Gene Sarazen (; born Eugenio Saraceni, February 27, 1902 – May 13, 1999) 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 pr ...

, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s, and the winner of seven major championships. He is one of five players (along with

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory and ...

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 ...

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

, and

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 ...

) to win each of the four majors at least once, now known as the Career Grand Slam: U.S. Open (

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

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 ...

(

, 1923, 1933),

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 th ...

(

), and

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

(

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

Early life

Eugenio Saraceni was born on February 27, 1902, in

Harrison, New York Harrison is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States, northeast of Manhattan. The population was 28,218 at the 2020 census. History Harrison was established in 1696 by a patent granted by the British government to John Harrison a ...

, his parents were poor Sicilian immigrants. He began caddying at age ten at local golf clubs, took up golf himself, and gradually developed his skills; Sarazen was essentially self-taught. Somewhat novel at the time, he used the interlocking grip to hold the club.

Career

Sarazen took a series of club professional jobs in the New York area from his mid-teens. In 1921, he became a professional at Titusville (Pa.) Country Club, and he contracted to be the professional at Highland Country Club near Pittsburgh, Pa. in 1922. Sarazen arrived in April, stocked the golf shop and gave a few lessons, but spent most of his time at

Oakmont Country Club Oakmont Country Club is a country club in the eastern United States, located mostly in Plum with only a very small portion of the property located in Oakmont, suburbs of Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania. Established in 1903, its golf course i ...

practicing with Emil Loeffler. At some point, the pair visited Skokie Country Club to practice on the course that would hold the U.S. Open; in July, he came from four shots behind to win the tournament. He returned to Pittsburgh and was feted at the

William Penn Hotel The Omni William Penn Hotel is a 23 floor (3 underground) hotel located at 530 William Penn Place on Mellon Square in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A variety of luminaries have stayed at the hotel, including John F. Kennedy. The hotel staf ...

, where he burst from a paper mâché golf ball. He did not return to Highland CC, broke his contract and became a 'touring' golf professional. Later that summer, he won the

at Oakmont. Sarazen was a contemporary and rival of amateur Bobby Jones, who was born in the same year; he also had many battles with

Walter Hagen Walter Charles Hagen (December 21, 1892 – October 6, 1969) was an American professional golfer and a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of 11 professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger ...

, who was nine years older. Sarazen, Jones, and Hagen were the world's dominant players during the 1920s. Rivalries among the three great champions significantly expanded interest in golf around the world during this period, and made the United States the world's dominant golf power for the first time, taking over this position from

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. Sarazen has a plaque in his honor placed 195 yards out from the 15th green at Hororata Golf Club where he famously made a

double eagle A double eagle is a gold coin of the United States with a denomination of $20. (Its gold content of 0.9675 troy oz (30.0926 grams) was worth $20 at the 1849 official price of $20.67/oz.) The coins are 34 mm x 2 mm and are made from ...

in the final round of sectional qualifiers. He earned his spot in his first United States Open in 1920 at age 18. Some say it was his greatest achievement as an amateur. The winner of 38 PGA tour events, Sarazen was inducted into the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 go ...

in 1974. He was the

Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States was initiated by the Associated Press (AP) in 1931. At a time when women in sports were not given the same recognition as men, the AP offered a male and a female athlete of the year award to ...

in 1932, and won the PGA Tour's first

Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

in 1996. He played on six U.S.

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 ...

teams: 1927,

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, 1933 Ryder Cup, 1933, 1935 Ryder Cup, 1935, and 1937 Ryder Cup, 1937.

Invents modern sand wedge

Sarazen claimed to have invented the modern sand wedge, and debuted the club (while keeping it secret during preliminary practice rounds) at

at Prince's Golf Club, Sandwich, Prince's Golf Club in 1932 (which he won). He called it the sand iron, and his original club is no longer on display at Prince's as it is worth too much for the insurers to cover. However, a similar club was patented in 1928 by Edwin Kerr McClain, and it is possible Sarazen saw this club. Sarazen had previously struggled with his sand play and there had been earlier sand-specific clubs. But Bobby Jones's sand club, for example, had a wikt:concave, concave face, which actually contacted the ball twice during a swing; this design was later banned. Sarazen's innovation was to weld solder onto the lower back of the club, building up the flange so that it sat lower than the leading edge when soled. The flange, not the leading edge, would contact the sand first, and explode sand as the shot was played. The additional weight provided punch to power through the thick sand. Sarazen's newly developed technique with the new club was to contact the sand a couple of inches behind the ball, not actually contacting the ball at all on most sand shots. Every top-class golfer since has utilized this wedge design and technique, and the same club design and method are also used by amateur players around the world. The sand wedge also began to be used by top players for shots from grass, shortly after Sarazen introduced it, and this led to a revolution in short-game techniques, along with lower scoring by players who mastered the skills.

