Ralph Guldahl

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Ralph Guldahl (November 22, 1911June 11, 1987) was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the sport for three years in the late 1930s. He was born in Dallas, Texas.

Guldahl started playing on the professional tournament circuit in 1931 and won an event in his rookie season. In the 1933, at the age of 21, he went into the last hole of U.S. Open tied for the lead with Johnny Goodman. A par would have taken him into a playoff, but he made bogey and finished second. After further frustrating failures Guldahl quit the sport temporarily in 1935 and became a car salesman. He made a comeback part way through the 1936 PGA Tour season. He won the prestigious Western Open and finished second on the money list. He went on to win the Western Open in 1937 and 1938 as well.

Guldahl won three major championships. He claimed the U.S. Open title in 1937 and 1938. He was runner up at the Masters in both 1937 and 1938, before taking that title in 1939. He played on the 1937 Ryder Cup team.

Guldahl game then fell apart and he did not win after 1940. Two-time PGA champion Paul Runyan commented, "It's the most ridiculous thing, really. He went from being temporarily the absolute best player in the world to one who couldn't play at all." One popular theory is that when he wrote an instructional book, he overanalyzed his swing and it fell apart. He played occasionally in the 1940s but then quit tournament golf for good and spent the rest of his working life as a club professional. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. He died in Sherman Oaks, California.

Major championships are shown in bold.

Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
The Masters NYF NYF NYF NYF DNP DNP DNP 2 T2 1
U.S. Open T39 T32 T58 2 T8 T40 T8 1 1 T7
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T11 DNP DNP
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T17 T17 T17
Tournament 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
The Masters T14 T14 21 NT NT NT 48 DNP T35 DNP
U.S. Open T5 T21 NT NT NT NT CUT T55 T32 22
The Open Championship NT NT NT NT NT NT DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship T3 T9 DNP NT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
The Masters DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
The Masters DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT CUT DNP CUT CUT CUT
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973
The Masters CUT CUT CUT CUT
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP

NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

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