Ed Furgol

Edward Joseph Furgol (March 24, 1917 – March 6, 1997) was an American professional golfer.

When he was twelve years of age, Furgol injured his left elbow when he fell off a set of parallel bars. The elbow never healed correctly and Furgol was left with a crooked arm as a result. On the recommendation of his doctors, he took up golf.

Furgol won six times on the PGA Tour including one major championship, the 1954 U.S. Open. He also played on the 1957 Ryder Cup team. He was born in New York Mills, New York and died in Miami Shores, Florida. Although he was from the same town as golfer Marty Furgol, they are not related. He was Polish American.

Amateur wins

this list may be incomplete

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (6)

Major championship is shown in bold.

Other wins

Gene Littler

Gene Alec Littler (born July 21, 1930) is an American professional golfer and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Known for a solid temperament and nicknamed "Gene the Machine" for his smooth rhythmical swing, he once said that, "Golf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the best misses. The people who win make the smallest mistakes."

Early years and amateur career

Littler was born in San Diego, California. He played on the 1953 United States Walker Cup team, and won the U.S. Amateur and the California State Amateur that same year. In 1954, he won a PGA Tour event as an amateur, a rare achievement which was not to be repeated until Doug Sanders won the Canadian Open in 1956.

Littler graduated from San Diego State University. He also served in the United States Navy before turning pro in the spring of 1954.

Professional career

An early highlight of Littler's professional playing career was a second-place finish at the 1954 U.S. Open. He finished one shot behind Ed Furgol.

Mark Calcavecchia

Mark John Calcavecchia (born June 12, 1960) is an American professional golfer and a former PGA Tour member. During his professional career, he has won thirteen PGA Tour events, including the 1989 Open Championship. Calcavecchia currently plays on the Champions Tour.

Early years

Calcavecchia was born in Laurel, Nebraska. While he was a teenager, his family moved from Nebraska to West Palm Beach, Florida in 1973. He attended North Shore High School in West Palm Beach, and won the Florida high school golf championship in 1977 while playing for the North Shore golf team. While playing in junior tournaments, Calcavecchia often competed against Jack Nicklaus' son, Jackie, and as a result began a lifelong friendship at the age of 14 with the legendary pro.

College career

He accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Buster Bishop and coach John Darr's Florida Gators men's golf teams in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 1978 to 1980. Calcavecchia earned first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) honors in 1979.

Phil Mickelson

Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer. He has won 42 events on the PGA Tour, including five major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), a PGA Championship (2005), and an Open Championship (2013).

Mickelson is one of 16 golfers in the history of the sport to win at least three of the four professional majors. The only major that has eluded him is the U.S. Open. Mickelson has finished runner-up in the U.S. Open a record six times.

Mickelson has spent over 700 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking, has reached a career-high world ranking of 2nd several times and has a lifetime exemption on the PGA Tour. Mickelson is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in May 2012.

Early years

Born in San Diego, California, to parents Philip Anthony Mickelson, (an airline pilot and former naval aviator), and Mary Mickelson (née Santos), he was raised there and in Scottsdale, Arizona. Although right-handed otherwise, he plays golf left-handed, as he learned by watching his right-handed father swing and mirroring his style. Mickelson began golf under his father's instruction before starting school. Phil Sr.'s work schedule as a commercial pilot allowed them to play together several times a week and an extensive practice area in their San Diego backyard allowed young Phil to hone his creative short game. Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988.

Arnold Palmer

Arnold Daniel Palmer (born September 10, 1929) is a retired American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in professional golf history. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955. Nicknamed "The King", he is one of golf's most popular stars and its most important trailblazer, because he was the first superstar of the sport's television age, which began in the 1950s.

Palmer's social impact on behalf of golf was perhaps unrivaled among fellow professionals; his humble background and plain-spoken popularity helped change the perception of golf as an elite, upper-class pastime to a more democratic sport accessible to middle and working classes. Palmer is part of "The Big Three" in golf during the 1960s, along with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, who are widely credited with popularizing and commercializing the sport around the world.

Palmer won the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998, and in 1974 was one of the 13 original inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame.