Ben Crenshaw

Ben Daniel Crenshaw (born January 11, 1952) is an American retired professional golfer with 19 PGA Tour victories, including two Masters titles (1984 and 1995). Known as Gentle Ben, he is considered one of golf’s greatest putters.

Raised in Austin, Texas, Crenshaw attended Austin High School and the University of Texas, where he won three NCAA Championships (1971–1973) and was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. He turned professional in 1973 at age 21. His first PGA Tour event as a pro was the USI Classic in Sutton, Massachusetts, in mid-August, where he tied for 35th, ten strokes back, earning $903. In early November, he became the second player (after Marty Fleckman in 1967) to win his first event after earning a tour card, a feat only a few have matched. With teammate George Burns, he won the Walt Disney World National Team Championship in October 1979.

After five runner-up finishes in majors—including a sudden-death playoff loss at the 1979 PGA Championship—Crenshaw won the Masters in 1984. In the mid-1980s, he battled Graves’ disease but kept winning, finishing with 19 PGA Tour victories. His second Masters win in 1995 came a week after the death of his mentor, Harvey Penick. In 1999, he captained the U.S. Ryder Cup team at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Criticized for his leadership as his team fell to a 10–6 deficit, he was later credited for inspiring the comeback: the U.S. won 8½ of the final day’s 12 points to reclaim the Cup.

Crenshaw also won events outside the PGA Tour, including individual and team titles at the 1988 World Cup of Golf. He ranked in the top ten of McCormack’s World Golf Rankings from 1976 to 1981 and spent 80 weeks in the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking from 1987 to 1989. In 1987, he became one of the few players to finish in the top ten of all four majors in a single season without winning any. Internationally, he won the 1976 Irish Open, was runner-up to Hubert Green in 1977, and placed second at the 1978 Australian Open and 1982 Australian PGA Championship. He also finished runner-up at The Open Championship twice: behind Jack Nicklaus in 1978 and Seve Ballesteros in 1979.

Crenshaw’s putting stroke, taught by Harvey Penick, was smooth and effortless, allowing him to master fast greens like those at Augusta National. During his 1995 Masters win, he did not three-putt once. Since 1986, he has been a legal partner in Coore & Crenshaw, a golf course design firm. The 2015 Masters was his 44th and final appearance. He holds the worst playoff record in PGA Tour history at 0–8.

Crenshaw married his second wife, Julie, in 1985. His three daughters—Claire Susan, Anna Riley, and Katherine Vail—were presented as debutantes at the International Debutante Ball in New York City. He is a Republican and has donated to Republican candidates.

His amateur wins include the 1968 International Jaycee Junior Golf Tournament; the 1971 NCAA Championship, Eastern Amateur, and Southern Amateur; the 1972 NCAA Championship (tied with Tom Kite), Eastern Amateur, Porter Cup, and Trans-Mississippi Amateur; and the 1973 NCAA Championship, Western Amateur, Sunnehanna Amateur, Southern Amateur, and Northeast Amateur.

Professionally, he has 30 wins: 19 on the PGA Tour (with a 0–8 playoff record), 3 on the European Tour (0–1 in playoffs), and 9 other wins, including the 1975, 1979, and 1980 Texas State Open; the 1981 Mexican Open; the 1985 Shootout at Jeremy Ranch (with Miller Barber); the 1988 World Cup (team title with Mark McCumber and individual trophy); the 1991 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Paul Azinger); and the 1995 PGA Grand Slam of Golf. He also won the 2009 Wendy’s Champions Skins Game (with Fuzzy Zoeller).

Crenshaw played on four Ryder Cup teams (1981, 1983, 1987, 1995) and captained the 1999 team. In 1987, he was one of the few players to record top-ten finishes in all four majors in one season—a feat also achieved by Ed Dudley, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Doug Sanders, Miller Barber, Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods, Sergio García, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, and Rory McIlroy.