Bio/Wiki Full Name Eugenio Saraceni Nick Name The Squire Profession (s) Golf Player Personal Information Date of Birth February 27, 1902 Day of Birth Thursday Place Of Birth Harrison, New York, U.S Nationality United States Spouse Mary Sarazen Career Turned Professional 1920 Professional Wins 49 Money Factor Tom Watson’s Income / Salary: Total worth in 2019 $100K-1M (Approx.)

Lesser known facts about Gene Sarazen

Early life

Gene Sarazen was born as Eugenio Saraceni in Harrison, New York, to poor Sicilian immigrants’ parents.

He first caddied at the age of ten at local golf clubs. He learned golf all by himself and over a period of time-honed his skills. What was relatively at that time, Gene used the interlocking grip to hold the club.

Young Golfer

Gene Sarazen undertook small professional jobs in the clubs of New York and worked hard in his mid-teens.

He won his first major championship when he was only 20- the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in 1922 at age 20.

Gene Sarazen along with Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen were dominating the game of golf during the 1920s. Sarazen was a big rival of Jones who was born in the same year; Sarazen also had many great battles with Walter Hagen, who was nine years older.

These rivalries among the three ace golfers piqued the interest of people in golf. around the world during this period. As a result, the United States earned the reputation of the world’s dominant golf power for the first time and surpassed Great Britain.

The invention of modern sand wedge

Gene Sarazen invented the modern sand wedge, and debuted the club (while keeping it secret during preliminary practice rounds) at The Open Championship at Prince’s Golf Club in 1932 and won it.

Every major golfer has used the wedge design and technique developed by Sarazen.

This same club design and method was increasingly used by novice golf players around the world.

The top players also started using the sand wedge for shots from the grass after Sarazen introduced it. This portended a revolution in short-game techniques, along with lower scoring by players who had the best skills.

Sarazen called it as sand iron, and his original club is no longer on display at Prince’s as the worth is quite a hefty sum for the insurers to cover.

Sarazen had a problem with his sand play especially when there were sand-specific clubs.

However, Bobby Jones’s sand club had a concave face which means the ball would contact it twice during a swing. But this design was later banned.

Sarazen innovated it to weld solder onto the lower back of the club, building up the flange so that it sat lower than the leading edge when soled. As a result, the flange would come in contact with the sand first and not the leading edge. This will bombard the sand as the shot was played.

The additional weight that was there lent punch to power through the thick sand. Sarazen’s new technique with the new club was to make the sand contact a few inches behind the ball rather than actually contacting the ball at all on most sand shots.

Major wins

In 1935, Gene Sarazen rose to fame for his “the shot heard ’round the world” at Augusta National Golf Club in the Masters Tournament.

It was a final round 235-yard 4-wood on the par-5 fifteenth hole. This provided him a very rare double eagle two on the hole. He was only one of four to ever achieve such a feat on any hole at the Masters. He trailed the leader by three shots at the time and made them up all at once. I

This made him win another tournament with a 36-hole playoff against Craig Wood. At this time, Wood had already been issued a cheque of $1,500 who had finished his round.

The double eagle’s 20 th anniversary was celebrated by naming the Sarazen Bridge, on the left side of the fifteenth green in 1955.

anniversary was celebrated by naming the Sarazen Bridge, on the left side of the fifteenth green in 1955. This included a contest to duplicate, with the closest just over 4 feet away. The vent happened 82 years ago but it is still one of the most famous shots in the history of golf.

Sarazen received an honorary degree in 1978 from Siena College, in Loudonville, New York.

Sarazen’s last years

During his times, Gene Sarazen was one of the longest hitters despite the fact that he was 5 ft 5 1⁄2 in (1.66 m).

Sarazen promoted the sport of golf and honed his skills by playing hundreds of lengthy exhibition tours around the world and consequently made a huge earning from golf.

Even when his best years had gone, he continued to compete in the world of golf in the 1960s and 1970s. As multiple past champions, he was eligible to play in the top events.

All his life, Sarazen competed by wearing knickers or plus-fours which were the fashion when he was slotted into the top level.

Even after his retirement, Gene Sarazen continued as an honorary starter at the Masters.

Sarazen in tow with Byron Nelson and Sam Snead hit a ceremonial tee shot before each Masters tournament during the period between 1981 and 1999.

He was a commentator on a television show called Wonderful World of Golf and was an early TV broadcaster at important events. In this role, he popularised the sport of golf big time.

When he was 71, he could easily make a hole-in-one at The Open Championship in 1973, at the “Postage Stamp” at Troon in Scotland.

In 1992, Sarazen was voted the Bob Jones Award which is the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association to recognize distinguished sportsmanship in golf.

Sarazen has till date the longest-running endorsement contract in professional sports with Wilson Sporting Goods from 1923 until his death, a total of 75 years.

Before his death, a Sarazen Student Union was named in his honor in 1998.

He created an endowed scholarship fund at the college named as “The Gene and Mary Sarazen Scholarship”. The scholarship is awarded annually to students who show high personal, athletic, and intellectual ideals of Dr. Sarazen.

Sarazen hit the first ball in an annual golf tournament to raise funds for the scholarship.

