Gene Alec Littler (July 21, 1930 – February 15, 2019) 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 ...

and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Known for a solid temperament and nicknamed "Gene the Machine" for his smooth, rhythmical swing, he once said that, "Golf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the best misses. The people who win make the smallest mistakes."

Early years and amateur career

Littler was born in

San Diego 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 ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He played on the 1953 United States

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

team, and won the

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

and the California State Amateur that same year. In 1954, he won a

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 ...

event as an amateur, a rare achievement which was not to be repeated until Doug Sanders won the Canadian Open in 1956. Littler is one of only very few players who won both a U.S. national junior tournament (he won the 1948 U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce Tournament in Lincoln, Nebraska) and the U.S. Amateur. Littler graduated from

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

, and after that served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

from 1951 to 1954.

Professional career

An early highlight of Littler's professional playing career was a second-place finish at the 1954 U.S. Open. He finished one shot behind Ed Furgol. In 1955, he won four times on the tour, but fell into a slump in the late 1950s after tinkering with his swing. In 1959 after taking advice he received from Paul Runyan and adjusting his grip, he recovered to have his best year with five PGA Tour victories. He finished second on the money list that year, which was to remain his career best. Only once from 1954 to 1979 did Littler finish out of the top 60 on the final money list. He was stricken with melanoma

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

found in a lymph node under his left arm in 1972, but came back to win five more times on the PGA Tour. He won many championships including 29 PGA Tour wins. He played on the Men's Senior PGA Tour and also won two major tournaments in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and one in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. In his book, ''Gene Littler The Real Score'' with Jack Tobin an Appendix B states that "through the 1975 season only eight players in the history of golf had earned over $1 Million in sanctioned professional golf play" (listed in order the eight were Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Bruce Crampton, Tom Weiskopf, Gene Littler, Gary Player). One of Littler's 29 PGA Tour wins was unique. When he won the 1975 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, it marked the first and (so far) only time that a player won that event as a professional after having previously won the pro-amateur portion, which Littler did as a 23-year-old amateur in 1954. Littler won one major championship – the 1961 U.S. Open. He shot a 68 in the final round to overtake Doug Sanders. He accumulated 17 top-10 finishes in the three U.S.-based majors: seven at the

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 ...

, five at 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 ...

, and five at the U.S. Open. In addition to his U.S. Open victory, he had one second-place finish in each of the three U.S. majors, losing playoffs to

Billy Casper William Earl Casper Jr. (June 24, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American professional golfer. He was one of the most prolific tournament winners on the PGA Tour from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. In his youth, Casper started as a caddie a ...

at the 1970 Masters and to

Lanny Wadkins Jerry Lanston "Lanny" Wadkins Jr. (born December 5, 1949) is an American professional golfer. He won 21 tournaments on the PGA Tour, including one Men's major golf championships, major, the 1977 PGA Championship. He ranked in the top 10 of the Of ...

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 The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

teams of 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1975, and had a 14-5-8 win/loss/tie record including five wins and three ties in 10 singles matches. Littler received the Ben Hogan Award in 1973 for a courageous comeback from injury or illness, after returning to the tour following treatment for malignant melanoma. Also in 1973, he was given the

Bob Jones Award The Bob Jones Award is the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. It is named in honor of Bobby Jones (golfer), Bobby Jones. Winners *1955 Francis Ouimet *1956 William C. C ...

, the highest honor given by the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rule ...

in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. In the 1980s and 1990s, Littler played on the Senior PGA Tour, winning eight times. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990.

Personal life and death

On January 5, 1951, ten days before joining the Navy, Littler married Shirley Warren, his university classmate. They had a son, Curt, born in March 1954 and a daughter, Suzanne, born in October 1957. Littler died at the age of 88 on February 15, 2019.

In popular culture

Littler inspired Sandy Mac Divot, the main character of the long running comic strip '' Mac Divot'' by Jordan Lanski (a former schoolmate of Littler) and Mel Keefer.

Professional wins (54)

PGA Tour wins (29)

PGA Tour playoff record (3–8) Source:

PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour of Australia wins (1)

PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (1–0)

Other wins (3)

*1954

California State Open The California State Open is the California state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Southern California section of the PGA of America. It was first played in 1900 and has been played at a ...

*1966 World Series of Golf *1974 Taiheiyo Club Masters

Senior PGA Tour wins (8)

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

Japan Senior Tour wins (2)

*1983 Coca-Cola Grandslam Championship *1987 Coca-Cola Grandslam Championship

Other senior wins (10)

*1980 World Senior Invitational *1981 Vintage Invitational *1981

Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf The Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour Champions. From 2014 to 2019, it was played at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri, on the par-3 Top of the Rock course, designed by Jack Nicklaus and the ...

(with Bob Rosburg) *1983 Vintage Invitational *1985

(with

Don January Donald Ray January (November 20, 1929 – May 7, 2023) was an American 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 ...

) *1986

(with

) *1994

- Legendary Division (with

) *1997

- Legendary Division (with

) *2001

- Demaret Division (with

) *2004

- Demaret Division (with

)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Amateur wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the halfway cut
DQ = disqualified
WD = withdrew
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place. Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur
USGA Championship Database

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 14 (1962 PGA – 1967 Masters) *Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (1961 U.S. Open – 1962 U.S. Open)

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

(winners) Professional *

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

(winners),

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

(winners),

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

(winners),

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

(winners), 1969 (tie),

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),

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

(winners) * Hopkins Trophy: 1956 (winners)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Littler, Gene American male golfers San Diego State Aztecs men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Winners of men's major golf championships World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Golfers from San Diego People from Rancho Santa Fe, California 1930 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen

Early years and amateur career

Professional career

Personal life and death

In popular culture

Professional wins (54)

PGA Tour wins (29)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour of Australia wins (1)

Other wins (3)

Senior PGA Tour wins (8)

Japan Senior Tour wins (2)

Other senior wins (10)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Amateur wins (1)

Results timeline

Summary

U.S. national team appearances

See also

References

External links