Jimmy Demaret: The Swing's the Thing
The first player to win the Masters three times (1940, 1947, 1950), Jimmy Demaret has 31 PGA Tour wins, putting him among the top fifteen on the list of all-time PGA Tour event winners. He places at the top of the list of players who enjoy their time on a golf course. Whether joking with the golf fans at events, singing a tune while walking down a fairway, or brightening professional golf with his colorful clothes, Demaret was a unique presence in golf for fifty years.In 1940 he led the PGA Tour in victories with six wins. The year he was leading money winner on tour, 1947, he won the Vardon Trophy for having the lowest scoring average on the PGA Tour. As a participant on three Ryder Cup teams, he achieved a six win, no losses record. He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, PGA of America Hall of Fame, and Texas Sports Hall of Fame.His accomplishments beyond his competitive career were equally noteworthy. He co-founded, with Jack Burke, Champions Golf Club in Houston, site of several major tournaments. He participated in the development of Onion Creek in Austin, Texas, where he helped found the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf Tournament, which inspired the creation of the PGA Senior Tour, now the Champions Tour. On television he was commentator forAll-Star GolfandShell’s Wonderful World of Golf.Counting among his friends Ben Hogan, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Phil Harris, astronaut Gene Cernan, as well as thousands of golf fans who enjoyed seeing him play, Demaret was known for bringing warmth wherever he went. When presented the Walter Hagen Award for 1974, the citation read, “Jimmy Demaret has shown us that the sport of golf can rise beyond being merely an athletic event into an occasion and opportunity for building goodwill and friendships among peoples of varying background and nationalities.”