Claude Harmon
American professional golfer (1916–1989)
title: "Claude Harmon" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-male-golfers", "pga-tour-golfers", "winners-of-men's-major-golf-championships", "golfers-from-savannah,-georgia", "golfers-from-orlando,-florida", "golfers-from-california", "golfers-from-texas", "burials-at-desert-memorial-park", "sportspeople-from-new-rochelle,-new-york", "golfers-from-westchester-county,-new-york", "1916-births", "1989-deaths", "20th-century-american-sportsmen"] description: "American professional golfer (1916–1989)" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Harmon" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American professional golfer (1916–1989) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox golfer"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Claude Harmon |
| image | Cropped_Photo_of_Claude_Harmon_Sr.jpg |
| fullname | Eugene Claude Harmon Sr. |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| height | |
| weight | |
| sporting_nationality | |
| spouse | Alice Cullen McKee Harmon |
| Anne Keane Harmon | |
| children | 6, including Butch |
| status | Professional |
| extour | PGA Tour |
| prowins | 15 |
| pgawins | 1 |
| otherwins | 14 |
| majorwins | 1 |
| masters | Won: 1948 |
| usopen | T3: 1959 |
| open | 27th: 1948 |
| pga | T3: 1945, 1948, 1953 |
| wghofid | |
| wghofyear | |
| award1 | |
| year1 | |
| awardssection | |
| :: |
| name = Claude Harmon | image = Cropped_Photo_of_Claude_Harmon_Sr.jpg | caption = | fullname = Eugene Claude Harmon Sr. | nickname = | birth_date = | birth_place = Savannah, Georgia, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Houston, Texas, U.S. | height = | weight = | sporting_nationality = | spouse = Alice Cullen McKee Harmon Anne Keane Harmon | children = 6, including Butch | college = | status = Professional | yearpro = | extour = PGA Tour | prowins = 15 | pgawins = 1 | otherwins = 14 | majorwins = 1 | masters = Won: 1948 | usopen = T3: 1959 | open = 27th: 1948 | pga = T3: 1945, 1948, 1953 | wghofid = | wghofyear = | award1 = | year1 = | award2 = | year2 = | awardssection = Eugene Claude Harmon Sr. (July 14, 1916 – July 23, 1989) was an American professional golfer and golf instructor.
Early life and amateur career
Harmon was born in Savannah, Georgia. He spent much of his boyhood in Florida, in the Orlando area. A youthful prodigy, he qualified for the U.S. Amateur at age 15 in 1931.
Professional career
Harmon was a club professional when he won the 1948 Masters Tournament by five shots to earn $2,500. He was a semi-finalist three times in the PGA Championship competing as a club pro against full-time tour players. Claude Harmon also finished in third place at the 1959 U.S. Open, which was held at his home course at Winged Foot.
From 1945 to 1978, Harmon was the head professional at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, and also served as the winter professional for many years at the Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida. In 1959, Harmon played in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot and placed third. In 1959, he was hired as the head professional at Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, where he served for over a decade. Lastly, he took a club job in Texas in the Houston area.
Personal life
Harmon had four sons and two daughters. All of his sons became golf professionals and instructors. His son Claude Harmon Jr. − better known as Butch Harmon − is among the most famous golf coaches of all time and has served as the coach for Greg Norman and Tiger Woods. In addition, his sons Craig and Bill have been noted in *Golf Digest*s "top 50 teachers" list. His third eldest son Dick (1947–2006) was also a top golf instructor, as is grandson Claude Harmon III.
Harmon was one of the few close friends of legendary star Ben Hogan, and the two played together frequently and worked together on their games.
Harmon died of heart failure following surgery in Houston, Texas at the age 73.
Awards and honors
- Harmon is a member of the World Golf Teachers' Hall of Fame
- Harmon is a member of the PGA of America Hall of Fame.
Professional wins (15)
PGA Tour wins (1)
- 1948 Masters Tournament Source:
Major championship is shown in bold.
Other wins (14)
this list may be incomplete
- 1946 Westchester Open, Metropolitan PGA Championship
- 1947 Westchester Open
- 1948 Westchester PGA Championship
- 1949 Westchester PGA Championship, Havana Invitational
- 1950 Miami International Four-Ball (with Pete Cooper), Westchester Open
- 1951 Westchester Open, Metropolitan PGA Championship, Metropolitan Open
- 1953 Westchester Open
- 1958 Westchester PGA Championship
- 1960 Westchester Open
Major championships
Wins (1)
::data[format=table]
| Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Masters Tournament | 2 shot lead | −9 (70-70-69-70=279) | 5 strokes | USA Cary Middlecoff |
| :: |
Results timeline
::data[format=table]
| Tournament | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | NT | NT | NT | 18 | T26 | 1 | T11 | |||
| U.S. Open | DQ | NT | NT | NT | NT | T15 | T19 | CUT | T8 | |
| The Open Championship | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | 27 | |||
| PGA Championship | NT | SF | R64 | R16 | SF | R32 | ||||
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Tournament | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T32 | T35 | T14 | T34 | T53 | T28 | T46 | T38 | T9 | CUT |
| U.S. Open | T38 | T54 | CUT | T15 | CUT | CUT | T3 | |||
| The Open Championship | ||||||||||
| PGA Championship | R16 | R64 | SF | R32 | R16 | R32 | 6 | T56 | T38 | |
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Tournament | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T16 | CUT | CUT | WD | CUT | CUT | WD | WD | WD | WD |
| U.S. Open | T27 | CUT | CUT | |||||||
| The Open Championship | ||||||||||
| PGA Championship | CUT | T44 | ||||||||
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 |
|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | WD | |
| U.S. Open | ||
| The Open Championship | ||
| PGA Championship | ||
| :: |
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
DQ = disqualified
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary
::data[format=table]
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made | Totals | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 21 | 57 | 39 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 14 | |||||||||
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 9 | |||||||||
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 15 | |||||||||
| :: |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 12 (1948 Open Championship – 1953 Masters)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)
References
- "Claude Harmon", Almanac of Famous People, 8th ed. Gale Group, 2003.
References
- Brink, Bill. (August 10, 1997). "Claude Harmon's teaching legacy". New York Times.
- (April 12, 1948). "Harmon wins Masters; ties record with 279". Milwaukee Sentinel.
- Snider, Steve. (December 22, 1949). "Claude Harmon carries banner for home pros". The News and Courier.
- (April 6, 1959). "Harmon accepts job at Thunderbird Club". St. Petersburg Times.
- Murray, Jim. (February 7, 1966). "Harmon shows 'class' as golf professor". Milwaukee Sentinel.
- Grimsley, Will. (April 9, 1978). "Golf announcers talk too much". The Press-Courier.
- ''The Pro'', by [[Butch Harmon]], 2006.
- (July 25, 1989). "Former golf champ Claude Harmon dies". The Telegraph.
- "Claude Harmon". PGA Tour.
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