Jimmy Demaret

{{Infobox golfer

| name = Jimmy Demaret

| image = Jimmy Demaret 1964.jpg

| caption = Demaret in 1964

| fullname = James Newton Demaret

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1910|5|24}}

| birth_place = Houston, Texas, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1983|12|28|1910|5|24}}

| death_place = Houston, Texas, U.S.

| height = {{height|ft=5|in=10.5}}

| weight = {{convert|190|lb|kg st|abbr=on}}

| sporting_nationality = {{USA}}

| spouse = Idella Adams

| partner =

| children = 1

| college =

| yearpro = 1927

| extour = PGA Tour

| prowins = 37

| pgawins = 31

| otherwins = 6

| majorwins = 3

| masters = Won: 1940, 1947, 1950

| usopen = 2nd: 1948

| open = T10: 1954

| pga = T3: 1942, 1946, 1948, 1950

| wghofid = jimmy-demaret

| wghofyear = 1983

| award1 = PGA Tour
leading money winner

| year1 = 1947

| award2 = Vardon Trophy

| year2 = 1947

| awardssection =

}}

James Newton Demaret (May 24, 1910 – December 28, 1983) was an American professional golfer. He won 31 PGA Tour events in a long career between 1935 and 1957, and was the first three-time winner of the Masters, with titles in 1940, 1947, and 1950.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6iFOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hRMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7052%2C7966893 |work=Wilmington Morning Star |location=(North Carolina) |agency=Associated Press |title=Jimmy Demaret, pro golfing great, dies at 73 |date=December 29, 1983 |page=4D}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i1dWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5-4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6799%2C6709401 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=wire reports |title=Golfing great Demaret dies |date=December 29, 1983 |page=20}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Lg5WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NeIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5538%2C7613805 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=(Los Angeles Times)|last=Glick |first=Shav |title=3-time Masters champion Demaret dead at age 73 |date=December 29, 1983 |page=3C}}

Life and career

Born in Houston, Texas, Demaret reached his peak in the late 1940s with wins in the Masters in 1947, runner-up to Ben Hogan in the 1948 U.S. Open, and leading money winner and Vardon Trophy winner in 1947. He reached the semifinals of the PGA Championship four times, but never made the finals. He was one stroke short of making the playoff for the 1957 U.S. Open, at age 47. He played on three Ryder Cup teams: 1947, 1949, and 1951. His career declined in the 1950s, although he managed several key wins including the 1952 Bing Crosby Pro-Am. His last Tour win came in 1957 at age 47, although he also teamed at age 51 with Sam Snead to win the Canada Cup for the U.S. in Puerto Rico.

Demaret's playing style was developed by necessity through the windy conditions of his native Texas. He favored a low fade (left-to-right flight) on his longer shots; the method gave good distance and excellent control. His skills were highly rated by his contemporaries; Ben Hogan, whose career overshadowed his, opined that he was the best player he had ever seen in windy conditions.{{cite book |title=Ben Hogan: An American Life |first=James |last=Dodson |year=2004 |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=978-0-38550-312-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/benhoganamerican00dods }}

Demaret was known for his flamboyant personality, which he enhanced by wearing bright-colored clothing during tournaments; he had his clothes specially made, and became a fan favorite. As a result, he was known by his nickname, "The Wardrobe." He had a very good baritone voice and talent as a comedian; he frequently entertained at nightclubs at Tour stops.{{cite book |title=Gettin' to the Dance Floor: An Oral History of American Golf |last=Barkow |first=Al |author-link=Al Barkow |year=1986 |publisher=Atheneum |isbn=978-0-68911-517-2}}

Demaret was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1983. In 2000, he was ranked as the 20th greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine.{{cite magazine|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HFI/is_7_51/ai_63015233 |title=50 Greatest Golfers of All Time: And What They Taught Us |access-date=December 5, 2007 |last=Yocom |first=Guy |date=July 2000 |magazine=Golf Digest |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217174706/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HFI/is_7_51/ai_63015233 |archive-date=December 17, 2007 }}

Demaret was one of the first Tour pros to become involved in golf broadcasting. After working as a commentator for "All Star Golf" in the early 1960s, he replaced George Rogers in 1966 as co-host for Shell's Wonderful World of Golf with Gene Sarazen, the first winner of the career grand slam.

Business partner and double-major winner Jack Burke Jr. and Demaret started the high-standard 36-hole Champions Golf Club in Houston in the late 1950s. It hosted the 1967 Ryder Cup, the 1969 U.S. Open, the 1993 U.S. Amateur, and other high-profile events.

Demaret appeared as himself in an episode of I Love Lucy titled "The Golf Game" which first aired on January 27, 1954.{{cite web |url=http://everythinglucy.youns.com/the-lucy-show/the-lucy-show-episode-47.html |publisher=The Lucy Show |title=Episode #47: Lucy Takes up Golf |access-date=February 22, 2019}} In 1964, he made a second appearance with Lucille Ball on The Lucy Show. In 1961, he appeared on The Jim Backus Show, playing himself.

He played himself in the 1951 Ben Hogan semi-autobiographical movie starring Glenn Ford and Anne Baxter called Follow the Sun.{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043550/ | title=Follow the Sun | website=IMDb }}

The over-70s groupings on the Senior PGA Tour were named the "Friends of Demaret" in his honor.

Death

Demaret died of a heart attack at age 73 in Houston on December 28, 1983, as he was preparing for his daily ride around the Champions course. He was the third of the former Masters champions to pass away, preceded by Horton Smith in 1963 and Craig Wood in 1968.

