death_date status majorwins prowins birth_date usopen death_place extour name fullname pga birth_place pgawins height masters open weight article_title otherwins
19 april 1972 professional 1 17 14 december 1902 '' ` won '' ' : 1931 clearwater , florida pga tour billy burke william john burke t3 : 1931 naugatuck , connecticut 13 5 11.5 t3 : 1934 , 1939 '' ` won '' ' : 1931 172 lb kg st on billy burke -lrb- golfer -rrb-
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billy burke -lrb- golfer -rrb-

william john burke , burkauskas -lrb- polonized burkowski -rrb- -lrb- december 14 , 1902 -- april 19 , 1972 -rrb- was a prominent lithuanian american professional golfer of the 1920s and 1930s .
burke was born in naugatuck , connecticut .
his greatest season was 1931 , when he won the u.s. open , reached the semi-finals of the pga championship , and won four events on the professional circuit , plus appeared on the ryder cup team where he was undefeated in two matches .
he was also selected for the 1933 ryder cup team but not before some agitation by gene sarazen was done on his behalf .
burke won his only match in the 1933 competition .
burke 's 1931 u.s. open win came in a marathon playoff .
he and george von elm were tied at 292 -lrb- 8-over-par -rrb- after regulation play .
they played a 36-hole playoff the next day and tied again at 149 -lrb- 7-over-par -rrb- .
the following day they played 36 more holes and burke emerged victorious 148 to 149 .
throughout burke 's golf career he used an unorthodox grip due to the loss of two fingers on his left hand .
in 2005 , burke was inducted into the national polish-american sports hall of fame .
burke died in clearwater , florida .
