Ronald John Cerrudo (February 4, 1945 – April 24, 2024) 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 ...

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 later worked as a club teaching professional.

Early life and amateur career

Cerrudo was born in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

. He attended Chabot Community College and

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

, and was a member of the

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 ...

team at both institutions. He was a two-time All-American at San Jose State and played on the

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 in 1967. He finished runner-up in the 1967

British Amateur The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

, losing 2 and 1 to fellow American

Bob Dickson Robert B. Dickson (born January 25, 1944) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. Amateur career Dickson was born in McAlester, Oklahoma. He was introduced to golf at the age of five by his father ...

Professional career

Cerrudo turned pro and joined the PGA Tour in 1967. He played on the PGA Tour from 1967 to 1979. He won two events: the 1968

Cajun Classic Open Invitational The Cajun Classic Open Invitational was a golf tournament in Louisiana on the PGA Tour in the late 1950s and 1960s, played at the Oakbourne Country Club in Lafayette, usually in late November. It debuted as the Lafayette Open Invitational in 195 ...

and the 1970 San Antonio Open Invitational. His best finish in a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

was a T-21 at the 1969

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 ...

. From 1979, Cerrudo was employed as a club teaching professional at various clubs in South Carolina. From 1979–1996, he was the head teaching pro at Shipyard Golf Club on

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, often referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia (as the crow flies), a ...

. From 1996 to 2002, he was the head teaching pro at Port Royal Golf Club also on Hilton Head. From 2002, he was the Director of Instruction for The Ron Cerrudo Learning Center at the Daniel Island Club in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

. He also did some on-course commentator radio work, and was the featured speaker at various corporate outings.

Death

Cerrudo died on April 24, 2024, at the age of 79.

Amateur wins

*1961 California Junior Championship *1962 California Junior Championship *1964 Santa Clara County Championship, California Amateur Northern Regionals, California Amateur Championship

Professional wins (4)

PGA Tour wins (2)

Other wins (2)

*1972

Moroccan Open The Moroccan Open was a professional golf tournament on the European Tour which was first held in 1987. Having been cancelled in 1988, it returned to the schedule in 1992 and was held annually until 2001. This was the second European Tour event in ...

*1992

Carolinas PGA Championship The Carolinas PGA Championship is a golf tournament that is the section championship of the Carolinas section of the PGA of America. It has been played annually since 1923 at a variety of courses around both states. Winners *2024 Preston Cole *20 ...

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

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 ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

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)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerrudo, Ron American male golfers San Jose State Spartans men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfers from California Sportspeople from Palo Alto, California 1945 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen