Craig Wood (golfer)

Craig Wood
Personal information
Full name	Craig Ralph Wood
Born	November 18, 1901(1901-11-18) Lake Placid, New York
Died	May 7, 1968(1968-05-07) (aged 66) Palm Beach, Florida
Nationality	United States
Career
College	None
Turned professional	1920
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	25
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	21
Other	4
Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 2)
Masters Tournament	Won: 1941
U.S. Open	Won: 1941
The Open Championship	2nd: 1933
PGA Championship	2nd: 1934
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	2008 (member page)

Craig Ralph Wood (November 18, 1901 – May 7, 1968) was an American professional golfer in the 1930s and 1940s, the winner of 21 PGA Tour titles including two major championships and a member of three Ryder Cup teams (1931, 1933, 1935).

Wood was born in Lake Placid, New York.

Despite his two major championships, Wood is probably most well known as the victim of Gene Sarazen's famous double eagle in the 1935 Augusta National Invitational (now known as the Masters Tournament). The shot left the two players tied at the end of regulation and Sarazen went on to victory in a 36-hole playoff.

This was the fourth runner-up and third playoff loss for Wood in a major in just two years. In the 1933 British Open at St Andrews, Denny Shute had defeated Wood in another 36-hole playoff. In the spring of 1934, Wood was the runner up by a single shot to Horton Smith at the first Masters and later that year he was defeated on the 38th hole by Paul Runyan in the PGA Championship which was then decided by match play. After Sarazen's shot, Wood was left with his second consecutive Masters runner-up and a reputation of being "jinxed". At the 1939 U.S. Open he birdied the 72nd hole and was again in a playoff, but this time Byron Nelson was the winner, making Wood the first player to lose all four major championships in extra holes. Greg Norman is the only other player to suffer this fate.

In 1941, at the age of 39, Wood finally beat his "jinx" in noteworthy fashion, winning the Masters Tournament and becoming its first wire-to-wire champion with rounds of 66-71-71-72=280 and a three shot victory over Byron Nelson. He followed his Masters success by winning the 45th U.S. Open at The Colonial Club in Fort Worth, Texas. His score of 284 beat out another former nemesis Denny Shute by three. This was the first time someone had successfully captured the first two major championships of the year.

In 1954, the Lake Placid Golf and Country Club changed its name to the Craig Wood Golf Course in honor of its native son.^[1]

Wood died in Palm Beach, Florida.

Wood was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2008 on the PGA Tour ballot.^[2]

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (21)

• 1928 (1) New Jersey PGA Championship
• 1929 (2) Oklahoma City Open, Hawaiian Open
• 1930 (1) New Jersey PGA Championship
• 1931 (1) Harlingen Open
• 1932 (3) New Jersey PGA Match Play Championship, San Francisco Open-Match Play, Pasadena Open
• 1933 (2) Los Angeles Open, Radium Springs Open
• 1934 (2) Galveston Open Championship, New Jersey Open
• 1936 (1) General Brock Open
• 1938 (1) Augusta Open-Forest Hills
• 1940 (2) Metropolitan Open, Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball (with Billy Burke)
• 1941 (2) Masters Tournament, U.S. Open
• 1942 (1) Canadian Open
• 1944 (1) Durham Open

Major championships are shown in bold.
(missing one win)

Other wins

this list may be incomplete

• 1925 Kentucky Open
• 1929 Pasadena Open (January)
• 1938 New Jersey PGA Championship
• 1942 Metropolitan PGA Championship

Major championships

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runner-up
1941	Masters Tournament	3 shot lead	-8 (66-71-71-72=280)	3 strokes	Byron Nelson
1941	U.S. Open	2 shot lead	[phone]=284)	3 strokes	Denny Shute

Results timeline

Tournament	1925	1926	1927	1928	1929
The Masters	NYF	NYF	NYF	NYF	NYF
U.S. Open	T51	DNP	CUT	T46	T16
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	QF

Tournament	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
The Masters	NYF	NYF	NYF	NYF	2	2	T20	T26	T34	6
U.S. Open	T9	DNP	T14	3	DQ	T21	T66	T36	DNP	2
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	2	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	R32	DNP	2	DNP	SF	R32	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
The Masters	T7	1	T23	NT	NT	NT	DNP	T52	DNP	34
U.S. Open	4	1	NT	NT	NT	NT	CUT	DNP	CUT	T27
The Open Championship	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	R32	R32	QF	NT	R16	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	R64

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
The Masters	DNP	DNP	59	T61	71	62	70	CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	CUT	T47	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
The Masters	WD	CUT	DNP	WD	WD
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

NYF = Tournament not yet founded
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.

See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• Golfers with most major championship wins

References

1. ^ Craig Wood Golf Club - Who Was Craig Wood?
2. ^ Career female amateur joins World Golf Hall of Fame

Persondata
Name	Wood, Craig
Alternative names	Wood, Craig Ralph
Short description	Professional golfer
Date of birth	November 18, 1901
Place of birth	Lake Placid, New York
Date of death	May 7, 1968
Place of death	Palm Beach, Florida