David Knapp Stockton (born November 2, 1941) is an American retired
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 ...
who has won tournaments on both the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
and the
Champions Tour
PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour.
History and format
The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many year ...
.
Stockton was born in
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...
. He attended the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8. ...
and turned professional in 1964. His first PGA Tour win came at the 1967
Colonial National Invitation
The Colonial National Invitation, titled for sponsorship reasons as the Charles Schwab Challenge since 2019, is a professional golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, played annually in May in Fort Worth at Colonial Country Club, which organiz ...
. He was selected by former Colonial champions as one of two Champion's Choice invitations; he is the only Champion's Choice invitee to win the Colonial in the year of the invitation. His best year was 1974, when he won three times, but his two
majors, both of which were
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 ...
s, came in 1970 and 1976. In
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...
he played the final round with
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. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...
, shooting a seventy-three which included an eagle and a double-bogey on the seventh and the eighth holes, and making a bogey on the thirteenth despite putting a ball in the water. In the end, this effort was good enough for a two stroke victory over Palmer and
Bob Murphy. Due to rain at the
1976 PGA Championship
The 1976 PGA Championship was the 58th PGA Championship, played August 12–16 at Congressional Country Club (Blue Course) in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb northwest of Washington, D.C. Held six weeks following the United States Bicentennial, it wa ...
, which was held at the
Congressional Country Club
Congressional Country Club is a country club and golf course in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. Congressional opened in 1924 and its Blue Course has hosted five major championships, including three U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship. It was a ...
, the final round had to be delayed until Monday. Stockton sank a fifteen-foot par putt at the seventy-second hole to avoid a three-man playoff with
Raymond Floyd
Raymond Loran Floyd (born September 4, 1942) is an American retired golfer who has won numerous tournaments on both the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour, including four majors and four senior majors. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame i ...
and
Don January
Donald Ray January (born November 20, 1929) is an American retired professional golfer, best known for winning the 1967 PGA Championship.
Early life
Born in Plainview, Texas, January graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas. He was a membe ...
.
Stockton joined the Senior PGA Tour (now the
Champions Tour
PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour.
History and format
The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many year ...
) in 1991 and enjoyed continued success, topping the Senior Tour money list in 1993 and 1994. His fourteen senior titles include three
senior majors
Men's professional senior golf is for players aged 50 and above. Golf differs from all other sports in having lucrative competitions for this age group. The leading senior tour is the U.S.-based PGA Tour Champions, which was established in 1980 ( ...
, the 1992 and 1994
Senior Players Championship
The Senior Players Championship, stylised by the PGA Tour as The SENIOR PLAYERS Championship, is one of the five major championships on golf's PGA Tour Champions. The inaugural event was played in 1983 and the age minimum is 50, the standard f ...
s and the 1996
U.S. Senior Open
The U.S. Senior Open is one of the five major championships in senior golf, introduced in 1980. It is administered by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and is recognized as a major championship by both the PGA Tour Champions and the E ...
. He remained competitive in his sixties, finishing in the top 50 on the Champions Tour money list for a thirteenth consecutive season in 2004.
Stockton played for the U.S. team in the
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 ...
in
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
and
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...
. He was the Americans' victorious non-playing captain in the
1991 Ryder Cup
The 29th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 27–29, 1991, on The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, southwest of Charleston.
The United States team won the competition by 14 to 13 points, winning b ...
at
Kiawah Island Kiawah may refer to
* Kiawah Island, South Carolina
Kiawah is a sea island, or barrier island, on the Atlantic coast of the United States. Located southwest of Charleston in Charleston County, South Carolina, it is primarily a private beach ...
.
Stockton is married to former Orange Show beauty queen Catherine Hales. They have two children,
Dave Jr. and Ron, who both play professional golf.
When he was an active PGA Tour player, Stockton had the reputation of being one of the best putters. In 2009, Stockton was credited with aiding the world's second-ranked golfer,
Phil Mickelson
Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Lefty, is an American professional golfer who plays for LIV Golf. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two P ...
with his putting, which helped him win the 2009
Tour Championship
The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 m ...
. He wrote a guide to putting called "Unconscious Putting," which was released in 2011.
Professional wins (25)
PGA Tour wins (10)
PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)
Other wins (1)
*1967
Haig & Haig Scotch Foursome (with
Laurie Hammer)
Senior PGA Tour wins (14)
Senior PGA Tour playoff record (0–6)
Major championships
Wins (2)
Results timeline
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Summary
*Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (1972 Open Championship – 1975 U.S. Open)
*Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (1970 Masters – 1971 Masters)
Results in The Players Championship
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Champions Tour major championships
Wins (3)
U.S. national team appearances
Professional
*
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 ...
:
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
(winners),
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...
(winners),
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...
(winners, non-playing captain)
*
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
:
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...
,
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...
*
Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing Senior PGA Tour): 1994
See also
*
List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins
This is a list of the fifty golfers who have won the most official (or later deemed historically significant) money events on the PGA Tour. It is led by Sam Snead and Tiger Woods with 82 each.
Many players won important events early in the 20th ce ...
*
List of golfers with most PGA Tour Champions wins
This is a list of all the golfers who have won ten or more official events on the U.S.-based PGA Tour Champions (known as the Senior PGA Tour from 1980–2002 and Champions Tour from 2003–2015), the leading golf tour in the world for men aged 50 ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stockton, Dave
American male golfers
USC Trojans men's golfers
PGA Tour golfers
PGA Tour Champions golfers
Ryder Cup competitors for the United States
Winners of men's major golf championships
Winners of senior major golf championships
Golfers from California
Sportspeople from San Bernardino, California
People from Redlands, California
1941 births
Living people