George Alfred Christian Knudson, CM (June 28, 1937 – January 24, 1989) was a Canadian professional golfer, who along with Mike Weir holds the record for the Canadian with the most wins on the PGA Tour, with eight career victories.
| George Knudson | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | George Alfred Christian Knudson |
| Nickname | The Mantis |
| Born | June 28, 1937 Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Died | January 24, 1989 (aged 51) Toronto, Ontario |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
| Weight | 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st) |
| Sporting nationality |  Canada |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1958 |
| Former tour(s) | Canadian Tour PGA Tour |
| Professional wins | 30 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 8 |
| Other | 22 |
| Best results in major championships | |
| Masters Tournament | T2: 1969 |
| PGA Championship | T20: 1965 |
| U.S. Open | T17: 1965 |
| The Open Championship | DNP |
Early life and amateur career
editKnudson was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He learned to play golf at the St. Charles Country Club. He won the 1954 and 1955 Manitoba Junior Championships.[1] In addition, he won the 1955 Canadian Junior Championship.[2]
Professional career
editIn 1958, Knudson moved to Toronto and worked at the Oakdale Golf & Country Club where he received instruction and encouragement from the Club, to improve his game; the club has named one of its three nines after him.[3] He was then able to secure some financial backing to try the PGA Tour. He won the Manitoba Open in 1958, 1959, and 1960, and the Ontario Open in 1960, 1961, 1971, 1976 and 1978.[4]
Between 1961 and 1972, he won eight tournaments on the PGA Tour. He won the Canadian PGA Championship five times, and won the World Cup with Al Balding in 1968.
Knudson's last official PGA TOUR victory was the Kaiser Invitational in October 1972. However, Knudson nearly won again the next week at the Sahara Invitational. He carried the lead going into the final round at 15-under par after shooting 65-70-66, but a final round 76 dropped him into a T-7th at 11-under.
In seven Masters appearances, Knudson posted three top-10s, including 10th in his 1965 debut and sixth a year later. Knudson's best finish in a major championship was a tie for second in the 1969 Masters Tournament, one shot behind champion George Archer.[5] Knudson's birdie putt on the 72nd hole to tie Archer came up 3 inches short.
Knudson left tournament golf in the late 1970s, and started teaching golf, with success, at a facility in the Toronto area. His teaching methods have since been adopted by the Canadian PGA.
Death
editKnudson had long been a heavy smoker and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1987. He recovered well enough to compete at the 1988 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf senior tournament. Shortly thereafter, it was discovered the cancer had spread to his brain. George Knudson died in January 1989 at age 51 and was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.
Awards and honors
edit- In 1969, Knudson was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.
- In 1988, Knudson was inducted into both Royal Canadian Golf Association Hall of Fame and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
- In 1988, he was also made a member of the Order of Canada.
- In 1996, he was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.[6]
Amateur wins
edit- 1954 Manitoba Junior Championship
- 1955 Manitoba Junior Championship, Canadian Junior Championship
Professional wins (30)
editPGA Tour wins (8)
edit| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dec 10, 1961 | Coral Gables Open Invitational | 65-71-71-66=273 | −11 | 1 stroke |  Gay Brewer
|
| 2 | Sep 22, 1963 | Portland Open Invitational | 69-67-68-67=271 | −17 | Playoff | Mason Rudolph
|
| 3 | Oct 4, 1964 | Fresno Open Invitational | 73-69-71-67=280 | −8 | Playoff |  Al Balding
|
| 4 | May 14, 1967 | Greater New Orleans Open Invitational | 71-66-70-70=277 | −11 | 1 stroke | Jack Nicklaus
|
| 5 | Feb 18, 1968 | Phoenix Open Invitational | 67-64-70-71=272 | −12 | 3 strokes | Julius Boros, Sam Carmichael, Jack Montgomery
|
| 6 | Feb 25, 1968 | Tucson Open Invitational | 70-67-71-65=273 | −15 | 1 stroke | Frank Beard, Frank Boynton
|
| 7 | Sep 20, 1970 | Robinson Open Golf Classic | 67-69-69-63=268 | −16 | Playoff | George Archer
|
| 8 | Oct 22, 1972 | Kaiser International Open Invitational | 66-69-66-70=271 | −17 | 3 strokes | Hale Irwin, Bobby Nichols
|
PGA Tour playoff record (3–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1963 | Portland Open Invitational | Mason Rudolph
|
Won with eagle on first extra hole |
| 2 | 1964 | Fresno Open Invitational | Al Balding
|
Won with birdie on second extra hole |
| 3 | 1970 | Robinson Open Golf Classic | George Archer
|
Won with par on fourth extra hole |
Canadian wins (16)
editThis list may be incomplete
- 1958 Manitoba Open
- 1959 Manitoba Open
- 1960 Manitoba Open, Ontario Open
- 1961 Ontario Open
- 1964 Canadian PGA Championship
- 1966 Millar Trophy[7]
- 1967 Canadian PGA Championship
- 1968 Canadian PGA Championship
- 1971 Ontario Open
- 1976 Canadian PGA Championship
- 1976 Ontario Open
- 1977 Canadian PGA Championship, Shrine Pro-Am (shared with Dan Halldorson and Gar Hamilton)[8]
- 1978 Ontario Open, Shrine Pro-Am[9]
Latin American wins (4)
edit- 1962 Maracaibo Open Invitational, Puerto Rico Open
- 1963 Panama Open
- 1964 Caracas Open
Other wins (3)
edit- 1966 Canada Cup (individual trophy)
- 1968 World Cup (team event with Al Balding)
- 1969 Wills Masters (Australia)
Results in major championships
edit| Tournament | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 10 | T6 | T31 | T28 | T2 | T45 | CUT | ||||||
| U.S. Open | T17 | T44 | T36 | T61 | T51 | ||||||||
| PGA Championship | T51 | T28 | T20 | T43 | T25 | T55 | CUT | CUT | T56 |
Note: Knudson never played in The Open Championship.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary
edit| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 |
| Totals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 18 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 16 (1962 PGA – 1970 PGA)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)
Team appearances
editAmateur
- Americas Cup (representing Canada): 1956
Professional
Bibliography
edit- The Natural Golf Swing (ISBN 0-7710-4534-4), with Lorne Rubenstein.
References
edit- ^ History of Golf in Canada, by Lawrence Vincent Kavanagh, Toronto, Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1973, p. 185
- ^ Barclay, James A. (1992). Golf in Canada: A History. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 978-0-7710-1080-4.
- ^ Stanley, Adam (June 5, 2023). "Five things to know: Oakdale Golf Course". PGA Tour.
- ^ "Ontario Golf Hall of Fame – George Knudson". Golf Association of Ontario. Archived from the original on April 12, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
- ^ "Archer wins Masters; Knudson second". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. April 14, 1969. p. 22.
- ^ "George Knudson". oshof.ca. Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ "Knudsons sharp finish brings Millar Trophy". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. CP. July 30, 1966. p. 12. Retrieved March 27, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Rain halts tourney". The Leader-Post. Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. July 16, 1977. p. 18. Retrieved April 2, 2020 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "In a nutshell". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario, Canada. July 7, 1978. p. 29. Retrieved April 2, 2020 – via Google News Archive.
External links
edit- Profile at Canadian Golf Hall of Fame
- George Knudson's biography at Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
- George Knudson at the PGA Tour official site
- George Knudson at Find a Grave