Thomas Dean Aaron (born February 22, 1937) is an American former

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who was a member of 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 k ...

during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Aaron is best known for winning the

1973 Masters Tournament The 1973 Masters Tournament was the 37th Masters Tournament, held April 5–9 at the Augusta National Golf Club. Due to weather delays, the final round was played on Monday for the first time since 1961. Tommy Aaron, age 36, won his only major ...

. He is also known for an error in the 1968 Masters Tournament, when he entered a 4 instead of a 3 on

Roberto De Vicenzo Roberto De Vicenzo (14 April 1923 – 1 June 2017) was a professional golfer from Argentina. He won a record 229 professional tournaments worldwide during his career, including seven on the PGA Tour and most famously the 1967 Open Championship. ...

's scorecard, which kept De Vicenzo out of a playoff for the championship.

Early years

Thomas Dean Aaron was born on February 22, 1937 in

Gainesville, Georgia The city of Gainesville is the county seat of Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 42,296. Because of its large number of poultry processing plants, it is often called the "Poultry Capital of t ...

.Georgia Golf Hall of Fame, Members
Tommy Aaron
Retrieved December 20, 2015. He began playing golf at age 12 and won two Georgia Amateur titles, two Southeastern Amateur events and two

Georgia Open The Georgia Open is the Georgia (USA) state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Georgia section of the PGA of America. It has been played annually since 1954 at a variety of courses around the ...

crowns, despite not having a golf course in his hometown.

College career

Aaron attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, where he was a member of the

Kappa Alpha Order Kappa Alpha Order (), commonly known as Kappa Alpha or simply KA, is a social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity and a fraternal order founded in 1865 at Washington and Lee University, Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) i ...

Fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

(Beta Zeta Chapter). While he was a Florida student, he played for the

Florida Gators men's golf The Florida Gators men's golf team represents the University of Florida in the sport of golf. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They play their home ...

team from 1956 to 1959, was a member of the Gators' 1956

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) championship team, and won the individual SEC championship in 1957 and 1958.
Florida Men's Golf 2011 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 27, 35, 39, 41 (2010). Retrieved July 10, 2011. He lost the

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

final to

Charles Coe Charles Robert Coe (October 26, 1923 – May 16, 2001) was an American amateur golfer who is considered by many to be one of the greatest American amateurs in history. A two-time U.S. Amateur winner, Coe never turned professional either becau ...

in 1958, was a member of the 1959 Walker Cup team, and won the

Western Amateur The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association. The Western Amateur features an international field of top-ranked amateur golfers. It was first ...

in 1960. He was recognized as an All-American in 1958 and 1959. Aaron graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1960, and was later inducted into the

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence ...

as a "Gator Great."

Professional career

Aaron turned pro in 1960. His first professional victory came at the 1969 Canadian Open. Although the event is historically considered a PGA Tour event, it was not that year. The following year he gained his first PGA Tour victory at the

Atlanta Classic The Atlanta Classic was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour, a regular stop in suburban Atlanta for over four decades. It was founded in 1967, although previous events dating to 1934 are included in the PGA Tour's past winners list. AT&T was the last ...

. In 1972, he won the

Trophée Lancôme The Trophée Lancôme was a professional golf tournament which was staged in Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche, France from 1970 to 2003. Gaëtan Mourgue D'Algue, a French golf enthusiast from Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche, hoped to popularize the then little-know ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Aaron's best money year was 1972, when he finished in ninth place on the PGA Tour money list. Aaron won the Masters Tournament in 1973, which was his one major championship. He also finished in the top ten at the Masters from 1967 to 1970. His only other top ten major championship finishes came at 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 ...

in 1965 and 1972. In 2000, he made the cut at the Masters at the age of 63, breaking a record previously held by

Gary Player Gary James Player DMS, OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tou ...

. Aaron played for the U.S. team in the

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 ...

in 1969 and 1973, and had a record of one win, one tie and four losses. In the 1980s and 1990s, Aaron played on the

Senior PGA Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many years ...

, winning $3,646,302. The 1992 Kaanapali Classic was his last professional win. Aaron was a student of golf instructor

Manuel de la Torre Manuel Alejandro De la Torre Urbina (born June 13, 1980) is a former Mexican football defender. Career De la Torre began playing football as a defender with Club Universidad Nacional's youth sides. He progressed to Pumas' senior side where ...

. Aaron is also known for being the playing partner of Argentinian

for the final round of the 1968 Masters Tournament. On the seventeenth hole, Aaron incorrectly recorded a par 4 on De Vicenzo's scorecard, when his partner had actually scored a birdie 3 for the hole. Because De Vicenzo signed the scorecard without correcting the error, PGA rules required him to stand by the incorrect, higher score. Instead of a De Vicenzo–

Bob Goalby Robert George Goalby (March 14, 1929 – January 19, 2022) was an American professional golfer. He won the Masters Tournament in 1968 Masters Tournament, 1968, after Roberto De Vicenzo notably made an error on his scorecard. It was Goalby's lon ...

playoff for the green jacket, Goalby won the tournament outright due to the technicality. Ironically, Aaron's 4th round playing partner at the 1973 Masters,

Johnny Miller John Laurence Miller (born April 29, 1947) is an American former professional golfer. He was one of the top players in the world during the mid-1970s. He was the first to shoot 63 in a major championship to win the 1973 U.S. Open, and he ra ...

, recorded a higher score when keeping Aaron's card. Aaron caught the mistake. He was inducted into the

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia. It is the largest state sports hall of fame in the United States at . Exhibitions The Hall of Fame houses over of exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame Induc ...

in 1980, and the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in 1989.

Amateur wins (8)

*1957 SEC Championship (individual), Georgia Amateur *1958 SEC Championship (individual), Southeastern Amateur *1959

Sunnehanna Amateur The Sunnehanna Amateur, officially the Sunnehanna Amateur Tournament for Champions, is a men's amateur golf tournament. Founded in 1954, it is hosted annually at the Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States. It is consider ...

*1960

, Georgia Amateur, Southeastern Amateur

Professional wins (9)

PGA Tour wins (2)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–4)

Other wins (6)

*1957

(as an amateur) *1960

*1969 Canadian Open *1972

, ABC Japan vs USA Golf Matches *1975

Senior PGA Tour wins (1)

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

Amateur Professional CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place. Source for The Masters
www.masters.com
Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur
USGA Championship Database
Source for The British Open
www.opengolf.com
Source for PGA Championship
PGA Championship Media Guide
Source for 1959 British Amateur
The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1959, pg. 6.

Results in senior majors

Results may not be in chronological order ''Note: The

Senior British Open Championship The Senior Open Championship, or simply The Senior Open (and originally known as the Senior British Open) is a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and over. It is run by The R&A, the same body that organises The Open Championship. Pr ...

did not become a major until 2003.''
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
DQ = disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

(winners) Professional *

: 1969 (winners),

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

(winners)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aaron, Tommy American male golfers Florida Gators men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Gainesville, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area 1937 births Living people