Claude "Butch" Harmon Jr. (born August 28, 1943) is 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 ...

instructor and former professional player. He is the son of 1948 Masters Tournament champion Claude Harmon Sr. and has been in the golf industry since 1965.

Early life

Butch Harmon was raised in New Rochelle, New York by Eugene Claude Harmon (1916–89) and Alice Cullen McKee Harmon (1918–70). His father was the head pro at the nearby

Winged Foot Golf Club Winged Foot Golf Club is a private golf club in the northeastern United States, located in Mamaroneck, New York, a suburb northeast of New York City. The club was founded in 1921, by a group largely made up of members of The New York Athletic Cl ...

in Mamaroneck. The family also lived part of the year in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, when Butch's father served as the winter professional at the Seminole Golf Club. Butch began playing golf from an early age, as did his three younger brothers, Craig, Bill, and Dick (1947-2006), who also all became golf professionals. Butch graduated from Iona Grammar School in 1958 and went to Iona Prep for one year before he transferred to and graduated from

New Rochelle High School New Rochelle High School (NRHS) is a public high school in New Rochelle, New York. It is part of the City School District of New Rochelle and is the city's sole public high school. Its student body represents 60 countries from around the world. I ...

in 1962. Butch excelled at all sports, and was a star halfback on the 1961 New Rochelle High School football team that compiled a 5–2–1 record.

Tour and club professional

Harmon attended 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 ...

, and served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

for three years, seeing duty in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

.''The Pro'', by Butch Harmon, 2006. Harmon was a

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 ...

player from 1970 to 1971, with one win to his name on the Tour, the 1971 inaugural Broome County Open, which was a satellite event during

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 ...

in the UK. He lived in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

for several years in the 1970s, serving as the personal instructor to

King Hassan II Hassan II ( ar, الحسن الثاني, translit=al-Ḥasan aṯ-ṯhānī;), with the prefix "Mulay" before his enthronement 9 July 1929 – 23 July 1999) was the King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999. He was a member of the 'Alaw ...

. He was a club professional in the United States, beginning his career at Crow Valley Golf Club in Davenport, Iowa where he met his now wife Christy. Harmon became well known through his work with

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 ...

, beginning in the early 1990s.

Instructor to Tour stars

Harmon is best known for having been

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 ...

's golf coach from 1993 to 2004 and

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Lefty, is an American professional golfer who plays for LIV Golf. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two ...

's golf coach from 2007 to 2015. He has also worked with other major champions such as

Ernie Els Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature (he stands ) along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victor ...

, Stewart Cink,

Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III (born April 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer who has won 21 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship: the 1997 PGA Championship. He won the Players Championship in 1992 and 2003. He was in the ...

, Fred Couples and

Justin Leonard Justin Charles Garrett Leonard (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional golfer. He has twelve career wins on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1997 Open Championship. Early years Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Leonard graduated ...

, and with younger stars such as

Nick Watney Nicholas Alan Watney (born April 25, 1981) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. The highlight of Watney's career is his victory at the 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship. In July 2011, Watney won the AT&T National and broke in ...

and Rickie Fowler. Before semi retiring from the tour in 2019, he coached

Jimmy Walker James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Beau James, was mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. A flamboyant politician, he was a liberal Democrat and part of the powerful Tammany Hall machine. He was forced t ...

Dustin Johnson Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 and the 2020 Masters Tournament with a record scor ...

, Rickie Fowler, Gary Woodland, and Nick Watney. In 2003 Harmon was ranked the top golf teacher in the United States in a poll of his peers organized by '' Golf Digest'' magazine, and has repeated as winner of this honor each year since. He runs the ''Butch Harmon School of Golf at the

Rio Secco Rio Secco Golf Club is a public golf course located in the Seven Hills neighborhood of Henderson, in the Las Vegas Valley. The course has hosted the annual Tiger Woods Jam and other charity and competitive events including the VegasGolfer Pro Sho ...

Golf Club'' 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 ...

. The school also has a branch in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

at The Els Golf Club in Dubai Sports City and The Floridian in Palm City, Florida. He also gives golf clinics around the world. On April 8, 2008,

officially announced that he was switching swing coaches from David Leadbetter (whom Els had worked with since 1990) to Butch Harmon. During Els' 2008 Masters press conference, Els said the change was made to try to shorten and tighten his swing, as well as get a fresh perspective. Harmon's brothers Craig and Bill are also both top golf coaches, who have made the top 50 Instructors' list compiled by '' Golf Digest'' on several occasions. Butch's other brother Dick was the golf professional at the River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas from 1977 to 2001. After leaving that position, he established two teaching centers in Houston. Dick died February 10, 2006, at age 58 from pneumonia.

Author, broadcaster

Harmon appears regularly in the media, including work for Britain's

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. Commentating for Sky Sports at the 1997 Ryder cup, Harmon was asked about the negative press Nick Faldo was receiving from the media in the buildup to the event. Harmon replied, "How can you not like Nick Faldo? He's one of the greatest golfers of all time and he's also one hell of a nice guy." Butch Harmon wrote the 2006 book ''The Pro'', describing his life in golf with his father, brothers, friends, and the top players he has coached. Harmon has written golf instructional books under the titles ''Four Cornerstones of Winning Golf'' and ''Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons''. He also worked with

on his multi-media learning system ''Greg Norman's Better Golf'', which consists of three videos, a book, skill guide cards, and an audio tape; as well as on Greg Norman's book ''Advanced Golf''. Harmon writes a regular monthly instructional column in '' Golf Digest'' magazine. Butch has also appeared in an episode of the TV show ''

Pawn Stars ''Pawn Stars'' is an American reality television series shown on History and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a 24 ...

'' in which he taught

Chumlee Austin Lee Russell (born September 8, 1982), better known by his stage name Chumlee, is an American businessman and reality television personality, best known for his appearances on the History Channel television show ''Pawn Stars'', which depi ...

to play golf, along with

Corey Harrison Richard Corey "Big Hoss" Harrison (born April 27, 1983) is an American businessman and reality television personality, known as a cast member of the History TV series ''Pawn Stars'', which documents his work at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn ...

Professional wins (1)

*1971 Broome County Open

References

External links

Butch Harmon School of Golf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmon, Butch American male golfers PGA Tour golfers Houston Cougars men's golfers American golf instructors Golf writers and broadcasters Golfers from New York (state) American memoirists New Rochelle High School alumni Sportspeople from New Rochelle, New York 1943 births Living people