Phil Rodgers (April 3, 1938 – June 26, 2018) 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 ...

Life

Rodgers was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. He won the 1958 NCAA Division I Championship while playing at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

. Immediately after, he was placed in the first position on the first team of the 1958 All-American golf team, which included many well known professionals including future winners of 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. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

, Al Geiberger and Bobby Nichols and

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

winner, Tommy Aaron. While in the Marine Corps, Rodgers won virtually every service tournament (he was even pulled out of Boot Camp to play in the All Services tournament), then turned professional in 1961. He won five times 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 ...

in the 1960s. Playing sparingly in 1961, but winning the "unofficial" 54-hole Sahara Pro-Am in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, Rodgers started his first full year on the PGA Tour in 1962, which began with the

Los Angeles Open The Genesis Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Southern California, first played in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open. Other previous names include Genesis Open, Northern Trust Open and Nissan Open. Played annually in ...

. Tied for the lead after 54 holes with Fred Hawkins at 206, Rodgers ran away from the field shooting a 9-under-par 62 making 9 birdies and 9 pars to win his first championship by 9 strokes. He lost to Bob Charles in a 36-hole playoff in the 1963 Open Championship. Rodgers also lost the 1962 U.S. Open by two strokes despite going 6-over-par on two holes. In the first round, he took a quadruple bogey 8 on the 17th hole, and 4-putted the 12th hole in the third round. Still, after chipping in for a birdie on the 12th hole in the final round, he stood at 2-under-par with six holes left, needing 6 pars to win. Instead he made 3 bogeys enabling

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in ...

and

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

to finish regulation play tied for first at 1-under-par. Nicklaus went on to win the playoff and scored his first victory as a professional. After a stint on the Senior PGA Tour, Rodgers became a much sought-after teacher, specializing in the short game. One of his first pupils was Jack Nicklaus, who publicly credited Rodgers with teaching him more precise wedge play which helped him win his fourth U.S. Open championship in 1980 at age 40. For several years, ''

Golf Magazine ''Golf Magazine'' is a monthly golf magazine. One of the first "special interest" magazines of its kind, it was started in April 1959 by Arnold Abramson and Robert Abramson, the owners of Universal Publishing and Distributing Corporation, who sol ...

'' ranked Rodgers in their top 100 teachers. Rodgers died in San Diego on June 26, 2018, from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

at the age of 80.

Professional wins (6)

PGA Tour wins (5)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

Other wins (1)

''this list may be incomplete'' *1961 Sahara Pro-Am

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1962 PGA Championship)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (twice) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Phil American male golfers Houston Cougars men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Golfers from San Diego 1938 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen