Gene Littler

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**Gene Littler**
Personal Information
Birth	July 21, 1930 (1930-07-21) (age 77) San Diego, California, U.S.
Nationality	United States
College	San Diego State University
Career
Turned Pro	1954
Professional wins	47 (PGA Tour: 29, Other: 3, Champions Tour: 8, Other senior: 7)
Best Results in Major Championships Wins: 1
Masters	2nd: 1970
U.S. Open	Won 1961
British Open	T18: 1974
PGA Championship	2nd: 1977
Awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	1990
Bob Jones Award	1973

Gene Alec Littler (born July 21, 1930) is an American golfer. He was born in San Diego, California. A graduate of San Diego State University, he was one of the first of a new breed of college-educated golfers who turned professional after graduation. Littler had a solid temperament and was nicknamed "Gene the Machine" on account of his smooth rhythmical swing. He believed that, "Golf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the most misses. The people who win make the smallest mistakes."

1 Career outline
2 PGA Tour wins (29)
3 Other wins (3)
4 Champions Tour wins (8)
5 Other senior wins (7)
6 Major Championships
- 6.1 Wins (1)
- 6.2 Results timeline
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Career outline

Littler played in the 1953 United States Walker Cup team, and won the U.S. Amateur Championship in the same year. In 1954 he won a PGA Tour event as an amateur, an achievement which was not to be repeated until Scott Verplank won the Western Open in 1985. He also finished runner up at the 1954 U.S. Open. Littler turned professional later in 1954. In 1955 he won four times on the Tour, but by 1958 he was in a slump. After taking advice from Paul Runyan he recovered in 1959 to have his winningmost year with five PGA Tour victories. He finished second on the money list that year, which was to remain his best career placing. He was stricken with cancer of the lymph system in 1972, but came back to win five more times on the PGA Tour. He won 29 times on the PGA Tour in total and he also won two tournaments in Japan and one in Australia.

Littler's only major championship title was the 1961 U.S. Open. He shot a 68 in the final round to overtake Doug Sanders. He accumulated seventeen top ten finishes in the three U.S. based majors: seven at The Masters Tournament, five at the PGA Championship, and five at the U.S. Open. In addition to his U.S. Open victory he had one second place in each of the three U.S. majors, losing playoffs to Billy Casper at the 1970 Masters and to Lanny Wadkins at the 1977 PGA Championship. The latter was the first ever sudden death playoff in a major. He was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup teams of 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1975 and had a 14-5-8 win/loss/tie record including 5 wins and 3 ties in 10 singles matches.

In the 1980s and 1990s Littler played on the Senior PGA Tour, winning eight times. In 1973, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990.

[edit] PGA Tour wins (29)

1954 (1) San Diego Open (as an amateur)
1955 (4) Los Angeles Open, Phoenix Open, Tournament of Champions, Labatt Open
1956 (3) Texas Open Invitational, Tournament of Champions, Palm Beach Round Robin
1957 (1) Tournament of Champions
1959 (5) Phoenix Open Invitational, Tucson Open Invitational, Arlington Hotel Open, Insurance City Open Invitational, Miller Open Invitational
1960 (2) Oklahoma City Open Invitational, Eastern Open Invitational
1961 (1) U.S. Open
1962 (2) Lucky International Open, Thunderbird Classic Invitational
1965 (1) Canadian Open
1969 (2) Phoenix Open Invitational, Greater Greensboro Open
1971 (2) Monsanto Open, Colonial National Invitation
1973 (1) St. Louis Children's Hospital Golf Classic
1975 (3) Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, Danny Thomas Memphis Classic, Westchester Classic
1977 (1) Houston Open

Major championship is shown in bold.

Source: (Barkow 1989, pp. 264)

[edit] Other wins (3)

this list may be incomplete

[edit] Champions Tour wins (8)

[edit] Other senior wins (7)

1981 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Bob Rosburg)
1985 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Don January)
1986 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Don January)
1994 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Legendary Division (with Don January)
1997 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Legendary Division (with Don January)
2001 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Don January)
2004 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Don January)

[edit] Major Championships

[edit] Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Margin	Runners Up
1961	U.S. Open	+1 (73-68-72-68=281)	1 stroke	Doug Sanders, Bob Goalby

[edit] Results timeline

Tournament	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
The Masters	T22	T22	T12	CUT	42	T8
U.S. Open	2	15	T34	T32	4	T11
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	T33	DNP	T10

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
The Masters	CUT	T15	4	T24	T13	T6	T44	T26	T43	T8
U.S. Open	CUT	1	T8	T21	T11	T8	T48	CUT	DNP	CUT
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T18	T5	T23	T34	T33	T28	T3	T7	T30	T48

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
The Masters	2	T4	DNP	T17	T39	T22	T12	T8	T24	T10
U.S. Open	T12	T37	DNP	T18	CUT	T49	T50	DNP	T35	CUT
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T18	CUT	T32	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T4	T75	DNP	CUT	T28	T7	T22	2	CUT	T16