Ralph Guldahl

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**Ralph Guldahl**
Personal Information

Birth	November 22, 1911 Dallas, Texas, USA
Death	June 11, 1987 (age 75) Sherman Oaks, California, USA
Nationality	United States
College	None
Career
Professional wins	16 (PGA Tour: 16)
Best Results in Major Championships Wins: 3
Masters	Won 1939
U.S. Open	Won 1937, 1938
British Open	T11: 1937
PGA Championship	T3: 1940
Awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	1981

Ralph J. Guldahl (November 22, 1911 – June 11, 1987) was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the sport for three years in the late 1930s. He was born in Dallas, Texas.

Guldahl started playing on the professional tournament circuit in 1931 and won an event in his rookie season. In the 1933, at the age of 21, he went into the last hole of U.S. Open tied for the lead with Johnny Goodman. A par would have taken him into a playoff, but he made bogey and finished second. After further frustrating failures Guldahl quit the sport temporarily in 1935 and became a car salesman. He made a comeback part way through the 1936 PGA Tour season. He won the prestigious Western Open and finished second on the money list. He went on to win the Western Open in 1937 and 1938 as well.

Guldahl won three major championships. He claimed the U.S. Open title in 1937 and 1938. Guldahl became the last person to win the U.S. Open while wearing a necktie during play in 1938.^[1] He was runner up at the Masters in both 1937 and 1938, before taking that title in 1939. He played on the 1937 Ryder Cup team.

Guldahl's game then fell apart and he did not win after 1940. Two-time PGA champion Paul Runyan commented, "It's the most ridiculous thing, really. He went from being temporarily the absolute best player in the world to one who couldn't play at all." One popular theory is that when he wrote an instructional book, he overanalyzed his swing and it fell apart. He played occasionally in the 1940s but then quit tournament golf for good and spent the rest of his working life as a club professional. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. He died in Sherman Oaks, California.

1 PGA Tour wins (16)
2 Major Championships
- 2.1 Wins (3)
- 2.2 Results timeline
3 See also
4 References

[edit] PGA Tour wins (16)

1931 (1) Santa Monica Open
1932 (1) Arizona Open
1934 (1) Westwood Golf Club Open Championship
1936 (3) Western Open, Augusta Open, Miami Biltmore Open
1937 (2) U.S. Open, Western Open
1938 (2) U.S. Open, Western Open
1939 (4) Greater Greensboro Open, The Masters, Dapper Dan Open, Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball (with Sam Snead)
1940 (2) Milwaukee Open, Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Sam Snead)

Major championships are shown in bold.

[edit] Major Championships

[edit] Wins (3)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Margin	Runner Up
1937	U.S. Open	-7 (71-69-72-69=281)	2 strokes	Sam Snead
1938	U.S. Open (2)	E (74-70-71-69=284)	6 strokes	Dick Metz
1939	The Masters	-9 (72-68-70-69=279)	1 stroke	Sam Snead

[edit] Results timeline

Tournament	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
The Masters	NYF	NYF	NYF	NYF	DNP	DNP	DNP	2	T2	1
U.S. Open	T39	T32	T58	2	T8	T40	T8	1	1	T7
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T11	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	R32	R32	R32

Tournament	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
The Masters	T14	T14	21	NT	NT	NT	48	DNP	T35	DNP
U.S. Open	T5	T21	NT	NT	NT	NT	CUT	T55	T32	22
The Open Championship	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	SF	R16	DNP	NT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

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

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973
The Masters	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF, F = 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.