Professional wins (37)

File:Jimmy Demaret with wife 1940.jpg

=PGA Tour wins (31)=

1938 (1) San Francisco National Match Play Open
1939 (1) Los Angeles Open
1940 (6) Oakland Open, Western Open, New Orleans Open, St. Petersburg Open, Masters Tournament, San Francisco National Match Play Open
1941 (1) Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Ben Hogan)
1946 (3) Tucson Open, Miami International Four-Ball (with Ben Hogan), Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Ben Hogan)
1947 (6) Tucson Open, St. Petersburg Open, Masters Tournament, Miami Open, Miami International Four-Ball (with Ben Hogan), Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Ben Hogan)
1948 (3) Albuquerque Open, St. Paul Open, Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Ben Hogan)
1949 (1) Phoenix Open
1950 (3) Ben Hogan Open, Masters Tournament, North Fulton Open
1952 (2) Bing Crosby Pro-Am, National Celebrities Open
1956 (1) Thunderbird Invitational
1957 (3) Thunderbird Invitational, Baton Rouge Open Invitational, Arlington Hotel Open

Major championships are shown in bold.

Source:{{cite book |last=Barkow |first=Al |author-link=Al Barkow |title=The History of the PGA TOUR |publisher=Doubleday |year=1989 |isbn=0-385-26145-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofpgatour00bark/page/266 266–7] |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofpgatour00bark/page/266 }}

=Other wins (6)=

this list may be incomplete

1941 Argentine Open, Connecticut Open
1943 Michigan PGA Championship, Golden Valley Four-Ball (with Craig Wood)
1951 Havana Invitational
1961 Canada Cup (with Sam Snead)

Major championships

=Wins (3)=

class="wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!54 holes!!Winning score!!Margin!!Runner(s)-up
style="background:#D0F0C0;" \| 1940	Masters Tournament	1 shot lead	−8 (67-72-70-71=280)	4 strokes	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Lloyd Mangrum
style="background:#D0F0C0;" \| 1947	Masters Tournament (2)	3 shot lead	−7 (69-71-70-71=281)	2 strokes	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Byron Nelson, {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Frank Stranahan
style="background:#D0F0C0;" \| 1950	Masters Tournament (3)	4 shot deficit	−5 (70-72-72-69=283)	2 strokes	{{flagicon\|AUS}} Jim Ferrier

=Results timeline=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1935

!1936

!1937

!1938

!1939

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T33

align=left|U.S. Open

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T16

|CUT

|T22

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|R64

|style="background:yellow;"|R16

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1940

!1941

!1942

!1943

!1944

!1945

!1946

!1947

!1948

!1949

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:lime;"|1

|T12

|style="background:yellow;"|6

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:yellow;"|T4

|style="background:lime;"|1

|T18

|style="background:yellow;"|T8

align=left|U.S. Open

|WD

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:yellow;"|T6

|T39

|style="background:yellow;"|2

|WD

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|R32

|R64

|style="background:yellow;"|SF

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:yellow;"|SF

|R64

|style="background:yellow;"|SF

|style="background:yellow;"|QF

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1950

!1951

!1952

!1953

!1954

!1955

!1956

!1957

!1958

!1959

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:lime;"|1

|T30

|WD

|T45

|T29

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T34

|style="background:yellow;"|3

|T14

|CUT

align=left|U.S. Open

|T20

|T14

|T15

|style="background:yellow;"|T4

|T29

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|style="background:yellow;"|3

|WD

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:yellow;"|T10

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|style="background:yellow;"|SF

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|R64

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|DQ

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1960

!1961

!1962

!1963

!1964

!1965

!1966

!1967

align=left|Masters Tournament

|CUT

|style="background:yellow;"|T5

|T43

|T32

|T35

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

align=left|U.S. Open

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

NT = no tournament

WD = withdrew

DQ = disqualified

CUT = missed the half-way cut

R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play

"T" indicates a tie for a place

=Summary=

Totals	3	1	6	14	19	28	56	44
class=wikitable style=text-align:center !Tournament !! Wins !! 2nd !! 3rd !! Top-5 !! Top-10 !! Top-25 !! Events !! Cuts made
align=left\|Masters Tournament	3	0	1	6	8	11	24	19
align=left\|U.S. Open	0	1	1	3	4	9	17	11
align=left\|The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1
align=left\|PGA Championship	0	0	4	5	6	7	14	13

Most consecutive cuts made – 11 (1941 PGA – 1949 Masters)
Longest streak of top-10s – 6 (1942 Masters – 1947 Masters)

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

Ryder Cup: 1947 (winners), 1949 (winners), 1951 (winners)
Canada Cup: 1954, 1957, 1961 (winners)
Lakes International Cup: 1952 (winners)

References

External links

{{World Golf Hall of Fame|jimmy-demaret}}
{{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050918234924/http://golf.about.com/od/golfers/p/jimmy_demaret.htm |title=Jimmy Demaret at golf.about.com |date=2005-09-18 }}

{{navboxes|title=Jimmy Demaret in the Ryder Cup

|list1={{1947 United States Ryder Cup team}}

}}

Category:American male golfers

Category:PGA Tour golfers

Category:Ryder Cup competitors for the United States

Category:Winners of men's major golf championships

Category:World Golf Hall of Fame inductees

Category:American golf commentators

Category:Golfers from Houston

Category:1910 births

Category:1983 deaths