Robert Gardner (athlete)
| Robert A. Gardner | |
|---|---|
| — Golfer — | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Robert Abbe Gardner |
| Born |
April 9, 1890 Hinsdale, Illinois |
| Died | June 21, 1956 (aged 66) Lake Forest, Illinois |
| Nationality |
 United States
|
| Spouse | Katherine Keep |
| Children | Mary (1919) |
| Career | |
| College | Yale University |
| Status | Amateur |
| Best results in major championships (wins: 2) |
|
| Masters Tournament | DNP |
| U.S. Open | T23: 1911 |
| The Open Championship | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP |
| U.S. Amateur | Won: 1909, 1915 |
| British Amateur | 2nd: 1920 |
Robert Abbe Gardner (April 9, 1890 – June 21, 1956) was an American multi-sport athlete best known for winning the U.S. Amateur in golf twice.
Gardner was born in Hinsdale, Illinois. He spent most of his life in the Chicago area. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale University in 1912, where he was a member of Skull and Bones.
While a sophomore at Yale, Gardner won the 1909 U.S. Amateur golf tournament over Chandler Egan at the Chicago Golf Club. He was the youngest winner, at 19 years, 5 months, of the U.S. Amateur. His record stood for 85 years until Tiger Woods won his first of three Amateurs at age 18 years, 8 months.
Gardner would make the finals of the U.S. Amateur three more times, winning in 1915 and losing in 1916 and 1921. He also lost in the finals of two other prominent amateur events, the 1911 Western Amateur and the 1920 British Amateur.
Golf was not the only sport Gardner excelled at. On June 1, 1912, at an intercollegiate track and field competition in Philadelphia, he set the world pole vault record at 13 feet 1 inch (3.99 m). This record would be short lived as Marc Wright vaulted 13 feet 2 1⁄4 inches (4.020 m) one week later at the Olympic trials in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Gardner also was national champion in another sport, racquets. He and Howard Linn won the national doubles racquets championship in 1926 and 1929.
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