Gay Robert Brewer Jr. (March 19, 1932 – August 31, 2007) was an American

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 p ...

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 won the

1967 Masters Tournament The 1967 Masters Tournament was the 31st Masters Tournament, held April 6–9 at Augusta National Golf Club. Gay Brewer won his only major title by one stroke over runner-up Bobby Nichols. Rebounding from a three-putt on the 72nd hole and a pla ...

Life

Brewer was born in

Middletown, Ohio Middletown is a city located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, about 35 miles (47 km) north of Cincinnati. The population as of the 2020 census was 50,987. It is part of the Cincinnati metrop ...

, and raised in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...

. As an amateur, Brewer won the Kentucky State Boys Golf Championship in three consecutive years from 1949 to 1951 while attending Lafayette high school. In 1949, he also won the

U.S. Junior Amateur The United States Junior Amateur Championship is one of the fourteen U.S. national golf championships organized by the United States Golf Association. It is open to amateur boys who are under 19 on the last day of the competition and have a USGA Ha ...

, the most prestigious amateur event for golfers under the age of eighteen. In 1952, Brewer won the

Southern Amateur The Southern Amateur is an amateur golf tournament. It has been played since 1902 and is organized by the Southern Golf Association. From 1902 to 1963, it was played at match play. Since 1964, it has been played at stroke play. In December 2021, ...

. Brewer attended the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

on a football scholarship because the school did not have golf scholarships. Head coach

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

used him in practice as a holder for the kicker on field goals and extra points. Brewer stayed at the school for two years. Brewer turned professional in 1956 and made his first cut, at the Agua Caliente Open, tying for 12th. His first top-10 as a pro came at the Philadelphia Daily News Open (tied for eighth), and his first top-five performance was at the Miller High Life Open in Milwaukee (tied for fifth). Playing on the PGA Tour in 1965, he won the

Hawaiian Open The Sony Open in Hawaii is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and is part of the tour's FedEx Cup Series. It has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, since the event's modern-day inception as the Hawaiian O ...

. At the 1966 Masters Tournament, he bogeyed the final hole to finish in a three-way tie for the lead after regulation play but ended up finishing third to

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tou ...

following an 18-hole playoff. He came back to win the prestigious event the next year, scoring a one stroke victory over lifelong friend Bobby Nichols in the first live television broadcast of a golf tournament from the United States to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Brewer called winning the 1967 Masters "the biggest thrill I've had in golf". He went on to become a member of the 1967

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 ...

winning team, going 3-2 in his five matches, including a win (4 and 3 over Hugh Boyle) and a loss (2 and 1 to

Peter Alliss Peter Alliss (28 February 1931 – 5 December 2020) was an English professional golfer, television presenter, commentator, author and golf course designer. Following the death of Henry Longhurst in 1978, he was regarded by many as the "Voice of ...

) in singles play. That same year at the Pensacola Open, he set a PGA Tour record for the best 54-hole total on a par-72 course. His score of 25-under par 191 is a record that still stands over forty years later. Only Steve Stricker's 25-under on the par-71

TPC Deere Run TPC Deere Run is an 18-hole golf course in the central United States, located in Silvis, Illinois, along the Rock River. It is operated by the PGA Tour as a member of their Tournament Players Club network of golf courses and plays host to the ann ...

at the 2010

John Deere Classic The John Deere Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in July, usually the week before The Open Championship, at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities community of Silvis, Illinois. History The tournament be ...

(25-under 188) has matched it. In the direct opposite vein, at the 1969

Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic The Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic was a golf tournament in south Florida on the PGA Tour that was played only once, in early December 1969. Held at Diplomat Presidential Country Club, between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, it had a $125,000 purse and ...

he tied the record at the time for a player having the largest lead (six strokes) with 18 holes to play and then losing. He finished inside the top 10 on the Tour's money list three times (1961, 1966 and 1967), with his best performance his fifth-place finish ($75,688) in 1966. His top earning year came in 1973, when he made $89,911 (21st place). Brewer's 1966 performances earned him the ''

Golf Digest ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit under its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competi ...

s Most Improved Golfer award and his 1967 performances earned him the cover of the August 7th issue of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

'' magazine. He won the 1972 Canadian Open and was again part of the U.S. team that won the 1973 Ryder Cup. Overall, Brewer was victorious in 10 tour events during his career. He was known for his jovial personality and his unusual golf swing. Brewer joined 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 ...

and won the 1984 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf tournament with

Billy Casper William Earl Casper Jr. (June 24, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American professional golfer. He was one of the most prolific tournament winners on the PGA Tour from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. In his youth, Casper started as a caddie a ...

and at age sixty-three he won the 1995 MasterCard Champions Championship. His final competitive round was at the 2001 Masters Tournament. In 2006, Brewer was voted to the

Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2007, the golf course in Lexington where he learned to play was renamed the "Gay Brewer Jr. Course at Picadome." Brewer died at his home in

from lung cancer. At the time of his death, he was engaged to Alma Jo McGuire. He is interred at Lexington Cemetery in Lexington.

Amateur wins

''This list may be incomplete.'' *1949 Kentucky State Boys,

*1950 Kentucky State Boys *1951 Kentucky State Boys *1952

Professional wins (17)

PGA Tour wins (10)

PGA Tour playoff record (2–6)

Other wins (5)

''This list is probably incomplete.'' *1951 Kentucky Open (as an amateur) *1965 PGA National Four-ball Championship (with Butch Baird) *1967 Alcan Golfer of the Year Championship *1968 Alcan Golfer of the Year Championship *1972 Taiheiyo Club Masters

Senior PGA Tour wins (1)

Other senior wins (1)

''This list is probably incomplete.'' *1984 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with

)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1965 U.S. Open – 1967 U.S. Open) *Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (1972 PGA – 1973 Open Championship)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, Gay American male golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Winners of men's major golf championships Golfers from Ohio Golfers from Kentucky Deaths from lung cancer in Kentucky Sportspeople from Middletown, Ohio Sportspeople from Lexington, Kentucky Sportspeople from the Cincinnati metropolitan area 1932 births 2007 deaths