John Montague (August 25, 1903 – May 25, 1972) was an American

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, who also played some minor-league

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. Under the name LaVerne Moore, which was his original birth name, he was charged with armed robbery and assault over a 1930 case in upper

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. He was acquitted in a 1937 trial. Montague's life was covered in mystery and numerous stories about his extraordinary golf skills and physical strength. At the time of his arrest he lived with Esther Plunkett, and friends believed they were married. :File:John Montague with wife 1938.jpg After leaving the jail, he could not regain his previous golf shape, due to gained weight and lack of practice. Hence he focused on his real estate business and private golf matches with celebrities. His 1937 charity game against

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

Babe Didrikson Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (; Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball and track and field. She won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer O ...

, and Sylvania Annenberg drew approximately 10,000 spectators. Montague qualified for the 1940 U.S. Open, but performed poorly there. He died of heart problems, in obscurity, at a residence motel in Studio City, California.

References

American male golfers Golfers from New York (state) Sportspeople from Syracuse, New York 1903 births 1972 deaths {{US-crime-bio-stub