'''Ken Venturi''' (born May 15, 1931) was a prominent PGA Tour professional during the late 1950's and early 1960's. He was born in San Francisco, California. Venturi first gained national attention in 1956 when, as an amateur, he finished second in that year's Masters after leading from the first round. Only a final round 80 under difficult conditions prevented him from winning outright and thus becoming the first amateur to do so in the history of The Masters.

In the early 50's, Venturi had been a pupil of the great Byron Nelson and was also influenced by playing partner Ben Hogan. With this fine tuning combined with his tremendous talent, Venturi was a regular winner during his early years on the PGA Tour after turning pro at the end of 1956. He again come close to winning the Masters in 1958 and 1960, both times being edged out by Arnold Palmer.

After suffering minor injuries in an automobile accident in 1961, Venturi's swing, and thus his career, began to slide. This slump lasted until 1964 when, for no reason even Venturi could fathom, he began playing well again. After a couple of high finishes, Venturi reached the pinnacle of his comeback by winning the U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club after nearly collapsing in the scorching heat during the then 36-hole final round. He received ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award.

After 1964, Venturi's career again took a blow when he was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists. After several surgeries his condition was reversed, but he was never able to regain his past form. After retiring from the Tour in 1967 with a total of 14 career wins, Venturi spent the next 30 years working as a color commentator for CBS Sports as well as owning and operating a series of instructional schools.

PGA Tour wins

*1957 (2) St. Paul Open Invitational, Miller High Life Open
*1958 (4) Thunderbird Invitational, Phoenix Open Invitational, Baton Rouge Open Invitational, Gleneagles-Chicago Open Invitational
*1959 (2) Los Angeles Open, Gleneagles-Chicago Open Invitational
*1960 (2) Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, Milwaukee Open Invitational
*1964 (3) '''U.S. Open''', Insurance City Open Invitational, American Golf Classic
*1966 (1) Lucky International Open

Funclub of Ken Venturi

Results in major championships

cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1"        

align="left"|Tournament
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
The Masters
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Championship

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align="left"|Tournament
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
The Masters
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Championship

cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1"        

align="left"|Tournament
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
The Masters
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Championship

<font size="1">LA</font> = Low Amateur<br>
DNP = Did not play<br>
CUT = missed the half-way cut<br>
"T" indicates a tie for a place<br>
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

External links

* Ken Venturi at Golf Stars Online Directory of interviews, sites and feature articles with or about him

Biography courtesy of the brilliant Wikipedia!