Cyril Walker

Cyril Walker (September 18, 1892 – August 6, 1948) was an English professional golfer born in Manchester who emigrated to the United States in 1914.

For the British paleontologist, see Cyril Walker (palaeontologist). For the English footballer, see Cyril Walker (footballer).

Cyril Walker
Personal information
Born(1892-09-18)September 18, 1892
Manchester, England
DiedAugust 6, 1948(1948-08-06) (aged 55)
Hackensack, New Jersey, U.S.
Weight118 lb (54 kg; 8.4 st)
Nationality England
 United States
Career
StatusProfessional
Professional wins7
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour6
Other1
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters Tournament61st: 1934
PGA ChampionshipT3: 1921
U.S. OpenWon: 1924
The Open ChampionshipT18: 1926

Walker won the 1924 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills Country Club, while playing out of Englewood Golf Club in New Jersey. He beat defending champion Bobby Jones by three strokes.[1][2][3][4] This was his only top ten finish in seven appearances at the U.S. Open. He was a small man, weighing only 118 pounds (54 kg).[5]

Walker won six PGA events between 1917 and 1930.[6] He also won the Indiana Open in 1916.

In 1928, he became the pro at the Saddle River Golf and Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey.[7]

Career demise

Walker's slow pace of play,[8][9] combined with his sometimes-combative personality, eventually made him unpopular with fellow players and tournament sponsors. This hastened his exit from the then-nascent professional golfers' tournament circuit. While a club pro at Saddle River in 1933, he was arrested for destroying the signs of a neighboring course.[7]

An alcohol addiction further hastened his downward spiral during the 1930s and he ultimately found himself in a near-destitute condition working as a caddie in Florida at the Miami Beach municipal course in 1940,[10] and later as a dishwasher.[11]

Walker died of pleural pneumonia in a Hackensack, New Jersey jail cell where he had gone for shelter.[11][12][13][14][15]

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (6)

Other wins

Major championships

Wins (1)
YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
1924U.S. OpenTied for lead+9 (74-74-74-75=297)3 strokes Bobby Jones

Results timeline
Tournament 1916 1917 1918 1919
U.S. Open NT NT
The Open Championship NT NT NT NT
PGA Championship QF NT NT
Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
U.S. Open 13 T40 23 1 T47 T55
The Open Championship T18
PGA Championship SF R16
Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934
Masters Tournament NYF NYF NYF NYF 61
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship QF
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
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

See also

References
  1. "Open golf title to Cyril Walker". Montreal Gazette. June 7, 1924. p. 17.
  2. "Walker new Open leader". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. June 7, 1924. p. 13.
  3. Sixty, Billy (June 7, 1924). "Walker beats Jones for National Open golf title". Milwaukee Journal. p. 6.
  4. "Cyril Walker, native of England, wins National Open golf crown by beating Jones 3 strokes". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. June 7, 1924. p. 16.
  5. Williams, Joe (July 14, 1924). "Tiny mites carry off golf laurels". Evening Independent. St. Petersburg, Florida. p. 14.
  6. Barkow, Al (November 1989). The History of the PGA TOUR. Copyright PGA Tour. Doubleday. pp. 235–37, 249, 253. ISBN 0-385-26145-4.
  7. "Cyril Walker is a arrested in golf club war". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 28, 1933. p. 5, part 2.
  8. "Presenting two golfing extremes - fastest and slowest pro". Pittsburgh Press. February 3, 1927. p. 26.
  9. Shifrin, Joshua (2012). From the Links: Golf's Most Memorable Moments. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press. p. 34. ISBN 9780762790272.
  10. Aronstam, H.J. (April 12, 1940). "Caddy ranks claim Cyril Walker who won National Open in 1924". St. Petersburg Times. Florida. United Press. p. 16.
  11. "Cyril Walker dies in New Jersey cell". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. August 7, 1948. p. 8.
  12. "Milestones". Time. August 16, 1948. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  13. "Cyril Walker dies; beat Bobby Jones". Toledo Blade. Ohio. United Press. August 7, 1948. p. 10.
  14. "Cyril Walker a pocket-sized Ben Hogan of his golfing day". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. August 23, 1948. p. 8.
  15. Carroll, Dick (July 2, 1955). "The tragedy of Cyril Walker". Montreal Gazette. p. 8.
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