Claude "Butch" Harmon Jr. (born August 28, 1943) is an American

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

instructor and former professional player.

Early life

Butch Harmon was born and raised in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...

. His parents were Claude Harmon, Sr. and Alice Harmon (1918-1970). His father was the head pro at the nearby Winged Foot Golf Club in

Mamaroneck, New York Mamaroneck ( ), is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2 ...

. His father also won two

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 ...

events including

1948 Masters Tournament The 1948 Masters Tournament was the 12th Masters Tournament, held April 8–11 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Tournament summary Claude Harmon shot a record-tying 279 (−9) and finished five strokes ahead of runner-up Cary ...

. The family also lived part of the year in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, when Butch's father served as the winter professional at the Seminole Golf Club. Butch began playing golf from an early age, as did his three younger brothers, Craig, Bill, and Dick (1947-2006), who also all became golf professionals. In 1962, Butch graduated from New Rochelle High School. Harmon attended 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 ...

, and served in the U.S. Army for three years, seeing duty in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

.''The Pro'', by Butch Harmon, 2006.

Professional career

At 1968 APG Tour Qualifying School, Harmon earned

playing privileges. Harmon won the 1971 inaugural Broome County Open, which was a PGA Tour satellite event played against the 1971 Open Championship. For the remainder of his career, however, Harmon has worked primarily as a golf coach. Harmon lived in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

for several years in the 1970s, serving as the personal instructor to King Hassan II. Concurrently, he was a club professional in the United States, beginning his career at Crow Valley Golf Club in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

. Harmon is best known for having been

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

's golf coach from 1993 to 2004 and

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters ...

's golf coach from 2007 to 2015. He has also worked with other major champions such as Ernie Els, Stewart Cink, Greg Norman, Davis Love III,

Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples (born October 3, 1959) is an American professional golfer who has competed on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. A former World No. 1, he has won 64 professional tournaments, most notably the Masters Tournament ...

and

Justin Leonard Justin Charles Garrett Leonard (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional golfer. He has 12 career wins on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1997 Open Championship. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He is one of only five ...

, and with younger stars such as Nick Watney and

Rickie Fowler Rick Yutaka Fowler (born December 13, 1988) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He was the number one World Amateur Golf Ranking, ranked amateur golfer in the world for 36 weeks in 2007 and 2008. On January 24, 2016, he ...

. Before semi-retiring from the tour in 2019, he coached Jimmy Walker,

Dustin Johnson Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two Men's major golf championships, major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open (golf), 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 ...

, and Gary Woodland. In 2003, Harmon was ranked the top golf teacher in the United States in a poll of his peers organized by ''

Golf Digest ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its TNT Sports unit. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competitive golf. The magazine started by John F. ...

'' magazine, and has repeated as winner of this honor each year since. He runs the ''Butch Harmon School of Golf at the Rio Secco Golf Club'' 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 ...

. The school also has a branch in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

at The Els Golf Club in Dubai Sports City and The Floridian in Palm City, Florida. He also gives golf clinics around the world. He also worked with Greg Norman on his multi-media learning system ''Greg Norman's Better Golf'', which consists of three videos, a book, skill guide cards, and an audio tape; as well as on Greg Norman's book ''Advanced Golf''. Harmon writes a regular monthly instructional column in ''

'' magazine. Butch has also appeared in an episode of the TV show '' Pawn Stars'' in which he taught Chumlee to play golf, along with Corey Harrison.

Personal life

Harmon is married to Christy. He has three children. Harmon's brothers Craig and Bill are also both top golf coaches, who have made the top 50 Instructors' list compiled by ''

'' on several occasions. Butch's other brother Dick was the golf professional at the River Oaks Country Club in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

from 1977 to 2001. After leaving that position, he established two teaching centers in Houston. Dick died on February 10, 2006, at age 58 from pneumonia.

Professional wins (1)

*1971 Broome County Open

Bibliography

* Harmon, Butch; Andrisiani, John; ''Four Cornerstones of Winning Golf'', (1997) * Harmon, Butch, ''Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons'', (1999) * Harmon, Butch; ''The Pro: Lessons About Golf and Life from My Father, Claude Harmon, Sr.'', (2007) * Harmon, Butch; Bradley, Nick, ''Kinetic Golf: Picture the Game Like Never Before'', (2013) * Harmon Butch, Harmon, Tony; ''The Perfect Golf Swing: The Importance of Coordination, Control, and Proper Sequencing: Golf Guide'', (2023)

References

External links

Butch Harmon School of Golf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmon, Butch American male golfers PGA Tour golfers Houston Cougars men's golfers American golf instructors American golf writers American golf commentators American memoirists New Rochelle High School alumni Sportspeople from New Rochelle, New York Golfers from Westchester County, New York 1943 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen