Craig Wood

Hometown

Lake Placid

New York

Year Inducted

2008

Inducted Category

Competitor

Birthdate

Nov 18,1903

Date Deceased

May 07,1968

Major Championships: 2

U.S. Open: 1941
Masters Tournament: 1941

Additional PGA TOUR Wins: 19

1928: New Jersey PGA Championship
1929: Oklahoma Open, Hawaiian Open
1930: New Jersey PGA Championship, Oklahoma City Open
1931: Harlingen Open
1932: New Jersey PGA Match Play Championship, San Francisco Open-Match Play, Pasadena Open
1933: Los Angeles Open, Radium Springs Open
1934: Galveston Open Championship, New Jersey Open
1936: General Brock Open
1938: Augusta Open-Forest Hills
1940: Metropolitan Open, Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball
1942: Canadian Open
1944: Durham Open

Additional Wins: 6

1925: Kentucky Open
1926: Kentucky PGA Championship
1929: Pasadena Open
1938: New Jersey PGA Championship
1942: Metropolitan PGA Championship
1943: Golden Valley Four-Ball (with Jimmy Demaret)

Ryder Cup Apperances: 3

Wins in bold

Player: 1931, 1933, 1935

Awards & Honors

PGA of America Hall of Fame: 1957
The Memorial Tournament Honoree: 2008

He was known as the “Blond Bomber” because of his rugged good looks and his ability to drive the golf ball prodigious distances, but he earned induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame because of his 21 wins on the Tour between 1928 and 1944, including back-to-back Majors. Significantly, he was selected on the regular PGA TOUR ballot 40 years after his passing and 67 years after his most notable achievement, winning the Masters and the U.S. Open in 1941, the first person to do so.

Born in 1901 in Lake Placid, New York, Wood’s father was a timber company foreman and outdoorsman who taught his son how to wield an ax. It is said that this is where a young Craig developed keen eye-hand coordination and significant upper body and hand strength, which later translated into his exceptional skill on the golf course.

“In most states, these types of arrangements are clearly there to avoid a number of hurdles.”

But, in the early days of his career, Wood seemed “snake-bit,” as he lost in a playoff in each of the professional Grand Slam events.

In the 1933 Open Championship at St Andrews, Wood drove into the Swilcan Burn on the first hole of a playoff, ultimately losing to rival Denny Shute by five strokes in the only Open Championship he played, but his reputation for long driving was burnished at St Andrews when he drove the ball a measured 430 yards into a bunker!

In the 1934 PGA Championship at the Park Club of Buffalo in Williamsville, New York, Wood lost to his former student and assistant pro Paul Runyan in a “sudden death” playoff after the regulation 36-holes in the final round of match play.

In the 1935 Masters, the second ever played, Gene Sarazen tied with Wood, after Sarazen miraculously holed-out for a double eagle on the par-5 fifteenth hole of the final round, making up a three-stroke deficit to Wood in the blink of an eye. Sarazen went on to win the 36-hole playoff the next day by five strokes.

Tied with Byron Nelson and Denny Shute after the regulation 72 holes in the 1939 U.S. Open at Philadelphia Country Club, the ensuing 18-hole playoff quickly settled into a match between Nelson and Wood after nine holes. One stroke ahead of Nelson playing the 18th hole, Wood parred as Nelson birdied, forcing a second 18-hole playoff the next day. Nelson edged out Wood, as Lord Byron shot a one-over-par 70 to Wood’s 73, to capture the U.S. National Championship.

With America’s entry in World War II looming, Wood had his finest year in 1941, becoming the first person to capture the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year.

Fact

Craig Wood won the inaugural New Jersey PGA Championship, which has been played every year since 1928, and added three more titles in 1930, 1932, and 1938.

In the 1941 Masters he became the first wire-to-wire winner, beating Byron Nelson by three strokes and Ben Hogan by six.

Then, in the 1941 U.S. Open at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, Wood bested his old friend and rival Denny Shute by three and Johnny Bulla and hometown favorite Ben Hogan by five strokes.

Craig Wood was more than just a fine tour professional; he was widely recognized as a salt-of-the-earth man who regularly helped younger players with their game and remained true to his everyman roots in upstate New York. In fact, in his six years as the head professional at famed Winged Foot Golf Club, he would often go into the men’s locker room and call out, “Anyone looking for a game?” Not bad for a man with two Majors and 21 wins on the Tour.

But perhaps it was Sam Snead who best summed-up Wood when he said, “he’s the nicest guy I think I’ve ever seen.”

For all these reasons, Craig Wood richly deserved enshrinement into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Craig Wood was originally inducted through the PGA TOUR Ballot.