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 wi ...

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 Eu ...

, 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 Plattsburgh. ...

, 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'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 from ...

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 maj ...

). 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 fou ...

Denny Shute Herman Densmore "Denny" Shute (October 25, 1904 – May 13, 1974) was an American professional golfer who won three major championships in the 1930s. Life and career Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Shute was the son of a golf pro from England; Hermon ...

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 Horton Smith (May 22, 1908 – October 15, 1963) was an American professional golfer, best known as the winner of the first and third Masters Tournaments. Tournament career Born in Springfield, Missouri, Smith turned professional in 1926 and w ...

at the first Masters and later that year he was defeated on the 38th hole by

Paul Runyan Paul Scott Runyan (July 12, 1908 – March 17, 2002) was an American professional golfer. Among the world's best players in the mid-1930s, he won two PGA Championships, and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Runyan was also a golf instruc ...

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 Hoga ...

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 tournament ...

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 fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. His score of 284 (+4) was three strokes ahead of

, 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 Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

. 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 List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

(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 majo ...

(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 Intracoas ...

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

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 North Elba is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 8,957 at the 2010 census. North Elba is on the western edge of the county. It is by road southwest of Plattsburgh, south-southwest of Montreal, and north of ...

, 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 go ...

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 and ...

*1929 (2)

Oklahoma City Open The Oklahoma City Open Invitational was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour that played at various clubs in Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of th ...

Hawaiian Open The Sony Open in Hawaii is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and is part of the tour's FedEx Cup Series. It has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, since the event's modern-day inception as the Hawaiian O ...

*1930 (2)

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

San Francisco National Match Play Open The San Francisco Open was a golf tournament played in the San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern Califo ...

, Pasadena Open *1933 (2)

Los Angeles Open The Genesis Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in southern California, first played in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open. Other previous names include Genesis Open, Northern Trust Open and Nissan Open. Played annually i ...

, Radium Springs Open *1934 (2) Galveston Open Championship,

New Jersey Open The New Jersey State Open Championship is the New Jersey state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the New Jersey State Golf Association. It has been played annually since 1921 at a variety of co ...

*1936 (1) General Brock Open *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 The Miami International Four-Ball was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1924 to 1954. It was played primarily at what is now the Miami Springs Golf and Country Club in Miami, Florida. It was also played at the Miami Biltmore Golf Course in Co ...

(with Billy Burke) *1941 (2)

, U.S. Open *1942 (1) Canadian Open *1944 (1) Durham Open Major championships are shown in bold.

Other wins (7)

:''Note: This list may be incomplete.'' *1925 Kentucky Open *1926 Kentucky PGA Championship *1929 Pasadena Open (January) *1934

Lakes Open The Lakes Open was a golf tournament played at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia between 1934 and 1974. The inaugural event was organised in connection with the visit of a group of American professionals who had earlier pla ...

*1938

*1942 Metropolitan PGA Championship *1943 Golden Valley Four-Ball (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