Ben Daniel Crenshaw (born January 11, 1952) is an American retired professional golfer who has won 19 events on the PGA Tour, including two major championships: the Masters Tournament in 1984 and 1995. Nicknamed Gentle Ben, Crenshaw is widely regarded as one of the best putters in golf history.
Early life and amateur career
Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Crenshaw played golf at Austin High School and the University of Texas, where he won three NCAA Championships from 1971 to 1973. Crenshaw was also a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity.
Professional career
In 1973, Crenshaw turned professional at the age of 21. He played his first PGA Tour event as a pro in mid-August at the USI Classic in Sutton, Massachusetts. Crenshaw finished ten strokes back in a tie for 35th place ($903).
Less than three months later in early November, Crenshaw became the second player to win the first event after earning his tour card, achieved earlier by Marty Fleckman (1967). Crenshaw remains one of a handful of golfers who has completed this feat. Together with his teammate George Burns, he won the Walt Disney World National Team Championship in Orlando in October 1979.
Following five runner-up finishes in major championships without a victory, including a sudden-death playoff at the 1979 PGA Championship, Crenshaw won the Masters Tournament in 1984. In the mid-1980s, he suffered from Graves' disease, a condition of the thyroid, but continued to accumulate victories; he finished with nineteen PGA Tour wins, including an emotional second Masters victory in 1995, which came a week after the death of his mentor Harvey Penick. In 1999, Crenshaw was the captain of the United States Ryder Cup team for the matches at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb. He was criticized from some quarters for his captaincy over the first two days as his team slipped to a 10–6 deficit; however, he was ultimately credited for providing the inspiration behind his side's remarkable turnaround in the Sunday singles, as the U.S. won 8 of the final day's twelve points to regain the Cup.
Crenshaw won several professional events outside the PGA Tour, including individual and team titles in the World Cup of Golf in 1988. He was among the top ten on McCormack's World Golf Rankings from 1976 to 1981 inclusive, and returned to spend 80 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking from 1987 to 1989. In 1987, he became one of the few players in history to finish in the top ten of all four major championships in the same season without winning any of them.
Despite playing mainly in the United States, Crenshaw had a number of top performances in international events in his career. He won the 1976 Irish Open and then finished runner-up to compatriot Hubert Green the next year. He also finished runner-up at two events on the Australasian Tour, at the 1978 Australian Open and the 1982 Australian PGA Championship. And he famously had two runner-ups at The Open Championship, behind Jack Nicklaus in 1978 and Seve Ballesteros the following year.
Crenshaw is widely regarded as one of the best putters in golf history. His instructor growing up, Harvey Penick, taught him a smooth, effortless stroke on the greens, which allowed him to master even the speediest of greens–including those at Augusta National Golf Club. In winning the Masters in 1995, "Gentle Ben" did not record a single three-putt during the tournament. Since 1986, Crenshaw has been a legal partner with Bill Coore in Coore & Crenshaw, a golf course design firm. The Masters in 2015 was the 44th and final for Crenshaw. Crenshaw has the worst playoff record in PGA Tour history at 0–8.
Personal life Crenshaw married his second wife Julie in 1985. All three of his daughters – Claire Susan, Anna Riley, and Katherine Vail – were presented to high society as debutantes at the International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Crenshaw is a Republican and has donated money to multiple Republican candidates.Search results for ben crenshaw. OpenSecrets. Retrieved on 2018-06-11.
Amateur wins 1968 International Jaycee Junior Golf Tournament 1971 NCAA Championship, Eastern Amateur, Southern Amateur 1972 NCAA Championship (tie with Tom Kite), Eastern Amateur, Porter Cup, Trans-Mississippi Amateur 1973 NCAA Championship, Western Amateur, Sunnehanna Amateur, Southern Amateur, Northeast Amateur
Professional wins (30) PGA Tour wins (19) Legend Major championships (2) Other PGA Tour (17) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Nov 4, 1973San Antonio Texas Open−14 (65-72-66-67=270)2 strokes Orville Moody2Jan 25, 1976Bing Crosby National Pro-Am−7 (75-67-70-69=281)2 strokes Mike Morley3Feb 1, 1976Hawaiian Open−18 (70-69-65-66=270)4 strokes Hale Irwin, Larry Nelson4Sep 19, 1976Ohio Kings Island Open−9 (69-69-67-66=271)1 stroke Andy North5May 15, 1977Colonial National Invitation −8 (65-70-68-69=272)1 stroke John Schroeder6Jan 22, 1979Phoenix Open−14 (67-61-71=199)*1 stroke Jay Haas7Oct 28, 1979Walt Disney World National Team Championship(with George Burns)−33 (62-66-62-65=255)3 strokes Scott Bess and Dan Halldorson, Jeff Hewes and Sammy Rachels, Peter Jacobsen and D. A. Weibring8Sep 28, 1980Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic−16 (66-67-68-71=272)4 strokes Jack Renner9May 1, 1983Byron Nelson Golf Classic−7 (71-69-67-66=273)1 stroke Brad Bryant, Hal Sutton10Apr 15, 1984Masters Tournament−11 (67-72-70-68=277)2 strokes Tom Watson 11Jul 27, 1986Buick Open−18 (69-67-66-68=270)1 stroke J. C. Snead, Doug Tewell12Oct 26, 1986Vantage Championship−14 (65-67-64=196)*1 stroke Payne Stewart13Mar 22, 1987USF&G Classic −20 (66-68-67-67=268)3 strokes Curtis Strange14Mar 6, 1988Doral-Ryder Open−14 (70-69-69-66=274)1 stroke Chip Beck, Mark McCumber15May 20, 1990Southwestern Bell Colonial (2)−8 (69-65-72-66=272)3 strokes John Mahaffey, Corey Pavin, Nick Price16Jul 5, 1992Centel Western Open−12 (70-72-65-69=276)1 stroke Greg Norman17Mar 21, 1993Nestle Invitational−8 (71-70-69-70=280)2 strokes Davis Love III, Rocco Mediate, Vijay Singh 18Apr 3, 1994Freeport-McMoRan Classic−15 (69-68-68-68=273)3 strokes José María Olazábal19Apr 9, 1995Masters Tournament (2)−14 (70-67-69-68=274)1 stroke Davis Love III *Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to rain.
