Thomas Dickson Armour (24 September 1896[1] – 11 September 1968) was a Scottish-American professional golfer. He was nicknamed The Silver Scot. He was the winner of three of golf's major championships: 1927 U.S. Open, 1930 PGA, and 1931 Open Championship. Armour popularized the term yips, the colloquial term for a sudden and unexplained loss of skills in experienced athletes.[2]
Tommy Armour | |||
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Personal information | |||
Full name | Thomas Dickson Armour | ||
Nickname | The Silver Scot | ||
Born | Edinburgh, Scotland | 24 September 1896||
Died | 11 September 1968 Larchmont, New York, US | (aged 71)||
Sporting nationality | Scotland United States | ||
Career | |||
College | University of Edinburgh | ||
Turned professional | 1924 | ||
Former tour(s) | PGA Tour | ||
Professional wins | 27 | ||
Number of wins by tour | |||
PGA Tour | 25 | ||
Other | 2 | ||
Best results in major championships (wins: 3) | |||
Masters Tournament | T8: 1937 | ||
PGA Championship | Won: 1930 | ||
U.S. Open | Won: 1927 | ||
The Open Championship | Won: 1931 | ||
U.S. Amateur | T5: 1920 | ||
British Amateur | T33: 1920, 1921 | ||
Achievements and awards | |||
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Armour was born on 24 September 1896 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of Martha Dickson and her husband George Armour, a baker. He went to school at Boroughmuir High School, Edinburgh, (formerly Boroughmuir Senior Secondary School) and studied at the University of Edinburgh.[3] During his early golf career, he played at Lothianburn Golf Club near the Pentland Hills. At the outbreak of World War I enlisted with the Black Watch and was a machine-gunner. He rose from private to Staff Major in the Tank Corps. His conduct earned him an audience with George V. However, he lost his sight to a mustard gas explosion and surgeons had to add a metal plate to his head and left arm. During his convalescence, he regained the sight of his right eye, and began playing much more golf.[4]
Armour won the French Amateur tournament in 1920. He moved to the United States and met Walter Hagen who gave him a job as secretary of the Westchester-Biltmore Club.[3] He competed in important amateur tournaments in the U.S. before turning professional in 1924.
Armour won the 1927 U.S. Open, 1930 PGA Championship, and the 1931 Open Championship. With Jim Barnes and Rory McIlroy, he is one of three natives of The United Kingdom to win three different professional majors.[5] His 1930 campaign was overshadowed by Bobby Jones' Grand Slam, and Armour seems to have been overlooked[clarification needed].
Armour also won the Canadian Open three times, a feat exceeded only by Leo Diegel, who won four.
At the Shawnee Open in 1927, Armour scored the first ever "archaeopteryx" (15 or more over par) when he made a 23 on a par 5, for 18 over par. It still stands as the highest score on a hole in PGA history. This historic performance happened just one week after he'd won the U.S. Open.
Armour retired from full-time professional golf after the 1935 season, although he competed periodically in top-class events for several years afterwards. He taught at the Boca Raton Club in Florida from 1926 to 1955,[6] for $50 a lesson. His pupils included Babe Didrikson Zaharias and Lawson Little. He was also a member at the Winged Foot Golf Club in suburban New York City, where he spent much of his summers.[7]
After becoming an American citizen in November 1942,[8] Armour played in exhibitions for USO and Red Cross during World War II.
Armour co-wrote a book How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time (1953) with Herb Graffis. It became a best-seller and for many years was the biggest-selling book ever authored on golf. A series of 8mm films based on the book was released by Castle Films including Short Game Parts I and II, Long Hitting Clubs, Grip, and Stance.
Armour is succeeded by his grandson, Tommy Armour III, who is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour.
Armour died in Larchmont, New York and was cremated at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York but not interred there. Some modern golf equipment is still marketed in his name. Armour was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1976.
Major championships are shown in bold.
Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1927 | U.S. Open | 1 shot deficit | +13 (78-71-76-76=301) | Playoff 1 | Harry Cooper |
1930 | PGA Championship | n/a | 1 up | Gene Sarazen | |
1931 | The Open Championship | 5 shot deficit | +8 (73-75-77-71=296) | 1 stroke | José Jurado |
1 Defeated Harry Cooper in an 18-hole playoff: Armour 76 (+4), Cooper 79 (+7).
Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958
Tournament | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. Open | T48 | WD | T13 | T38 | T9 | 1 | 16 | T5 | ||
The Open Championship | T53 | 13 | CUT | 10 | ||||||
PGA Championship | QF | QF | R32 | |||||||
U.S. Amateur | QF | R16 | R32 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
The Amateur Championship | R64 | R64 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Tournament | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | NYF | NYF | NYF | NYF | T37 | T20 | T8 | T12 | ||
U.S. Open | 6 | T46 | T21 | T4 | T50 | WD | T22 | CUT | 23 | T22 |
The Open Championship | 1 | T17 | ||||||||
PGA Championship | 1 | QF | R16 | 2 | R64 | R64 |
Tournament | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | 38 | 38 | T28 | NT | NT | NT | |||||
U.S. Open | T12 | CUT | NT | NT | NT | NT | CUT | CUT | WD | CUT | |
The Open Championship | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | |||||
PGA Championship | NT |
NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Sources: U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur,[9] Amateur Championship:1920,[10] 1921[11]
Amateur
Professional