He died from complicated pneumonia at the age of 97 in 1999 in Naples, Florida.

His wife Mary died thirteen years earlier in 1986, and they both are buried at Marco Island Cemetery in Marco.

The Golf Digest Magazine ranked Gene Sarazen as the 11th greatest golfer of all time in 2000.

Gene Sarazen Quotes

“I don’t care what you say about me. Just spell the name right.”

“From where we were last year to now, this is a huge win for our program. This is a big stepping stone for us and it just shows the determination of these girls. When they have things going, they can really play this game.”

“My caddie ‘Stovepipe’ tried to talk me into hitting a 3-wood. But I took out the turf rider (4-wood) instead. The moment I hit it, I felt something in my bones. Walter Hagen was playing with me and Bobby Jones was on the green. 21 people were behind the green. The sun was going down. I wasn’t sure it had gone in the hole until I saw all 21 people jumping up and down.”

“They are a good team? I knew we would have our hands full. It was going to take a lot of heart and desire, and we tried. I think we got worn down a little bit.”

“Ben Hogan is the most merciless of all the modern golfers.”

“Even when times were good, I realized that my earning power as a golf professional depended on too many ifs and putts.”

“The life of a professional golfer is precarious at best. Win, and they carry you to the clubhouse on their shoulders. Lose, and you pay the caddies in the dark.”

“Scott Medlock’s portrait of ‘the shot heard around the world’ from the 1935 Masters is still being celebrated as a moment in Golf History. Imagine that!”

“Oakmont possesses all the charm of a sock to the head.”

“I have been able to hope for the best, expect the worst, and take what comes along. If there has been one fundamental reason for my success, this is it.”

“I am not happy with that. I told the girls that in the playoffs I would give them 10 more points each game, but right now, we are not there.”

What is frustrating about it is that we work at shooting every day. We shoot 75 foul shots every day and when we shoot like this, it really puzzles me as to why it happens. Maybe it was a case of some nerves along with an accumulation of other things such as not warming up properly. We were just out of sync a little bit.

“The more I practice, the luckier I get.”

“I am not happy with that. I told the girls that in the playoffs I would give them 10 more points each game, but right now, we are not there.”

“We’ll suit up and do the best we can. We have some good kids coming back, we’ve got a good program. We’ve just got to work harder.”

Awards and Honours

PGA Tour wins (39)

1922 (3) Southern (Spring) Open, U.S. Open, PGA Championship

1923 (1) PGA Championship

1925 (1) Metropolitan Open

1926 (1) Miami Open

1927 (3) Long Island Open, Miami Beach Open, Metropolitan PGA

1928 (4) Miami Beach Open, Miami Open, Nassau Bahamas Open, Metropolitan PGA

1929 (2) Miami Open, Miami Beach Open

1930 (8) Miami Open, Agua Caliente Open, Florida West Coast Open, Concord Country Club Open, United States Pro Invitational, Western Open, Lannin Memorial Tournament, Middle Atlantic Open

1931 (3) Florida West Coast Open, La Gorce Open, Lannin Memorial Tournament

1932 (4) True Temper Open, Coral Gables Open, U.S. Open, The Open Championship

1933 (1) PGA Championship

1935 (3) Masters Tournament, Massachusetts Open, Long Island Open

1937 (2) Florida West Coast Open, Chicago Open

1938 (1) Lake Placid Open

1941 (1) Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball (with Ben Hogan)

Australian Tour win (1)

1936 Australian Open

Other Wins

1923 Daily Dispatch Northern Professional Championship

1928 Miami International Four-Ball (with Johnny Farrell)

1939 Metropolitan PGA

1945 Shoreline Open

1948 Shoreline Open

1966 Northeast New York PGA Championship

Senior wins (3)

1954 PGA Seniors’ Championship, World Senior Championship

1958 PGA Seniors’ Championship

Honors

Gene Sarazen was the winner of 39 PGA tour events.

He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.

Sarazen was also the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 1932.

He won the PGA Tour’s first Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.

He played on six U.S. Ryder Cup teams in 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1935, and 1937.

Also Read About:- Tiger Woods

FAQ’s

Ques. How many majors did Gene Sarazen win?

Ans. seven major championships

Fast Facts: Gene Sarazen

Key Accomplishments: Winner of 38 PGA Tour titles, including seven major championships. The first golfer to win the “career Grand Slam” in the four professional majors.

Ques. How old is Gene Sarazen?

Ans. Gene Sarazen Age at death:- 97 years (1902–1999)

Ques. Why was Gene Sarazen called the Squire?

Ans. The Squire: Gene Sarazen. Gene Sarazen is the first golfer to capture the modern Career Grand Slam. He was the innovator of the modern sand wedge. … He earned his nickname “The Squire” because he didn’t have much faith in golf as a career, so he’d bought a farm and at the time farm owners were called squires.

Ques. When did Gene Sarazen die?

Ans. 13 May 1999

Ques. How many golfers have won the Grand Slam?

Ans. Only five golfers have won all four of golf’s modern majors at any time during their careers, an achievement which is often referred to as a Career Grand Slam: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods. Woods and Nicklaus have won each of the four majors at least three times.