George Knudson

George Knudson
George Knudson
Personal information
Full name	George Alfred Christian Knudson
Nickname	The Mantis
Born	June 28, 1937; Winnipeg, Manitoba
Died	January 24, 1989 (aged 51); Toronto, Ontario
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	160 lb (73 kg; 11 st)
Sporting nationality	Canada
Career
Turned professional	1958
Former tour(s)	Canadian Tour; PGA Tour
Professional wins	30
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	8
Other	22
Best results in major championships;
Masters Tournament	T2: 1969
PGA Championship	T20: 1965
U.S. Open	T17: 1965
The Open Championship	DNP

George Alfred Christian Knudson, CM (June 28, 1937 – January 24, 1989) was a Canadian professional golfer, who along with Mike Weir holds the record for the Canadian with the most wins on the PGA Tour, with eight career victories.

Early life and career

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Knudson learned to play golf at the St. Charles Country Club. He won the 1954 and 1955 Manitoba Junior Championships,^[1] and the 1955 Canadian Junior Championship.^[2] He moved to Toronto in 1958, and worked at the Oakdale Golf & Country Club, where he received instruction and encouragement from the Club, to improve his game; the club has named one of its three nines after him.^[3] He was then able to secure some financial backing to try the PGA Tour. He won the Manitoba Open in 1958, 1959, and 1960, and the Ontario Open in 1960, 1961, 1971, 1976 and 1978.^[4]

Between 1961 and 1972, he won eight tournaments on the PGA Tour. He won the Canadian PGA Championship five times, and won the World Cup with Al Balding in 1968. He wrote a book, The Natural Golf Swing (ISBN 0-7710-4534-4) with Lorne Rubenstein.

Knudson's last official PGA TOUR victory was the Kaiser Invitational in October 1972. However, Knudson nearly won again the next week at the Sahara Invitational. He carried the lead going into the final round at 15-under par after shooting 65-70-66, but a final round 76 dropped him into a T-7th at 11-under.

Knudson's best finish in a major championship was a tie for second in the 1969 Masters Tournament, one shot behind champion George Archer.^[5] Knudson's birdie putt on the 72nd hole to tie Archer came up 3 inches short.

In seven Masters appearances, Knudson posted three top-10s, including 10th in his 1965 debut and sixth a year later.

Knudson left tournament golf in the late 1970s, and started teaching golf, with success, at a facility in the Toronto area. His teaching methods have since been adopted by the Canadian PGA.

In 1988, he was inducted into both Royal Canadian Golf Association Hall of Fame, the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and was made a member of the Order of Canada.

He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1969, and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.^[6]

Personal life

Knudson had long been a heavy smoker and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1987. He recovered well enough to compete at the 1988 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf Senior tournament. Shortly thereafter, it was discovered the cancer had spread to his brain. George Knudson died in January 1989 at age 51 and was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.

Amateur wins

1954 Manitoba Junior Championship
1955 Manitoba Junior Championship, Canadian Junior Championship

Professional wins (30)

PGA Tour wins (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Dec 10, 1961	Coral Gables Open Invitational	65-71-71-66=273	−11	1 stroke	Gay Brewer
2	Sep 22, 1963	Portland Open Invitational	69-67-68-67=271	−17	Playoff	Mason Rudolph
3	Oct 4, 1964	Fresno Open Invitational	73-69-71-67=280	−8	Playoff	Al Balding
4	May 14, 1967	Greater New Orleans Open Invitational	71-66-70-70=277	−11	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus
5	Feb 18, 1968	Phoenix Open Invitational	67-64-70-71=272	−12	3 strokes	Julius Boros, Sam Carmichael, Jack Montgomery
6	Feb 25, 1968	Tucson Open Invitational	70-67-71-65=273	−15	1 stroke	Frank Beard, Frank Boynton
7	Sep 20, 1970	Robinson Open Golf Classic	67-69-69-63=268	−16	Playoff	George Archer
8	Oct 22, 1972	Kaiser International Open Invitational	66-69-66-70=271	−17	3 strokes	Hale Irwin, Bobby Nichols

PGA Tour playoff record (3–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1963	Portland Open Invitational	Mason Rudolph	Won with eagle on first extra hole
2	1964	Fresno Open Invitational	Al Balding	Won with birdie on second extra hole
3	1970	Robinson Open Golf Classic	George Archer	Won with par on fourth extra hole

Other wins (22)

This list may be incomplete

1958 Manitoba Open
1959 Manitoba Open
1960 Manitoba Open, Ontario Open
1961 Ontario Open
1962 Maracaibo Open Invitational, Puerto Rico Open
1963 Panama Open
1964 Canadian PGA Championship, Caracas Open
1966 Millar Trophy,^[7] Canada Cup (individual event)
1967 Canadian PGA Championship
1968 Canadian PGA Championship, World Cup (team event with Al Balding)
1969 Wills Masters (Australia)
1971 Ontario Open
1976 Canadian PGA Championship
1976 Ontario Open
1977 Canadian PGA Championship, Shrine Pro-Am (shared with Dan Halldorson and Gar Hamilton)^[8]
1978 Ontario Open, Shrine Pro-Am^[9]

Results in major championships

Tournament	1962	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974
Masters Tournament			10	T6	T31	T28	T2	T45			CUT
U.S. Open			T17	T44			T36	T61				T51
PGA Championship	T51	T28	T20	T43			T25	T55	CUT	CUT	T56

Note: Knudson never played in The Open Championship.

Top 10

Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

Tournament	2nd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	1	1	3	3	7	6
U.S. Open	0	0	0	1	5	5
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0
PGA Championship	0	0	0	2	9	7
Totals	1	1	3	6	21	18

Most consecutive cuts made – 16 (1962 PGA – 1970 PGA)
Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)

Team appearances

Amateur

Americas Cup (representing Canada): 1956

Professional

World Cup (representing Canada): 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966 (individual winner), 1967, 1968 (winners), 1969, 1976, 1977

References

^ History of Golf in Canada, by Lawrence Vincent Kavanagh, Toronto, Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1973, p. 185
^ Barclay, James A. (1992). Golf in Canada: A History. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 978-0-7710-1080-4.
^ Stanley, Adam (June 5, 2023). "Five things to know: Oakdale Golf Course". PGA Tour.
^ "Ontario Golf Hall of Fame – George Knudson". Golf Association of Ontario. Archived from the original on April 12, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
^ "Archer wins Masters; Knudson second". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. April 14, 1969. p. 22.
^ "George Knudson". oshof.ca. Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
^ "Knudsons sharp finish brings Millar Trophy". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. CP. July 30, 1966. p. 12. Retrieved March 27, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Rain halts tourney". The Leader-Post. Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. July 16, 1977. p. 18. Retrieved April 2, 2020 – via Google News Archive.
^ "In a nutshell". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario, Canada. July 7, 1978. p. 29. Retrieved April 2, 2020 – via Google News Archive.