Claude Harmon

Claude Harmon
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name	Eugene Claude Harmon, Sr.
Born	(1916-07-14)July 14, 1916 Savannah, Georgia
Died	July 23, 1989(1989-07-23) (aged 73) Houston, Texas
Nationality	United States
Spouse	Alice Cullen McKee Harmon Anne Keane Harmon
Children	4 sons, 2 daughters
Career
Status	Professional
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	14
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	2
Other	12
Best results in major championships (wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	Won: 1948
U.S. Open	T3: 1959
The Open Championship	27th: 1948
PGA Championship	T3: 1945, 1948, 1953

Eugene Claude Harmon, Sr. (July 14, 1916 – July 23, 1989) was an American professional golfer and golf instructor.^[1]

Born in Savannah, Georgia, Harmon spent much of his boyhood in Florida, in the Orlando area. A youthful prodigy, he qualified for the U.S. Amateur at age 15 in 1931. Harmon was a club professional when he won the 1948 Masters Tournament major championship 1948 Masters by five shots to earn $2,500.^[2] He was a semi-finalist three times in the PGA Championship (1945, 1948, and 1953), competing as a club pro against full-time tour players. Claude Harmon also finished in third place at the 1959 U.S. Open, which was held at his home course at Winged Foot.

From 1945 to 1978, Harmon was the head professional at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, and also served as the winter professional for many years at the Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida.^[3] In 1959, he was hired as the head professional at Thunderbird Country Club in Palm Springs, California, where he served for over a decade,^[4]^[5] and finally took a club job in Texas in the Houston area. In 1959, Harmon played in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot and placed third. He was one of the few close friends of legendary star Ben Hogan, and the two played together frequently and worked together on their games.^[6]^[7]

Death

Harmon died of heart failure following surgery in Houston at the age 73,^[8] and is interred at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.^[9] He is a member of the World Golf Teachers' Hall of Fame and the PGA of America Hall of Fame.

Personal

Harmon's sons Butch, Craig, and Bill all occupy spots in Golf Digest's "top 50 teachers" list. His third eldest son Dick (1947–2006) was also a top golf instructor.^[1]

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins

1948 Masters Tournament
1950 Miami International Four-Ball (with Pete Cooper)

Major championship is shown in bold.

Other wins (12)

this list may be incomplete

1946 Westchester Open, Metropolitan PGA Championship
1947 Westchester Open
1948 Westchester PGA Championship
1949 Westchester PGA Championship
1950 Westchester Open
1951 Westchester Open, Metropolitan PGA Championship, Metropolitan Open
1953 Westchester Open
1958 Westchester PGA Championship
1960 Westchester Open

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1948	Masters Tournament	2 shot lead	−9 (70-70-69-70=279)	5 strokes	Cary Middlecoff

Results timeline

Tournament	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	NT	NT	NT	18	T26	1	T11
U.S. Open	DQ	DNP	NT	NT	NT	NT	T15	T19	CUT	T8
The Open Championship	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	DNP	DNP	27	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	NT	DNP	SF	R64	R16	SF	R32

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
Masters Tournament	T32	T35	T14	T34	T53	T28	T46	T38	T9	CUT
U.S. Open	T38	T54	DNP	CUT	T15	CUT	DNP	DNP	CUT	T3
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	R16	R64	DNP	SF	R32	R16	R32	6	T56	T38

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
Masters Tournament	T16	CUT	CUT	WD	CUT	CUT	WD	WD	WD	WD
U.S. Open	T27	DNP	CUT	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	CUT	T44	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1970	1971
Masters Tournament	DNP	WD
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP

NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
DQ = Disqualified
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament	Wins	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	1	0	1	2	6	25	14
U.S. Open	0	1	1	2	5	15	9
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
PGA Championship	0	3	3	7	10	16	15
Totals	1	4	5	11	21	57	39

Most consecutive cuts made – 12 (1948 Open Championship – 1953 Masters)
Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

References

1 2 Brink, Bill (August 10, 1997). "Claude Harmon's teaching legacy". New York Times. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
↑ "Harmon wins Masters; ties record with 279". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 12, 1948. p. 3-part 2.
↑ Snider, Steve (December 22, 1949). "Claude Harmon carries banner for home pros". The News and Courier. Charleston, SC. Associated Press. p. 12A.
↑ "Harmon accepts job at Thunderbird Club". St. Petersburg Times. Associated Press. April 6, 1959. p. 3C.
↑ Murray, Jim (February 7, 1966). "Harmon shows 'class' as golf professor". Milwaukee Sentinel. (Los Angeles Times). p. 3-part 2.
↑ Grimsley, Will (April 9, 1978). "Golf announcers talk too much". The Press-Courier. Oxnard, CA. Associated Press. p. 8.
↑ The Pro, by Butch Harmon, 2006.
↑ "Former golf champ Claude Harmon dies". The Telegraph. Nashua, NH. Associated Press. July 25, 1989. p. 8.
↑ Claude Harmon, Sr. at Find a Grave

"Claude Harmon", Almanac of Famous People, 8th ed. Gale Group, 2003.

External links

Masters Tournament champions

1934 Horton Smith 1935 Gene Sarazen† 1936 Horton Smith 1937 Byron Nelson 1938 Henry Picard 1939 Ralph Guldahl 1940 Jimmy Demaret 1941‡ Craig Wood 1942 Byron Nelson† 1943–45 cancelled due to World War II 1946 Herman Keiser 1947 Jimmy Demaret 1948 Claude Harmon 1949 Sam Snead 1950 Jimmy Demaret 1951 Ben Hogan 1952 Sam Snead 1953 Ben Hogan 1954 Sam Snead† 1955 Cary Middlecoff 1956 Jack Burke Jr. 1957 Doug Ford 1958 Arnold Palmer 1959 Art Wall Jr. 1960‡ Arnold Palmer 1961 Gary Player 1962 Arnold Palmer† 1963 Jack Nicklaus 1964 Arnold Palmer 1965 Jack Nicklaus 1966 Jack Nicklaus† 1967 Gay Brewer 1968 Bob Goalby 1969 George Archer 1970 Billy Casper† 1971 Charles Coody 1972‡ Jack Nicklaus 1973 Tommy Aaron 1974 Gary Player 1975 Jack Nicklaus 1976‡ Raymond Floyd 1977 Tom Watson 1978 Gary Player 1979 Fuzzy Zoeller† 1980 Seve Ballesteros 1981 Tom Watson 1982 Craig Stadler† 1983 Seve Ballesteros 1984 Ben Crenshaw 1985 Bernhard Langer 1986 Jack Nicklaus 1987 Larry Mize† 1988 Sandy Lyle 1989 Nick Faldo† 1990 Nick Faldo† 1991 Ian Woosnam 1992 Fred Couples 1993 Bernhard Langer 1994 José María Olazábal 1995 Ben Crenshaw 1996 Nick Faldo 1997 Tiger Woods 1998 Mark O'Meara 1999 José María Olazábal 2000 Vijay Singh 2001 Tiger Woods 2002 Tiger Woods 2003 Mike Weir† 2004 Phil Mickelson 2005 Tiger Woods† 2006 Phil Mickelson 2007 Zach Johnson 2008 Trevor Immelman 2009 Ángel Cabrera† 2010 Phil Mickelson 2011 Charl Schwartzel 2012 Bubba Watson† 2013 Adam Scott† 2014 Bubba Watson 2015‡ Jordan Spieth 2016 Danny Willett

† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 1891583 LCCN: n2006009498

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