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George Douglas Sanders (July 24, 1933 – April 12, 2020) was an American professional golfer who won 20 events on the PGA Tour and had four runner-up finishes at major championships.
Sanders is remembered for an exceptionally short, flat golf swing — a consequence, it appears, of a painful neck condition that radically restricted his movements.
He was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1967, which won in Houston.
After retiring from competitive golf, Sanders was active in his own corporate golf entertainment company for nearly 20 years, and sponsored the Doug Sanders International Junior Golf Championship in Houston, Texas. From 1988 to 1994, he also sponsored the Doug Sanders Celebrity Classic.
Sanders identified himself as the lead character, a playboy PGA Tour golfer, in the golf novel Dead Solid Perfect, by Dan Jenkins.
Sanders wrote a golf instruction book, "Compact Golf", published in 1964, the title of which linked to Sanders' short golf swing. His autobiography "Come swing with me" was published in 1974.
In his autobiography, Sanders said he was invited and intended to accompany fellow pro golfer and 1964 Open winner Tony Lema on the flight in a private plane in 1966 that crashed with no survivors. Sanders changed his schedule at the last minute and did not join Lema on the flight.
PGA Tour playoff record (5–5)
Far East Circuit playoff record (0–1)
Professional
CUT = missed the half-way cut
Sources: Masters Tournament, Past Winners & Results U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur, USGA Championship Database Open Championship, 1976 Open Championship leaderboard PGA Championship, PGA Championship Media Guide - Doug Sanders 1956 British Amateur
Personal life
Sanders was a stylish, flamboyant dresser on the golf course, which earned him the nickname "Peafowl of the Fairways." Esquire magazine named Sanders one of America's Ten Best Dressed Jocks in August 1972.
(1974). 9780385056311, Doubleday. ISBN 9780385056311
Death
Sanders died in his adopted hometown of Houston, Texas, on April 12, 2020, from natural causes. He was 86.
Awards and honors
Amateur wins
Professional wins (24)
PGA Tour wins (20)
1 Jul 8, 1956 Canadian Open
(as an amateur)69-67-69-68=273 −15 Playoff Dow Finsterwald 2 Jun 1, 1958 Western Open 69-68-70-68=275 −13 1 stroke Dow Finsterwald 3 Dec 6, 1959 Coral Gables Open Invitational 68-71-69-65=273 −11 3 strokes Dow Finsterwald 4 Mar 5, 1961 Greater New Orleans Open Invitational 68-65-69-70=272 −16 5 strokes Gay Brewer, Mac Main 5 May 14, 1961 Colonial National Invitation 69-75-67-70=281 +1 1 stroke Kel Nagle 6 May 21, 1961 Hot Springs Open Invitational 68-68-69-68=273 −15 1 stroke Dave Ragan, Jerry Steelsmith 7 Aug 6, 1961 Eastern Open Invitational 72-66-68-69=275 −13 1 stroke Ken Venturi 8 Nov 19, 1961 Cajun Classic Open Invitational 67-67-67-69=270 −14 6 strokes Ken Still 9 Mar 11, 1962 Pensacola Open Invitational 67-67-67-69=270 −18 1 stroke Don Fairfield 10 Aug 19, 1962 St. Paul Open Invitational 66-69-69-65=269 −19 3 strokes Dave Hill 11 Aug 26, 1962 Oklahoma City Open Invitational 70-69-74-67=280 −8 2 strokes Johnny Pott 12 Apr 14, 1963 Greater Greensboro Open 68-65-68-69=270 −14 4 strokes Jimmy Clark 13 Mar 7, 1965 Pensacola Open Invitational (2) 68-71-65-73=277 −11 Playoff Jack Nicklaus 14 Mar 14, 1965 Doral Open Invitational 65-71-71-67=274 −14 1 stroke Bruce Devlin 15 Feb 6, 1966 Bob Hope Desert Classic 70-72-68-73-66=349 −11 Playoff Arnold Palmer 16 Mar 27, 1966 Jacksonville Open Invitational 71-65-66-71=273 −15 1 stroke Gay Brewer 17 Apr 3, 1966 Greater Greensboro Open (2) 65-70-71-70=276 −8 Playoff Tom Weiskopf 18 Mar 5, 1967 Doral Open Invitational (2) 68-71-66-70=275 −9 1 stroke Harold Henning, Art Wall Jr. 19 Dec 13, 1970 Bahama Islands Open 66-70-68-68=272 −16 Playoff Chris Blocker 20 Jun 4, 1972 Kemper Open 71-68-68-68=275 −13 1 stroke Lee Trevino 1 1956 Canadian Open
(as an amateur)Dow Finsterwald Won with par on first extra hole 2 1961 Phoenix Open Invitational Arnold Palmer Lost 18-hole playoff;
Palmer: −3 (67),
Sanders: E (70)3 1962 West Palm Beach Open Invitational Dave Ragan Lost to birdie on second extra hole 4 1964 Greater Greensboro Open Julius Boros Lost to par on first extra hole 5 1965 Pensacola Open Invitational Jack Nicklaus Won with birdie on third extra hole 6 1965 Greater Seattle Open Invitational Gay Brewer Lost to par on first extra hole 7 1966 Bob Hope Desert Classic Arnold Palmer Won with birdie on first extra hole 8 1966 Greater Greensboro Open Tom Weiskopf Won with par on second extra hole 9 1970 The Open Championship Jack Nicklaus Lost 18-hole playoff;
Nicklaus: E (72),
Sanders: +1 (73)10 1970 Bahama Islands Open Chris Blocker Won with par on second extra hole
Far East Circuit wins (1)
1 Mar 25, 1963 Yomiuri International 68-77-71-73=289 +1 5 strokes Hideyo Sugimoto 1 1964 Philippine Open Peter Thomson Lost to bogey on first extra hole
Other wins (2)
Senior PGA Tour wins (1)
1 Sep 25, 1983 World Seniors Invitational 70-70-73-70=283 −5 1 stroke Miller Barber
Results in major championships
Amateur
U.S. Amateur R128 R64 The Amateur Championship R256 Masters Tournament T31 U.S. Open CUT The Open Championship PGA Championship T2 Masters Tournament T29 T11 T33 T28 T11 T4 T16 T12 T36 U.S. Open T46 T2 T11 T21 T32 T11 T8 T34 T37 The Open Championship CUT 11 CUT T2 T18 34 PGA Championship T3 3 T15 T17 T28 T20 T6 T28 T8 CUT Masters Tournament CUT U.S. Open T37 CUT T45 The Open Championship 2 T9 4 T28 T28 PGA Championship T41 CUT T7
R256, R128, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary
10 11 9 12
See also
External links
Categories: Www.dougsanders.org Official Website, American Male Golfers, Florida Gators Men's Golfers, Pga Tour Golfers, Pga Tour Champions Golfers, Ryder Cup Competitors For The United States, Golfers From Georgia, People From Cedartown, Georgia, Sportspeople From Polk County, Georgia, 1933 Births, 2020 Deaths, 20th-century American Sportsmen
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