PGA Tour playoff record (0–8) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11978Bing Crosby National Pro-Am Tom WatsonLost to par on second extra hole 21979Western Open Larry NelsonLost to birdie on first extra hole31979 PGA Championship David GrahamLost to birdie on third extra hole41981 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am Bobby Clampett, John Cook, Hale Irwin, Barney ThompsonCook won with par on third extra holeClampett, Crenshaw and Thompson eliminated by birdie on first hole51981 Texas Open Bill RogersLost to birdie on first extra hole61987Los Angeles Open Chen Tze-chungLost to par on first extra hole71989NEC World Series of Golf David FrostLost to par on second extra hole81992GTE Byron Nelson Classic Billy Ray Brown, Raymond Floyd, Bruce LietzkeBrown won with birdie on first extra hole
Source:
European Tour wins (3) Legend Major championships (2) Other European Tour (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Aug 29, 1976Carroll's Irish Open−4 (73-69-69-73=284)2 strokes Brian Barnes, Billy Casper, Martin Foster2Apr 15, 1984Masters Tournament−11 (67-72-70-68=277)2 strokes Tom Watson3Apr 9, 1995Masters Tournament (2)−14 (70-67-69-68=274)1 stroke Davis Love III
European Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult11979 PGA Championship David GrahamLost to birdie on third extra hole
Other wins (9) 1975 Texas State Open 1979 Texas State Open 1980 Texas State Open 1981 Mexican Open 1985 Shootout at Jeremy Ranch (with Miller Barber) 1988 World Cup (team title with Mark McCumber), World Cup Individual Trophy 1991 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Paul Azinger) 1995 PGA Grand Slam of Golf
Senior wins (1) 2009 Wendy's Champions Skins Game (with Fuzzy Zoeller)
Major championships
Wins (2) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 1984 Masters Tournament 2 shot deficit −11 (67-72-70-68=277) 2 strokes Tom Watson 1995 Masters Tournament (2) Tied for lead −14 (70-67-69-68=274) 1 stroke Davis Love III
Results timeline Tournament1970197119721973197419751976197719781979Masters TournamentT19 LAT24 LAT22T302T8T37CUTU.S. OpenT36 LAT27CUTCUTT3T8T49CUTT11The Open ChampionshipT28T5T2T2PGA ChampionshipT63T10T8T162
Tournament1980198119821983198419851986198719881989Masters TournamentT6T8T24T21T57T16T44T3U.S. OpenT32T11T19CUTCUTCUTT6T4T12CUTThe Open Championship3T8T15CUTT22T35T21T4T16T52PGA ChampionshipT41CUTCUTT9CUTT59T11T7T17T17
Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999Masters TournamentT14T346CUTT181CUT45CUTCUTU.S. OpenCUTT33T71CUTT65CUTCUTThe Open ChampionshipT31T80CUTT77T15T27CUTPGA ChampionshipT31WDT73T61T9T44T69CUTCUTCUT
Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009Masters TournamentCUTCUTCUTCUTCUTCUT47T55CUTCUTU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipWD
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015Masters TournamentCUTCUTCUTCUTCUTCUTU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipPGA Championship
LA = Low amateur CUT = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place.
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 2 2 2 8 11 18 44 25U.S. Open 0 0 1 2 4 8 26 15The Open Championship 0 2 1 5 6 11 21 18PGA Championship 0 1 0 1 6 10 26 18Totals 2 5 4 16 27 47 117 76 Most consecutive cuts made – 13 (twice) Longest streak of top-10s – 6 (1975 U.S. Open – 1977 Masters)
Results in The Players Championship Tournament197419751976197719781979The Players ChampionshipT39T55T70CUTT4CUT Tournament1980198119821983198419851986198719881989The Players Championship2T63CUTT10T26T33T54T9T11T11 Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999The Players ChampionshipCUTCUTT29CUTT19CUTT73CUTCUTCUT Tournament20002001The Players ChampionshipCUTCUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place
Notable He played on four Ryder Cup teams (1981, 1983, 1987, 1995) and captained the 1999 team. In 1987, he became one of the few players in history to record top-10 finishes in all four major championships in the same season. Ed Dudley, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Doug Sanders, Miller Barber, Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods, Sergio García, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, and Rory McIlroy have also achieved the feat. In 1991, Crenshaw was given the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor bestowed by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. His stepmother, Roberta Crenshaw, was an Austin-area philanthropist. He is now a noted golf course designer, working in partnership with Bill Coore. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002. He is the 2006 Kappa Alpha Order Sportsman of the Year. "If we are to preserve the integrity of golf as left to us by our forefathers, it is up to all of us to carry on the true spirit of the game."
U.S. national team appearances Amateur Eisenhower Trophy: 1972 (winners)
Professional Ryder Cup: 1981 (winners), 1983 (winners), 1987, 1995, 1999 (winners, non-playing captain) World Cup: 1987, 1988 (winners, individual winner) Kirin Cup: 1988 (winners) Dunhill Cup: 1995 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing Senior PGA Tour): 2002
See also 1973 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins List of golf courses designed by Coore & Crenshaw
References
External links