Samuel Leonard King (27 March 1911 – 24 February 2003) was an English professional

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 ...

er, best known for playing on three

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. King was born in

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, a short distance from the Knole Golf Club, and lived there most of his life. His father was a charcoal burner at the

Knole House Knole () is a British country house and former archbishop's palace owned by the National Trust. It is situated within Knole Park, a park located immediately to the south-east of Sevenoaks in west Kent. The house ranks in the top five of Eng ...

Estate. King became a caddy at the club as a boy, and learned to play. By 1929, he was the assistant club professional, and began playing in local and national tournaments. In his career, King had nine top-10 finishes at

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

between 1939 and 1959. King was a member of Great Britain's

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

, and

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

Ryder Cup teams, including scoring his team's only point in 1947. He had qualified for the 1939 team, but the event was cancelled after the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During the war, he served in the Home Guard before returning to professional golf in 1946. King became the head professional at Knole Golf Club in 1955, and later won the

PGA Seniors Championship The PGA Seniors Championship is a European Senior Tour golf tournament for men aged fifty and above. It was founded in 1957 and became part of the European Senior Tour on its founding in 1992. It was not held in 2016 or 2017 but returned in 201 ...

in both 1961 and 1962. He retired in 1976 and moved to

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

. King died at age 91 in 2003, after being hospitalized for pneumonia. He is buried at St. Peter and St. Paul's church in Seal, Kent.

Professional wins (20)

Major tournament wins (8)

*1933 Daily Mirror Assistants' Tournament *1936 Dunlop-Southern Tournament *1937

Daily Mail Tournament The Daily Mail Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the United Kingdom. The ''Daily Mail'' sponsored the St Andrews Tournament in 1919 and in 1920 continued their sponsorship with the start of the Daily Mail Tournament. The even ...

, Dunlop-Southern Tournament *1944

Yorkshire Evening News Tournament The Yorkshire Evening News Tournament was a professional golf tournament that was held in the Leeds area of Yorkshire, England between 1923 and 1963. It was a fixture on the British PGA tournament circuit, which would later become the European To ...

*1949

*1961

*1962

Other tournament wins

*Kent Professional Championship (14): 1932–1937, 1946–1951, 1955, 1960

Results in major championships

''Note: King only played in The Open Championship.''
NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain):

* England–Scotland Professional Match (representing England): 1934 (winners), 1936 (winners), 1937 (winners), 1938 (winners) *

Llandudno International Golf Trophy The Llandudno International Golf Trophy was a professional team match play golf tournament that was played at the Maesdu Golf Club from 28 to 30 September 1938. The tournament was contested between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. It was int ...

(representing England): 1938 (winners)

References

English male golfers Ryder Cup competitors for Europe Sportspeople from Sevenoaks 1911 births 2003 deaths 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-golf-bio-stub