Dave Marr
American professional golfer (1933–1997)
title: "Dave Marr" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-male-golfers", "houston-cougars-men's-golfers", "pga-tour-golfers", "ryder-cup-competitors-for-the-united-states", "winners-of-men's-major-golf-championships", "american-golf-commentators", "golfers-from-houston", "rice-university-alumni", "st.-thomas-high-school-(houston,-texas)-alumni", "deaths-from-stomach-cancer-in-texas", "1933-births", "1997-deaths", "20th-century-american-sportsmen"] description: "American professional golfer (1933–1997)" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Marr" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American professional golfer (1933–1997) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox golfer"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Dave Marr |
| imagesize | |
| fullname | David Francis Marr Jr. |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| height | |
| weight | 160 lb |
| nationality | |
| college | Rice University |
| University of Houston | |
| yearpro | 1953 |
| retired | |
| extour | PGA Tour |
| prowins | 5 |
| pgawins | 3 |
| otherwins | |
| majorwins | 1 |
| masters | T2: 1964 |
| usopen | T4: 1966 |
| open | T8: 1966 |
| pga | Won: 1965 |
| wghofid | |
| wghofyear | |
| award1 | PGA Player of the Year |
| year1 | 1965 |
| awardssection | |
| module | {{Infobox person |
| signature | Dave_Marr_signature.jpg |
| :: |
| name = Dave Marr | image = | imagesize = | caption = | fullname = David Francis Marr Jr. | nickname = | birth_date = | birth_place = Houston, Texas, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Houston, Texas, U.S. | height = | weight = 160 lb | nationality = | spouse = | partner = | children = | college = Rice University University of Houston | yearpro = 1953 | retired = | extour = PGA Tour | prowins = 5 | pgawins = 3 | otherwins = | majorwins = 1 | masters = T2: 1964 | usopen = T4: 1966 | open = T8: 1966 | pga = Won: 1965 | wghofid = | wghofyear = | award1 = PGA Player of the Year | year1 = 1965 | award2 = | year2 = | awardssection = | module = {{Infobox person|embed=yes | signature = Dave_Marr_signature.jpg David Francis Marr Jr. (December 27, 1933 – October 5, 1997) was an American professional golfer and sportscaster, best known for winning the 1965 PGA Championship.
Early life and amateur career
Marr was born and raised in Houston, Texas, the son of a professional golfer. He attended St. Thomas High School, and while there was on the honor roll, captain of the golf team and member of the Letterman's Club.
Following graduation, he attended Rice Institute and the University of Houston.
Professional career
In 1953, at age 19, Marr left college and turned professional. He began his professional golfing career by accepting a position at Westwood Country Club in Westwood, New Jersey, in 1953. A short time later, Marr took a job as an assistant club pro to Claude Harmon at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, where he began to blossom.
The 1965 PGA Championship was played at the Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. He defeated golf legends Jack Nicklaus and Billy Casper by two strokes with a four-day total score of 280. Incredibly, this wasn't the biggest news story of the day in the Marr family – a few hours after his victory, his third child, son Tony, was born.
Marr played in the 1965 Ryder Cup, finishing his six matches with a 4-2 record. He was the appointed non-playing captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1981.
Broadcasting career
Marr served as a golf analyst for ABC from 1972 until 1991, and was usually teamed with host Jim McKay and fellow one-time PGA Championship winner, Bob Rosburg. He later worked for the BBC in Britain and NBC in the U.S.
Marr and long-time golfing partner Jay Riviere established a golf course architectural and design firm in 1981, and designed many Texas courses and one each in Louisiana and Arizona.
Death and legacy
After a battle with stomach cancer, Marr died at age 63 at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston on October 5, 1997.
Marr's children scattered his ashes around the various courses that meant so much to him during his playing days – Royal Birkdale, in England, where he played on the 1965 Ryder Cup team; Walton Heath, also in England, where he captained the 1981 Ryder Cup team; at the 18th hole at Laurel Valley, the site of his 1965 PGA Championship, along with Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston.