Masters Tournament win

Sarazen hit "the shot heard 'round the world" at Augusta National Golf Club on the fifteenth hole in the final round of the Masters Tournament in

. He struck a spoon (the loft of the modern four wood) into the hole, scoring a double eagle. At the time he was trailing Craig Wood (golfer), Craig Wood by three shots, and was then tied with him. He parred the 16th, 17th and 18th holes to preserve the tie. The following day, the pair played a 36-hole playoff, with Sarazen winning by five shots. The Sarazen Bridge, approaching the left side of the 15th green, was named in 1955 Masters Tournament, 1955 to commemorate the double eagle's twentieth anniversary, which included a contest to duplicate, with the closest just over away. It remains one of the most famous golf shots in golf history.

Later years, legacy

In spite of his height of , Sarazen was one of the longest hitters of his era. He played several lengthy exhibition tours around the world, promoting his skills and the sport of golf, and earned a very good living from golf. One of his American tours in 1940 was sponsored by ''Golf Magazine'' and he played a match every day for 60 days. As a multiple past champion, he was eligible to continue competing after his best years were past, and occasionally did so in the top events, well into the 1960s, and occasionally into the 1970s. Throughout his life, Sarazen competed wearing knickers or plus-fours, which were the fashion when he broke into the top level. For many years after his retirement, Sarazen was a familiar figure as an honorary starter at the Masters. From 1981 to 1999, he joined Byron Nelson and Sam Snead in hitting a ceremonial tee shot before each Masters tournament. He also popularized the sport with his role as a commentator on the ''Shell's Wonderful World of Golf, Wonderful World of Golf'' television show, and was an early TV broadcaster at important events. At age 71, Sarazen made a hole-in-one at

in 1973 Open Championship, 1973, at the "Postage Stamp" at Royal Troon Golf Club, Troon in Scotland. In 1992, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. Sarazen had what is still the longest-running endorsement contract in professional sports – with Wilson Sporting Goods from 1923 until his death, a total of 75 years. Sarazen received an honorary degree in 1978 from Siena College, in Loudonville, New York. In 1998, shortly before his death, the Sarazen Student Union was named in his honor. He also established an endowed scholarship fund at the college, The Gene and Mary Sarazen Scholarship, which is awarded annually to students reflecting the high personal, athletic, and intellectual ideals of Dr. Sarazen. For many years, kitted in his signature Plus fours, plus-fours, he hit the first ball in an annual golf tournament, held to raise funds for the scholarship. Sarazen died at age 97 in 1999 from complications of pneumonia in Naples, Florida. His wife Mary died thirteen years earlier in 1986, and they are interred at Marco Island Cemetery in Marco, Florida, Marco. In 2000, Sarazen was ranked as the 11th greatest golfer of all time by ''Golf Digest'' magazine. In 2018, T.J. Auclair ranked Sarazen as the ninth greatest golfer of all time.

Professional wins (48)

PGA Tour wins (38)

*1922 (3) Southern (Spring) Open, U.S. Open,

*1923 (1)

*1925 (1) Metropolitan Open *1926 (1) Miami Open (golf), Miami Open *1927 (3) Long Island Open, Miami Beach Open, Metropolitan PGA *1928 (4) Miami Beach Open, Miami Open (golf), Miami Open, Nassau Bahamas Open, Metropolitan PGA *1929 (2) Miami Open (golf), Miami Open, Miami Beach Open *1930 (8) Miami Open (golf), Miami Open, Agua Caliente Open, Florida West Coast Open, Concord Country Club Open, United States Pro Invitational, Western Open, Lannin Memorial Tournament, Middle Atlantic Open *1931 (3) Florida West Coast Open, La Gorce Open, Lannin Memorial Tournament *1932 (4) True Temper Open, Coral Gables Open, U.S. Open,

*1933 (1)

*1935 (3)

, Massachusetts Open, Long Island Open *1937 (2) Florida West Coast Open, Chicago Open *1938 (1) Lake Placid Open *1941 (1) Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball (with

) Men's major golf championships, Major championships are shown in bold. Source:

Australian Tour win (1)

*1936 Australian Open (golf), Australian Open

Other wins (6)

''this list may be incomplete'' *1923 Daily Dispatch Northern Professional Championship *1928 Miami International Four-Ball (with Johnny Farrell) *1939 Metropolitan PGA *1945 Shoreline Open *1948 Shoreline Open *1966 Northeast New York PGA Championship

Senior wins (3)

*1954 PGA Seniors' Championship, World Senior Championship *1958 PGA Seniors' Championship

Major championships

Wins (7)

''Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958''
¹ Defeated Craig Wood in a 36-hole playoff - Sarazen 144 (Even), Wood 149 (+5)

Results timeline

NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
DNQ = did not qualify for match play portion
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 44 (1920 U.S. Open – 1937 U.S. Open) *Longest streak of top-10s – 7 (1927 PGA – 1929 PGA)

References

External links

*
Gene Sarazen
Profile at Golf Legends
Electronic Resources on Gene Sarazen from SoHG ArchivesGene Sarazen swing sequences from SoHG Master Classes
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarazen, Gene Gene Sarazen, American male golfers PGA Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Winners of men's major golf championships Men's Career Grand Slam champion golfers World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Golf writers and broadcasters Golfers from New York (state) American sportspeople of Italian descent People from Harrison, New York 1902 births 1999 deaths