KEN VENTURI

'Ken Venturi' (born May 15, 1931) was a prominent PGA Tour professional during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Venturi 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. He shot a final round 80 and blew a four shot lead which prevented him from winning outright and thus becoming the first amateur to do so in the history of The Masters. Years later it would be compared to Greg Norman's back nine collapse in 1996.
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. He played on the 1965 Ryder Cup team.
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.

Contents

PGA Tour wins (14)

Results in major championships

See also

External links

PGA Tour wins (14)

★ 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

Results in major championships

Tournament	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
The Masters	DNP	T16	DNP	2 LA	T13	T4	CUT
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	DNP	8 LA	T6	T35	T38
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T20	T5

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
The Masters	2	T11	T9	34	DNP	CUT	16	T21	T50	CUT
U.S. Open	T23	DNP	DNP	DNP	'1'	CUT	T17	T28	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	9	T37	T51	DNP	T5	DNP	T15	T11	T48	DNP

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

LA = Low Amateur

DNP = Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

See also

★ Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

External links

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