Golf executive Bryan Naugle created the Dave Marr Award the year after his death. It is awarded annually in conjunction with the Insperity Invitational. From 1995 through 1997 Marr was a member of the NBC Sports Golf broadcast team covering the US Open, US Amateur and Ryder Cup. Past winners of the Dave Marr Award include Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Judy Rankin, Gary Player, Former President George H. W. Bush, and Arnold Palmer.
Personal life
Marr was married to Tally. They had five children: sons Dave III, Anthony, Wayne Bunch, Tucker Bunch, and daughter Elizabeth Hallas. Marr's oldest son, Dave III, worked for Golf Channel covering the Champions Tour.
Marr was a close friend of Arnold Palmer. Marr and Palmer were both sons of PGA pros and developed a close bond. Palmer called Marr's 1965 PGA victory "one of the happiest moments of my life," won at Palmer's home course. The two of them used to joke that between them they won a career grand slam. (Palmer won seven majors in his career, but never the PGA Championship, where he was a runner-up three times.)
Awards and honors
- In 1977, Marr was elected to the National Collegiate Hall of Fame.
- In 1978, Marr was inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame.
- In 1980, Marr was selected for the Gold Tee Award presented by the Met (N.Y.) Golf Writers.
Professional wins (5)
PGA Tour wins (3)
::data[format=table]
| Legend |
|---|
| Major championships (1) |
| Other PGA Tour (2) |
| :: |
::data[format=table] | No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | Sep 17, 1961 | Greater Seattle Open Invitational | −15 (67-69-66-63=265) | Playoff | USA Jacky Cupit, USA Bob Rosburg | | 2 | Apr 1, 1962 | Azalea Open | −7 (73-66-71-71=281) | Playoff | USA Jerry Steelsmith | | 3 | Aug 15, 1965 | PGA Championship | −4 (70-69-70-71=280) | 2 strokes | USA Billy Casper, USA Jack Nicklaus | ::
PGA Tour playoff record (2–0) ::data[format=table]
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1961 | Greater Seattle Open Invitational | USA Jacky Cupit, USA Bob Rosburg | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 2 | 1962 | Azalea Open | USA Jerry Steelsmith | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| :: |
Source:
Other wins (2)
Major championships
Wins (1)
::data[format=table]
| Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | PGA Championship | Tied for lead | −4 (70-69-70-71=280) | 2 strokes | USA Billy Casper, USA Jack Nicklaus |
| :: |
Results timeline
::data[format=table]
| Tournament | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | ||||||||
| U.S. Open | CUT | CUT | CUT | T15 | ||||
| The Open Championship | ||||||||
| PGA Championship | T44 | |||||||
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Tournament | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T34 | CUT | T2 | CUT | CUT | T16 | T20 | CUT | ||
| U.S. Open | T17 | CUT | T21 | CUT | T4 | T9 | T32 | T10 | ||
| The Open Championship | T8 | |||||||||
| PGA Championship | T10 | T22 | T51 | CUT | 65 | 1 | T18 | T33 | CUT | T48 |
| :: |
::data[format=table]
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | |||
| U.S. Open | T30 | CUT | CUT | |
| The Open Championship | T41 | T11 | CUT | |
| PGA Championship | T35 | CUT | T46 | |
| :: |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Summary
::data[format=table]
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made | Totals | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 42 | 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 4 | |||||||||
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 8 | |||||||||
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | |||||||||
| PGA Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 11 | |||||||||
| :: |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (1966 U.S. Open – 1968 U.S. Open)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1966 U.S. Open – 1966 Open Championship)
References
References
- Gundelfinger, Phil. (August 14, 1965). "Aaron still leads PGA with 137". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- Brink, Bill. (October 6, 1997). "Dave Marr, 63, golf champion and television commentator". New York Times.
- "Profile from St. Thomas High School Alumni Hall of Honor page".
- Gundelfinger, Phil. (August 16, 1965). "Dave Marr wins PGA with 280". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- Wright, Alfred. (August 23, 1965). "Diary of a career in turmoil".
- "Jay Riviere designed golf courses, ratings and reviews".
- "Senior PGA Championship News".
- "Dave Marr III bio". Golf Channel.
- "Dave Marr". PGA Tour.
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