Gene Littler
| Gene Littler | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Gene Alec Littler |
| Born |
July 21, 1930 San Diego, California |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Weight | 155 lb (70 kg; 11.1 st) |
| Nationality |
 United States
|
| Residence | Rancho Santa Fe, California |
| Career | |
| College | San Diego State University |
| Turned professional | 1954 |
| Former tour(s) |
PGA Tour Champions Tour |
| Professional wins | 52 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 29 |
| Japan Golf Tour | 2 |
| PGA Tour Champions | 8 |
| Other | 13 |
| Best results in major championships (wins: 2) |
|
| Masters Tournament | 2nd: 1970 |
| U.S. Open | Won: 1961 |
| The Open Championship | T18: 1974 |
| PGA Championship | 2nd: 1977 |
| U.S. Amateur | Won: 1953 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 1990 (member page) |
| Bob Jones Award | 1973 |
Gene Alec Littler (born July 21, 1930) is an American professional golfer and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Known for a solid temperament and nicknamed "Gene the Machine" for his smooth rhythmical swing, he once said that, "Golf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the best misses. The people who win make the smallest mistakes."
Littler was born in San Diego, California. He played on the 1953 United States Walker Cup team, and won the U.S. Amateur and the California State Amateur that same year. In 1954, he won a PGA Tour event as an amateur, a rare achievement which was not to be repeated until Doug Sanders won the Canadian Open in 1956.
Littler graduated from San Diego State University. He also served in the United States Navy before turning pro in the spring of 1954.
An early highlight of Littler's professional playing career was a second-place finish at the 1954 U.S. Open. He finished one shot behind Ed Furgol.
In 1955, he won four times on the tour, but fell into a slump in the late 1950s after tinkering with his swing. After taking advice from Paul Runyan and adjusting his grip, he recovered in 1959 to have his best year with five PGA Tour victories. He finished second on the money list that year, which was to remain his career best. Only once from 1954 to 1979 did Littler finish out of the top 60 on the final money list. He was stricken with melanoma cancer found in a lymph node under his left arm in 1972, but came back to win five more times on the PGA Tour. He ended his career with 29 PGA Tour wins, and also won two tournaments in Japan and one in Australia.
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