Cyril Walker (golfer)
| Cyril Walker | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | September 18, 1892 Manchester, England |
| Died | August 6, 1948 (aged 55) Hackensack, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Weight | 118 lb (54 kg; 8.4 st) |
| Sporting nationality |  England United States |
| Career | |
| Status | Professional |
| Professional wins | 7 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 6 |
| Other | 1 |
| Best results in major championships (wins: 1) | |
| Masters Tournament | 61st: 1934 |
| PGA Championship | T3: 1921 |
| U.S. Open | Won: 1924 |
| The Open Championship | T18: 1926 |
Cyril Walker (September 18, 1892 – August 6, 1948) was an English professional golfer born in Manchester who emigrated to the United States in 1914.
Walker won the 1924 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills Country Club, while playing out of Englewood Golf Club in New Jersey. He beat defending champion Bobby Jones by three strokes.[1][2][3][4] This was his only top ten finish in seven appearances at the U.S. Open. He was a small man, weighing only 118 pounds (54 kg).[5]
Walker won six PGA events between 1917 and 1930.[6] He also won the Indiana Open in 1916.
In 1928, he became the pro at the Saddle River Golf and Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey.[7]
Career demise[edit]
Walker's slow pace of play,[8][9] combined with his sometimes-combative personality, eventually made him unpopular with fellow players and tournament sponsors. This hastened his exit from the then-nascent professional golfers' tournament circuit. While a club pro at Saddle River in 1933, he was arrested for destroying the signs of a neighboring course.[7]
An alcohol addiction further hastened his downward spiral during the 1930s and he ultimately found himself in a near-destitute condition working as a caddie in Florida at the Miami Beach municipal course in 1940,[10] and later as a dishwasher.[11]
Walker died of pleural pneumonia in a Hackensack, New Jersey jail cell where he had gone for shelter.[11][12][13][14][15]
Professional wins[edit]
PGA Tour wins (6)[edit]
- 1917 (1) one win
- 1921 (1) Pennsylvania Open Championship
- 1922 (1) one win
- 1923 (1) one win
- 1924 (1) U.S. Open
- 1930 (1) Miami International Four-Ball (with Clarence Gamber)
Other wins[edit]
- 1916 Indiana Open
Major championships[edit]
Wins (1)[edit]
| Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | U.S. Open | Tied for lead | +9 (74-74-74-75=297) | 3 strokes |  Bobby Jones
|
Results timeline[edit]
| Tournament | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Open | NT | NT | ||
| The Open Championship | NT | NT | NT | NT |
| PGA Championship | QF | NT | NT |
| Tournament | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Open | 13 | T40 | 23 | 1 | T47 | T55 | ||||
| The Open Championship | T18 | |||||||||
| PGA Championship | SF | R16 |
| Tournament | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | NYF | NYF | NYF | NYF | 61 |
| U.S. Open | CUT | ||||
| The Open Championship | |||||
| PGA Championship | QF |
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
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
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Open golf title to Cyril Walker". Montreal Gazette. June 7, 1924. p. 17.
- ^ "Walker new Open leader". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. June 7, 1924. p. 13.
- ^ Sixty, Billy (June 7, 1924). "Walker beats Jones for National Open golf title". Milwaukee Journal. p. 6.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Cyril Walker, native of England, wins National Open golf crown by beating Jones 3 strokes". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. June 7, 1924. p. 16.
- ^ Williams, Joe (July 14, 1924). "Tiny mites carry off golf laurels". Evening Independent. St. Petersburg, Florida. p. 14.
- ^ Barkow, Al (November 1989). The History of the PGA TOUR. Copyright PGA Tour. Doubleday. pp. 235–37, 249, 253. ISBN 0-385-26145-4.
- ^ a b "Cyril Walker is a arrested in golf club war". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 28, 1933. p. 5, part 2.
- ^ "Presenting two golfing extremes - fastest and slowest pro". Pittsburgh Press. February 3, 1927. p. 26.
- ^ Shifrin, Joshua (2012). From the Links: Golf's Most Memorable Moments. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press. p. 34. ISBN 9780762790272.
- ^ Aronstam, H.J. (April 12, 1940). "Caddy ranks claim Cyril Walker who won National Open in 1924". St. Petersburg Times. Florida. United Press. p. 16.
- ^ a b "Cyril Walker dies in New Jersey cell". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. August 7, 1948. p. 8.
- ^ "Milestones". Time. August 16, 1948. Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
- ^ "Cyril Walker dies; beat Bobby Jones". Toledo Blade. Ohio. United Press. August 7, 1948. p. 10.
- ^ "Cyril Walker a pocket-sized Ben Hogan of his golfing day". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. August 23, 1948. p. 8.
- ^ Carroll, Dick (July 2, 1955). "The tragedy of Cyril Walker". Montreal Gazette. p. 8.