Kermit Millard Zarley, Jr. (born September 29, 1941) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. He is also an author of several books.

Kermit Zarley
Personal information
Full nameKermit Millard Zarley, Jr.
Born (1941-09-29) September 29, 1941 (age 83)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceScottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Career
CollegeUniversity of Houston
Turned professional1963
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins6
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour3
PGA Tour Champions1
Other2
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT17: 1973
PGA ChampionshipT8: 1968
U.S. Open6th: 1972
The Open ChampionshipDNP

Biography

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Zarley was born in Seattle, Washington. He graduated from the University of Houston and was a distinguished member of the golf team. He was the individual champion at the 1962 NCAA Division I Championships and also led his team to victory.

Zarley had three dozen top-10 finishes in PGA Tour events during his 18 years on Tour including three wins. Zarley had three top-10 finishes in major championships; his best was a solo 6th at the 1972 U.S. Open.[1] Zarley won once on the Senior/Champions Tour. On both Tours, he finished second or tied for second seventeen times.

Due to his unusual name, Zarley was often called "the Pro from the Moon" or "Moon Man." It is because comedian Bob Hope once interviewed him on national television and remarked, "Kermit Zarley, with a name like that he must be the pro from the moon."[2] In a Wayne and Shuster sketch about a golf tournament being held on the streets of Toronto, Johnny Wayne's character is named "Zarley Kermit, Jr."

In 1965, Zarley co-founded the PGA Tour Bible Study group with fellow PGA Tour players Jim and Babe Hiskey.[3] It is still active in the world of professional golf. In the period between his careers on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour, he wrote three books on religion and world affairs. He received an honorary doctorate degree in 2001 from North Park University in Chicago, which has a lecture series named for him.[4] Zarley resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.[3]

Amateur wins

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Professional wins (6)

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PGA Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Jan 21, 1968 Kaiser International Open Invitational −15 (71-67-70-65=273) 1 stroke   Dave Marr
2 Jul 5, 1970 Canadian Open −9 (69-73-70-67=279) 3 strokes   Gibby Gilbert
3 Jul 30, 1972 National Team Championship
(with   Babe Hiskey)
−22 (67-63-66-66=262) 3 strokes   Grier Jones and   Johnny Miller

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1976 Florida Citrus Open   Hale Irwin Lost to par on sixth extra hole

Tournament Players Series wins (1)

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Other wins (1)

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Senior PGA Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 Oct 9, 1994 The Transamerica −12 (70-68-66=204) Playoff   Isao Aoki

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1994 Royal Caribbean Classic   Lee Trevino Lost to par on fourth extra hole
2 1994 The Transamerica   Isao Aoki Won with birdie on first extra hole
3 1996 Bruno's Memorial Classic   John Bland,   John Paul Cain Bland won with bogey on third extra hole
Zarley eliminated by par on second hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974
Masters Tournament T20 T35 CUT T17 T31
U.S. Open CUT T13 T36 T27 6 CUT T40
PGA Championship T8 T59 T22 T68 T9 T51
Tournament 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open T24 T44 CUT T39
PGA Championship T43 T54 T51 T19 T42 CUT

Note: Zarley never played in The Open Championship.

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 4
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 1 3 11 8
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 2 4 12 11
Totals 0 0 0 0 3 9 28 23
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1973 PGA – 1976 PGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)

Books

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  • The Gospel (1987). Scripture Press. Out-of-print. German adaptation--Das Leben Jesu: Die authentische Biographie (1991). Hanssler.
  • The Gospels Interwoven (1987). Scripture Press. Reprinted by Wipf & Stock (2001). ISBN 1-57910-775-3.
  • Palestine Is Coming: The Revival of Ancient Philistia (1990). Hannibal Books. Re-issued by Wipf & Stock (2005). ISBN 1-55635-181-X.
  • The Third Day Bible Code (2006). Synergy Books. ISBN 1-933538-43-0.
  • Warrior from Heaven (2009). Synergy Books. ISBN 0-9815462-2-6.
  • The Restitution of Jesus Christ (2008). Self-published. No ISBN.
  • The Solving the Samaritan Riddle: Peter's Keys Explain Early Spirit Baptism (2015). Wipf & Stock. ISBN 9781498225281.

References

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  1. ^ "Golf Major Championships".
  2. ^ Connor, Floyd (June 1, 2001). Golf's most wanted: the top 10 book of the great game's outrageous duffers. Potomac Books Inc. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-57488-360-2.
  3. ^ a b "Kermit Zarley - The PGA Tour's Christian Pioneer". BC Golf News. July 2009. Archived from the original on September 5, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
  4. ^ "2011 Kermit Zarley Lectures". North Park University.[permanent dead link]
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