tournament has been ...

, Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball (with Billy Burke) *1941 (2)

, U.S. Open *1942 (1) Canadian Open *1944 (1)

Durham Open The Durham Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour that was played three times from 1944 to 1945. The tournament was held at the Hope Valley Country Club in Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and ...

Major championships are shown in bold.

Other wins (7)

:''Note: This list may be incomplete.'' *1925

Kentucky Open The Kentucky Open is the Kentucky state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Kentucky Golf Association. It has been played annually since 1920 at a variety of courses around the state. Winners ...

*1926 Kentucky PGA Championship *1929

(January) *1934 Lakes Open *1938

*1942

Metropolitan PGA Championship The Metropolitan PGA Championship is a golf tournament that is the section championship of the Metropolitan section of the PGA of America. It has been played annually since 1926 at a variety of courses around the New York City metropolitan area. It ...

*1943

Golden Valley Four-Ball The Golden Valley Four-Ball was a golf tournament played at Golden Valley Country Club in Golden Valley, Minnesota Golden Valley is a western and first-ring suburb of Minneapolis in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The city is mostly ...

(with

)

Major championships

Wins (2)

Results timeline

NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
DQ = disqualified
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 21 (1934 PGA – 1944 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (1939 Masters – 1940 U.S. Open)

References

External links

*
PGA of America: Metropolitan Section – Craig WoodCraig Wood Golf Club – Lake Placid / North Elba, New York
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Craig American male golfers PGA Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Winners of men's major golf championships World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Golfers from New York (state) People from Lake Placid, New York 1901 births 1968 deaths