Phil Rodgers (April 3, 1938 – June 26, 2018) was an American professional golfer.

Life

Rodgers was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

. He won the 1958 NCAA Division I Championship while playing at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...

. Immediately after, he was placed in the first position on the first team of the 1958 All-American golf team, which included many well known professionals including future winners of 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 ...

Al Geiberger Allen Lee Geiberger Sr. (born September 1, 1937) is an American former professional golfer. Professional career Geiberger turned pro in 1959 and joined the PGA Tour in 1960. Geiberger won 11 tournaments on the PGA Tour, the first being the 1962 ...

and

Bobby Nichols Robert Herman Nichols (born April 14, 1936) is an American professional golfer, best known for winning the PGA Championship in 1964. Early years Born in April 1936 and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Nichols attended St. Xavier High School. Wh ...

and Masters Tournament winner,

Tommy Aaron Thomas Dean Aaron (born February 22, 1937) is an American former professional golfer who was a member of the PGA Tour during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Aaron is best known for winning the 1973 Masters Tournament. He is also known for an erro ...

. While in the Marine Corps, Rodgers won virtually every service tournament (he was even pulled out of Boot Camp to play in the All Services tournament), then turned professional in 1961. He won five times 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 ...

in the 1960s. Playing sparingly in 1961, but winning the "unofficial" 54-hole Sahara Pro-Am in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, Rodgers started his first full year on the PGA Tour in 1962, which began with the

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 in ...

. Tied for the lead after 54 holes with

Fred Hawkins Fred Hawkins (September 3, 1923 – December 6, 2014) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s. Hawkins was born in Antioch, Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois and the Tex ...

at 206, Rodgers ran away from the field shooting a 9-under-par 62 making 9 birdies and 9 pars to win his first championship by 9 strokes. He lost to Bob Charles in a 36-hole playoff in the

1963 Open Championship The 1963 Open Championship was the 92nd Open Championship, held from 10–13 July at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England. Bob Charles won his only major championship in a 36-hole playoff on Saturday, eight strokes a ...

. Rodgers also lost the 1962 U.S. Open by two strokes despite going 6-over-par on two holes. In the first round, he took a quadruple bogey 8 on the 17th hole, and 4-putted the 12th hole in the third round. Still, after chipping in for a birdie on the 12th hole in the final round, he stood at 2-under-par with six holes left, needing 6 pars to win. Instead he made 3 bogeys enabling

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 ...

and Jack Nicklaus to finish regulation play tied for first at 1-under-par. Nicklaus went on to win the playoff and scored his first victory as a professional. After a stint on the Senior PGA Tour, Rodgers became a much sought-after teacher, specializing in the short game. One of his first pupils was Jack Nicklaus, who publicly credited Rodgers with teaching him more precise wedge play which helped him win his fourth U.S. Open championship in 1980 at age 40. For several years, ''

Golf Magazine ''Golf Magazine'' is a monthly golf magazine. It was started in April 1959 by Universal Publishing and Distributing, who sold it to Times Mirror in 1972. Time Inc. acquired it in 2000. It was acquired by Howard Milstein in 2018. It was the world ...

'' ranked Rodgers in their top 100 teachers. Rodgers died in San Diego on June 26, 2018 from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

at the age of 80.

Professional wins (6)

PGA Tour wins (5)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

Other wins (1)

''this list may be incomplete'' *1961 Sahara Pro-Am

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1962 PGA Championship)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (twice) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Phil American male golfers Houston Cougars men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Golfers from San Diego 1938 births 2018 deaths