Ben Crenshaw
| Ben Crenshaw | |
|---|---|
| — Golfer — | |
Crenshaw in 2008
|
|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Ben Daniel Crenshaw |
| Nickname | Gentle Ben |
| Born |
January 11, 1952 Austin, Texas |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Weight | 157 lb (71 kg; 11.2 st) |
| Nationality |
 United States
|
| Residence | Austin, Texas |
| Spouse | Julie (m. 1985-present) Polly (m. 1976-1985) |
| Children | Claire Susan, Anna Riley, Katherine Vail |
| Career | |
| College | University of Texas |
| Turned professional | 1973 |
| Current tour(s) | Champions Tour |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Professional wins | 29 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 19 |
| European Tour | 1 |
| Other | 8 (regular) 1 (senior) |
| Best results in major championships (wins: 2) |
|
| Masters Tournament | Won: 1984, 1995 |
| U.S. Open | T3: 1975 |
| The Open Championship | T2: 1978, 1979 |
| PGA Championship | 2nd: 1979 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 2002 (member page) |
| Haskins Award | 1971, 1972, 1973 |
| Bob Jones Award | 1991 |
| Old Tom Morris Award | 1997 |
| Payne Stewart Award | 2001 |
Ben Daniel Crenshaw (born January 11, 1952) is a retired American professional golfer who has won 19 events on the PGA Tour, including two major championships: the Masters Tournament in 1984 and 1995. He is nicknamed Gentle Ben.
Born in Austin, Texas, Crenshaw attended and played golf at Austin High School and the University of Texas, where he won three NCAA Championships from 1971 to 1973. He was also a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. He turned professional in 1973.
In 1973, Crenshaw became the second player in Tour history to win the first event of his career; this accomplishment was achieved earlier by Marty Fleckman (1967) and later repeated by Jim Benepe (1988), Robert Gamez (1990), Garrett Willis (2001), and Russell Henley (2013). Following five runner-up finishes in major championships without a victory, including losing a sudden-death playoff for the 1979 PGA Championship, in 1984 he won The Masters. In the mid-1980s, he suffered from Graves' disease, a disease of the thyroid, but he continued to accumulate victories, finishing with 19 on the PGA Tour, including an emotional second Masters victory in 1995, which came a week after the death of his mentor Harvey Penick.
In 1999, he was selected as captain of the United States Ryder Cup team for the matches at The Country Club, Brookline, Massachusetts. 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 ½ of the final day's 12 points to regain the Cup.
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