John Richard Harris (born June 13, 1952) is 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 ...

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 ...

and the

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, open to golfers age 50 and over, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, f ...

Early life and amateur career

Harris was born in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

and grew up in

Roseau, Minnesota Roseau () is a city in and the county seat of Roseau County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 2,744 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Roseau has been in operation since 1895. The city took its name from the nearby ...

. He attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

where he distinguished himself in both golf and hockey. Harris was the second-leading scorer on his 1974 hockey team that went on to win the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. In addition, his brother Robbie was a talented hockey player and played for the U.S. ice hockey team at the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (, ) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 (), were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from February 4 to 15, 1976. The games were awarded to Inn ...

. In the spring of 1974, Harris won the individual Big Ten championship in golf. In the summer, he also won the 1974

Minnesota State Amateur The Minnesota Amateur Golf Championship is an annual golf tournament in the American state of Minnesota. Winners Source: 1 Rain shortened the event to 36 holes 2 Won playoff 3 Defeated Steinfeldt at sudden-death playoff to win runner-up 4 Def ...

Professional career

Harris played minor league hockey after college and then became a professional golfer in 1975. He earned playing privileges for the

at Fall 1975 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates. Harris did not have much success on the

, however, his best finish being T-26 at the 1976

Hawaiian Open The Sony Open in Hawaii is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and is part of the tour's FedEx Cup, FedEx Cup Series. It has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, since the event's modern-day inception as the ...

Re-instated amateur career

Harris regained his amateur status in 1983 and soon became one of the dominant players on the amateur circuit in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. He won the

three additional times during this era. He also won the Minnesota State Mid-Amateur five times and the 1993

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 ...

at the age of 41. During this era, he also won the Minnesota State Open back-to-back in 1994 and 1995 while still an amateur.

Second professional career

After turning 50 in June 2002, Harris began his second professional golf career. His first win during this era, came in his fifth

season at the 2006

Commerce Bank Championship The Commerce Bank Championship was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour. It started as non-sanctioned event in 1987, before becoming a regular Senior event in 1988. The tournament was played annually in either June or July until 2008. It was la ...

. Harris took over as director of golf at the

in July 2010 after the departure of Brad James. In December 2010, the ''

Minnesota Daily The ''Minnesota Daily'' is the campus newspaper of the University of Minnesota, published Monday and Thursday while school is in session, and published weekly on Wednesdays during summer sessions. Published since 1900, the paper is currently the ...

'' published a report that Harris kept associate women's head coach Katie Brenny from coaching, traveling with the team, or recruiting while letting his son-in-law and former caddy, Ernie Rose, perform those duties under a different title. Harris resigned as director of golf in June 2011. In March 2014, Hennepin County Judge Thomas M. Sipkins awarded Katie Brenny $359,000 in a discrimination lawsuit related to her treatment by Harris and Rose while at the University of Minnesota.

Personal life

Harris lives in

Eden Prairie, Minnesota Eden Prairie is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It had a population of 64,198 at the 2020 census, making it the 16th-largest city in Minnesota. The city is adjacent to the north bank of the Minnesota River, upstream fro ...

Amateur wins

*1974 Big Ten Championship (individual),

*1987

*1988 Minnesota State Mid-Amateur *1989

*1990 Minnesota State Mid-Amateur *1991 Minnesota State Mid-Amateur *1992 Minnesota State Mid-Amateur *1993

*1995 Sunnehanna Amateur *1997

Porter Cup The Porter Cup is a 72-hole, medal-play elite amateur golf tournament held annually at the Niagara Falls Country Club in Lewiston, New York. It was first played in 1959 and over the years has hosted some of the biggest names in golf. Past champion ...

*1999 Minnesota State Mid-Amateur *2000

*2002

Terra Cotta Invitational The Terra Cotta Invitational is an annual amateur golf tournament. It has been played since 1996 at Naples National Golf Club in Naples, Florida. It is a "category B" tournament in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, meaning it is one of the top 100 m ...

Professional wins (3)

Regular wins (2)

*1994 Minnesota State Open (as an amateur) *1995 Minnesota State Open (as an amateur)

Champions Tour wins (1)

Champions Tour playoff record (1–0)

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

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 ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

(winners),

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

(winners),

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

(winners)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, John American male golfers Minnesota Golden Gophers men's golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Golfers from Minneapolis American men's ice hockey players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions People from Roseau, Minnesota Sportspeople from Edina, Minnesota 1952 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen