Al Watrous
Watrous in 1926
Personal information
Full nameAlbert Andrew Watrous
Born(1899-02-01)February 1, 1899
Yonkers, New York
DiedDecember 3, 1983(1983-12-03) (aged 84)
Royal Oak, Michigan
Height5 ft 11.5 in (1.82 m)
Weight178 lb (81 kg; 12.7 st)
Sporting nationality United States
SpouseAgnes J. Watrous
Children5
Career
StatusProfessional
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Professional wins34
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour8
Other26
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament7th: 1937
PGA ChampionshipT3: 1935
U.S. OpenT8: 1923
The Open Championship2nd: 1926
Achievements and awards
National Polish-American
Sports Hall of Fame		1979
Michigan Golf Hall of Fame1982

Albert Andrew Watrous (February 1, 1899 – December 3, 1983)[1][2] was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1920s and 1930s.

Early life

Born in Yonkers, New York, of Polish descent,[3] Watrous moved to Michigan at an early age and played on the first two Ryder Cup teams in 1927 and 1929. Watrous was the club pro at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, for 37 years.[4] Watrous had tremendous success in Michigan events, winning the Michigan PGA Championship nine times and the Michigan Open six times.

1926 Open Championship

Watrous never won a major championship, but came very close in the 1926 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club. Playing with Bobby Jones in the final round, and tied with him, Watrous hit the green in two shots on the difficult par-4 17th hole, with Jones in trouble after his tee shot finished in sandy dunes and tall grass far left of the fairway. But from this very difficult position, Jones hit one of the greatest recovery shots in golf history from 175 yards, as his ball finished on the green nearer than Watrous', who three-putted, and finished second to Jones.[5] Watrous did win the PGA Seniors Championship three times after he turned 50.

Legacy and death

On June 14, 1979, Watrous was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.[4] In 1982, he was inducted with the charter class at the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame. A collegiate golf tournament named in his honor, the Al Watrous Memorial Intercollegiate Invitational, was first played in 2009.

Watrous died on December 3, 1983, in Royal Oak, Michigan.[2]

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (8)

  • 1922 (1) Canadian Open[6]
  • 1925 (2) South Central Open, Corpus Christi Open
  • 1927 (1) one win
  • 1929 (1) one win
  • 1932 (2) Mid-South Open (tie with Henry Picard and Al Houghton), Mid-South Bestball (with Tommy Armour)
  • 1933 (1) Lakeland Open

Source[7]

Other wins

Note: This list is probably incomplete.

Senior wins

Results in major championships

Tournament 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
U.S. Open 32 37 T8 WD T13 WD T18 T41 T32
The Open Championship 2 T8
PGA Championship R32 R64 R16 R32 R32 R16 SF
Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
Masters Tournament NYF NYF NYF NYF T11 34 T29 7 T27 25
U.S. Open T17 T15 T35 T13 T14 T33 T32 CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship R16 R32 QF SF R32 R16
Tournament 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
Masters Tournament T21 32 NT NT NT T32
U.S. Open CUT 52 NT NT NT NT T43
The Open Championship NT NT NT NT NT NT
PGA Championship R32 NT R64 R64
Tournament 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open T35
The Open Championship T42
PGA Championship R32 R64 R64 R64
Tournament 1960 1961
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
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

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament00001499
U.S. Open0000172217
The Open Championship01012233
PGA Championship00237142120
Totals012411275549
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 23 (1926 Open Championship – 1937 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1929 Open Championship – 1929 PGA)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Social Security Death Index". genealogybank.com. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2014.
  3. ↑ Elliott, Len; Kelly, Barbara (1976). Who's Who in Golf. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House. p. 197. ISBN 0-87000-225-2.
  4. 1 2 "Bio from Polish National Sports Hall of Fame and Museum". Archived from the original on 2010-10-12. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  5. ↑ The World Atlas of Golf (second ed.). London: Mitchell Bazely. 1988.
  6. ↑ "Canadian Open -- Past Winners". pgatour.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  7. ↑ Barkow, Al (November 1989). The History of the PGA TOUR. Doubleday. pp. 237–8, 253. ISBN 0-385-26145-4.
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