Allen Lee Geiberger Sr. (born September 1, 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 ...

Professional career

Geiberger turned pro in 1959 and joined the PGA Tour in 1960. Geiberger won 11 tournaments on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

, the first being the 1962 Ontario Open and the biggest being the

1966 PGA Championship The 1966 PGA Championship was the 48th PGA Championship, played July 21–24 at the South Course of Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Al Geiberger won his only major championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Dudley Wysong. Sam Snea ...

, a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

title. He won the Tournament Players Championship in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, and played on the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

teams in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

and

. Geiberger also won 10 times on the Senior PGA Tour, now called the

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, open to golfers age 50 and over, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, f ...

Mr. 59

During the second round of the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, Geiberger became the first player in history to post a score of 59 (−13) in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. Starting on the tenth tee of the Colonial Country Club in

Cordova, Tennessee Cordova is a community in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. Cordova lies east of Memphis, north of Germantown, south of Bartlett, and northwest of Collierville at an elevation of . The majority of Cordova has been annexed by the Cit ...

, he shot a bogey-free round of six pars, 11 birdies, and an eagle on the layout. He sank a putt for birdie on his opening hole, and ended the round with a birdie from ; the lone eagle was a holed-out wedge shot. Geiberger won the tournament, though not handily. He shot even-par 72 in the first and third rounds, and was two strokes down to

Gary Player Gary James Player (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 tour and nine ...

on Sunday after a 38 (+2) on the front nine put him at 241 (−11) for 63 holes. He regained the lead with a 32 (−4) on the back nine to finish at 273 (−15), two strokes ahead of Player and

Jerry McGee Jerry McGee (July 21, 1943 – March 31, 2021) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. Early life and amateur career McGee was born in New Lexington, Ohio. He attended Ohio State University an ...

. Scorecard: ''Friday, June 10, 1977'' :Source:

Personal life

Geiberger was born in

Red Bluff, California Red Bluff is a city in and the county seat of Tehama County, California, United States. Its population was 14,710 at the 2020 census, up from 14,076 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is located north of Sacramento, California ...

, the son of Ray and Mabel Geiberger. His first big tournament win was the 1954 National Jaycee Championship. He graduated from

Santa Barbara High School Santa Barbara Senior High School, "Home of the Dons," is situated on a sprawling campus in Santa Barbara, California in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. Among the oldest high schools in California and one of five high schools in the Di ...

, attended

Menlo College Menlo College is a private college specializing in business and located in Atherton, California, United States. Campus Menlo College is situated on a 45-acre (0.18 km2) campus in Atherton, California, 25 miles southeast of San Francisco an ...

and graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in 1959. Geiberger has six children. His son Brent Geiberger is also a professional golfer who won two PGA Tour events. Another son, John, was the coach of the

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

golf team from 1996 to 2012, and won the NCAA Championship in 1997. Geiberger's father was one of the victims of the

Tenerife airport disaster The Tenerife airport disaster occurred on 27 March 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Tenerife North–Ciudad de La Laguna Airport, Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North–Ciudad de La Laguna Airport) on the Spa ...

in 1977. Geiberger had surgery in 1980 to remove his colon due to

inflammatory bowel disease Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine, with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine and large intestine ...

and has an

ileostomy Ileostomy is a stoma (medicine), stoma (surgical opening) constructed by bringing the end or loop of small intestine (the ileum) out onto the surface of the skin, or the surgical procedure which creates this opening. Intestinal waste passes ou ...

Professional wins (30)

PGA Tour wins (11)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

Other wins (6)

*1961 Utah Open *1962 Caracas Open, Almaden Open Invitational *1979 Spalding Invitational *1982 Frontier Airlines Open *1985 Colorado Open

Senior PGA Tour wins (10)

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1-1)

Other senior wins (2)

*1989

Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf The Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour Champions. From 2014 to 2019, it was played at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri, on the par-3 Top of the Rock course, designed by Jack Nicklaus and the ...

(with Harold Henning) *2008

- Demaret Division (with Jimmy Powell)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 20 (1963 PGA – 1970 Masters) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

The Players Championship

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

References

External links

Al Geiberger
at the

official site *
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article with quotes from Geiberger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geiberger, Al American male golfers USC Trojans 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 California People from Red Bluff, California Sportspeople from Tehama County, California Sportspeople from Palm Springs, California 1937 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen

Professional career

Mr. 59

Personal life

Professional wins (30)

PGA Tour wins (11)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

Other wins (6)

Senior PGA Tour wins (10)

Other senior wins (2)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

Summary

The Players Championship

Wins (1)

Results timeline

See also

References

External links