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Al Geiberger

Allen Lee Geiberger Sr. (born September 1, 1937) is an American former professional golfer.

Al Geiberger
Personal information
Full nameAllen Lee Geiberger Sr.
NicknameMr. 59, Skippy
Born (1937-09-01) September 1, 1937 (age 87)
Red Bluff, California, U.S.
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Sporting nationality United States
Career
CollegeUniversity of Southern California
Turned professional1959
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins30
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour11
Japan Golf Tour1
PGA Tour Champions10
Other8
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters TournamentT12: 1972
PGA ChampionshipWon: 1966
U.S. OpenT2: 1969, 1976
The Open ChampionshipT13: 1974
Achievements and awards
Senior PGA Tour
Comeback Player of the Year		1996

Professional career

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Geiberger turned pro in 1959 and joined the PGA Tour in 1960. Geiberger won 11 tournaments on the PGA Tour, the first being the 1962 Ontario Open and the biggest being the 1966 PGA Championship, a major title.[1] He won the Tournament Players Championship in 1975, and played on the Ryder Cup teams in 1967 and 1975. Geiberger also won 10 times on the Senior PGA Tour, now called the Champions Tour.

Mr. 59

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During the second round of the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic in 1977, Geiberger became the first player in history to post a score of 59 (−13) in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.[2][3] Starting on the tenth tee of the Colonial Country Club in Cordova, Tennessee, he shot a bogey-free round of six pars, 11 birdies, and an eagle on the 7,193-yard (6,577 m) layout.[4] He sank a forty-foot (12 m) putt for birdie on his opening hole, and ended the round with a birdie from eight feet (2.4 m); the lone eagle was a holed-out wedge shot.[3]

Geiberger won the tournament, though not handily. He shot even-par 72 in the first and third rounds,[5] and was two strokes down to Gary Player on Sunday after a 38 ( 2) on the front nine put him at 241 (−11) for 63 holes. He regained the lead with a 32 (−4) on the back nine to finish at 273 (−15), two strokes ahead of Player and Jerry McGee.[6]

Scorecard: Friday, June 10, 1977

Hole 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Par 4 4 3 4 4 3 5 4 5 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 4
Score 3 4 2 4 4 2 4 3 4 3 3 2 4 3 3 4 4 3
To par −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 −3 −4 −5 −6 −8 −9 −10 −10 −10 −11 −12 −12 −13
Source:[4]

Personal life

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Geiberger was born in Red Bluff, California, the son of Ray and Mabel Geiberger. His first big tournament win was the 1954 National Jaycee Championship. He graduated from Santa Barbara High School, attended Menlo College and graduated from the University of Southern California in 1959.[7][8]

Geiberger has six children. His son Brent Geiberger is also a professional golfer who won two PGA Tour events. Another son, John, was the coach of the Pepperdine University golf team from 1996 to 2012, and won the NCAA Championship in 1997.[7] Geiberger's father was one of the victims of the Tenerife airport disaster in 1977.[9][10][11]

Geiberger had surgery in 1980 to remove his colon due to inflammatory bowel disease and has an ileostomy.

Professional wins (30)

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PGA Tour wins (11)

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Legend
Major championships (1)
Players Championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (9)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 Oct 21, 1962 Ontario Open Invitational 69-67-70-70=276 −8 1 stroke   Gardner Dickinson,   Bob Goalby,
  Tommy Jacobs,   Chuck Rotar,
  John Ruedi
2 Nov 3, 1963 Almaden Open Invitational 69-67-67-74=277 −11 1 stroke   Dutch Harrison,   Dick Lotz
3 Aug 29, 1965 American Golf Classic 70-69-69-72=280 E 4 strokes   Arnold Palmer
4 Jul 24, 1966 PGA Championship 68-72-68-72=280 E 4 strokes   Dudley Wysong
5 Oct 6, 1974 Sahara Invitational 70-68-66-69=273 −11 3 strokes   Wally Armstrong,   Jerry Heard,
  Dave Hill,   Mike Hill
6 Apr 27, 1975 MONY Tournament of Champions 67-67-70-73=277 −11 Playoff   Gary Player
7 Aug 24, 1975 Tournament Players Championship 66-68-67-69=270 −10 3 strokes   Dave Stockton
8 Apr 4, 1976 Greater Greensboro Open 70-65-65-68=268 −16 2 strokes   Lee Trevino
9 Jun 27, 1976 Western Open 71-71-73-73=288 4 1 stroke   Joe Porter
10 Jun 12, 1977 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic 72-59-72-70=273 −15 2 strokes   Jerry McGee,   Gary Player
11 May 20, 1979 Colonial National Invitation 68-69-64-73=274 −6 1 stroke   Don January,   Gene Littler

PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1967 Carling World Open   Billy Casper Lost to par on first extra hole
2 1975 MONY Tournament of Champions   Gary Player Won with birdie on first extra hole

PGA of Japan Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 Nov 25, 1973 ABC Japan vs USA Golf Matches 72-70-76=218 2 2 strokes   Takashi Murakami

Other wins (6)

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Senior PGA Tour wins (10)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 Oct 4, 1987 Vantage Championship 72-67-67=206 −4 2 strokes   Dave Hill
2 Oct 18, 1987 Seniors International Golf Championship 70-68-71=209 −4 Playoff   Jim Ferree
3 Oct 25, 1987 Las Vegas Senior Classic 68-73-62=203 −13 4 strokes   Chi-Chi Rodríguez
4 Mar 20, 1988 Pointe/Del E. Webb Arizona Classic 63-69-67=199 −17 1 stroke   Orville Moody
5 Aug 20, 1989 GTE Northwest Classic 68-68-68=204 −12 3 strokes   Frank Beard
6 Jul 7, 1991 Kroger Senior Classic 66-69-68=203 −10 1 stroke   Larry Laoretti
7 Jan 12, 1992 Infiniti Senior Tournament of Champions 71-67-71-73=282 −6 3 strokes   Bruce Crampton,   Chi-Chi Rodríguez
8 Jan 10, 1993 Infiniti Senior Tournament of Champions (2) 70-70-69-71=280 −8 2 strokes   Jim Dent
9 Mar 7, 1993 GTE West Classic 67-65-66=198 −12 2 strokes   Isao Aoki,   George Archer
10 Feb 11, 1996 Greater Naples IntelliNet Challenge 68-63-71=202 −14 1 stroke   Isao Aoki

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1-1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1987 Seniors International Golf Championship   Jim Ferree Won with birdie on second extra hole
2 1999 Toshiba Senior Classic   Allen Doyle,   John Jacobs,
  Gary McCord 		McCord won with birdie on fifth extra hole
Doyle and Geiberger eliminated by eagle on first hole

Other senior wins (2)

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Major championships

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Wins (1)

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Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
1966 PGA Championship 4 shot lead E (68-72-68-72=280) 4 strokes   Dudley Wysong

Results timeline

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Tournament 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
Masters Tournament CUT T13 T24 T44 T36 T30 T13
U.S. Open T12 CUT CUT T14 T4 T30 T28 T9 T2
The Open Championship
PGA Championship T5 T19 19 1 T5 T8 T35
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Masters Tournament T45 T24 T12 T37 T31 CUT T15 CUT T42
U.S. Open CUT T55 T21 T13 T18 T38 T2 T10 T53 T19
The Open Championship T13 CUT
PGA Championship T16 T30 CUT T18 8 T33 CUT T6 CUT T65
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship T67 CUT CUT CUT T74
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUT
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway 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 6 17 13
U.S. Open 0 2 0 3 5 11 20 16
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1
PGA Championship 1 0 0 3 6 10 23 16
Totals 1 2 0 6 11 28 62 46
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 20 (1963 PGA – 1970 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

The Players Championship

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Wins (1)

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Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
1975 Tournament Players Championship 3 shot lead −10 (66-68-67-69=270) 3 strokes   Dave Stockton

Results timeline

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Tournament 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
The Players Championship T24 1 T24 CUT T67 T56 CUT
  Win
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Jenkins, Dan (August 1, 1966). "A Happy Stroll For Golf's Smiling Gei". Sports Illustrated. p. 16. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  2. ^ "Al Geiberger's achievement 'phenomenal'". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 12, 1977. p. D11.
  3. ^ a b "Geiberger near perfect (59)". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. June 11, 1977. p. A7.
  4. ^ a b "Geiberger fires PGA mark 59, 11 birds, eagle". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 11, 1977. p. 11. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
  5. ^ "Al slips 13 shots but leads by three". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 12, 1977. p. D5.
  6. ^ "Geiberger turns off Player, McGee bids". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 13, 1977. p. 18. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
  7. ^ a b Kelley, Brent. "Al Geiberger profile". About.com. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  8. ^ Ballard, Sarah (May 15, 1989). "Building A New Life: Thanks to his family and to senior golf, Al Geiberger has another chance at happiness". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  9. ^ "Crewlist and the Passenger list of the PanAm, that crashed on Tenerife, on 27th March 1977" (PDF). project-tenerife.com.
  10. ^ "Champ plays despite grief". Chillicothe Gazette. Ohio. Associated Press. March 31, 1977. p. 16.
  11. ^ "Geiberger's Perspective is Changed by Tragedy". Chicago Tribune. April 9, 1989. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
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