Jerry McGee (July 21, 1943 – March 29, 2021) was an American professional golfer who played on the

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 ...

and the Champions Tour. McGee was born in

New Lexington, Ohio New Lexington is a village in and the county seat of Perry County, Ohio, United States, southwest of Zanesville and miles southeast of Columbus. The population was 4,731 at the 2010 census. In 2020, New Lexington’s historical Main Street und ...

. He attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

and was a member of the

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 ...

team. He turned pro in 1966 and joined the PGA Tour in 1967. McGee won four PGA Tour events in the latter half of the 1970s. In 1979, he won twice: a one shot win over

Jerry Pate Jerome Kendrick Pate (born September 16, 1953) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour Champions, formerly on the PGA Tour. As a 22-year-old rookie, he won the U.S. Open in 1976. Early years Born in Macon, Georgia, Pate grew up in the ...

at the

Kemper Open The Kemper Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1968 to 2006. Perhaps more so than any other "regular" PGA Tour stop, the event wandered about, not just from course to course within a given metropolitan area, but along the East Coast. ...

, and a couple of months later a one stroke win over Jack Renner at the

Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open Sammy is a nickname, frequently for people named Samuel, and also an English spelling of the Arabic name Sami. People Music *Sammy Adams (born 1987), American rapper and songwriter *Sammy Cahn (1913-1993), American songwriter * Sammy Davis Jr. ( ...

. His best finish in a major championship was T-5 at the

1972 Masters Tournament The 1972 Masters Tournament was the 36th Masters Tournament, held April 6–9 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Jack Nicklaus opened with a 68 and led wire-to-wire to win the fourth of his six Masters titles, three strokes ahead ...

. He was a member of the

1977 Ryder Cup The 22nd Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England. The United States team won the competition by a score of 12 to 7 points. The event was the last time that a Great Britain and Ireland tea ...

team. McGee was known for his superb play around the greens. At 5 feet 9½ inches tall and a slim 160 pounds, distance in the ball striking phase of the game was a constant problem for him. He was also plagued by injuries and illnesses during his career. McGee retired from the PGA Tour in 1981 largely due to health problems. He took a club pro job at Oak Tree Country Club in Pennsylvania just across the border from his

East Palestine, Ohio East Palestine ( ) is a village in northeastern Columbiana County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,761 at the 2020 census. Located on the state's border with Pennsylvania, East Palestine is 20 miles (31 km) south of Youngstown and ...

home. McGee returned to competitive golf on the Senior PGA Tour in 1993 upon reaching the age of 50. His best finish in this venue is a T-2 at the 1997 BankBoston Classic. In 1999, he underwent treatment for oropharyngeal, squamous cell carcinoma. McGee's son, Mike McGee, a golf agent/businessman, and one-time record-setting pitcher at Mt. Union College, is married to

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of week ...

golfer

Annika Sörenstam Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 intern ...

. McGee died March 29, 2021, in Florida at the age of 77.

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (4)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Other wins (1)

*1982 Tri-State Open

Results in major championships

''Note: McGee never played in

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later t ...

''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
DQ = disqualified

References

External links