Albert Andrew Watrous (February 1, 1899 – December 3, 1983)Ancestry.com. U.S., ''Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2014. was an American professional golfer who played 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 1920s and 1930s.

Early life

Watrous was born in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

, of Polish descent. He moved to

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

at an early age.

Professional career

Watrous played on the first two Ryder Cup teams in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

and 1929. Watrous was the club pro at Oakland Hills Country Club in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is ...

, for 37 years. Watrous had tremendous success in Michigan events, winning the Michigan PGA Championship nine times and the Michigan Open six times. Watrous never won a major championship, but came very close in the 1926 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club. Playing with Bobby Jones in the final round, and tied with him, Watrous hit the green in two shots on the difficult par-4 17th hole, with Jones in trouble after his tee shot finished in sandy dunes and tall grass far left of the fairway. But from this very difficult position, Jones hit one of the greatest recovery shots in golf history from 175 yards, as his ball finished on the green nearer than Watrous', who three-putted, and finished second to Jones. Watrous had much success as a senior. He won the PGA Seniors Championship three times after he turned 50.

Death

Watrous died on December 3, 1983, in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Royal Oak is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cens ...

Awards and honors

* On June 14, 1979, Watrous was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum * In 1982, he was inducted with the charter class at the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame * A collegiate golf tournament named in his honor, the Al Watrous Memorial Intercollegiate Invitational, was first played in 2009.

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (8)

*1922 (1) Canadian Open *1925 (2) South Central Open, Corpus Christi Open *1927 (1) Michigan Open *1929 (1) Michigan Open *1932 (2) Mid-South Open (tie with Henry Picard and Al Houghton), Mid-South Bestball (with Tommy Armour) *1933 (1) Lakeland Open Sources:

Other wins

:''Note: This list is probably incomplete.'' *1922 Michigan PGA Championship *1924 Michigan PGA Championship *1926 Michigan Open *1930 Michigan Open *1932 Michigan PGA Championship *1936 Michigan PGA Championship *1938 Michigan PGA Championship *1939 Michigan PGA Championship *1941 Michigan PGA Championship *1943 Michigan Open *1949 Michigan Open *1952 Michigan PGA Championship *1954 Michigan PGA Championship

Senior wins

*1950 PGA Seniors' Championship *1951 PGA Seniors' Championship *1953 Michigan PGA Senior Championship *1954 Michigan PGA Senior Championship *1956 Michigan PGA Senior Championship *1957 PGA Seniors' Championship, Michigan PGA Senior Championship, World Senior Championship *1961 Michigan PGA Senior Championship

Results in major championships

NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
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 – 23 (1926 Open Championship – 1937 Masters) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1929 Open Championship – 1929 PGA)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watrous, Al American male golfers PGA Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Michigan American people of Polish descent Sportspeople from Yonkers, New York Golfers from Westchester County, New York 1899 births 1983 deaths