Paul Runyan

Paul Runyan
Paul Runyan
Personal information
Full name	Paul Scott Runyan
Nickname	Little Poison
Born	July 12, 1908; Hot Springs, Arkansas, U.S.
Died	March 17, 2002 (aged 93); Palm Springs, California, U.S.
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight	130 lb (59 kg; 9.3 st)
Sporting nationality	United States
Career
Turned professional	1925
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	37
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	29
Other	8
Best results in major championships; (wins: 2)
Masters Tournament	3rd/T3: 1934, 1942
PGA Championship	Won: 1934, 1938
U.S. Open	T5: 1941
The Open Championship	T18: 1961
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame
World Golf Hall of Fame	1990 (member page)
PGA Tour; leading money winner	1934

Paul Scott Runyan (July 12, 1908 – March 17, 2002) was an American professional golfer. Among the world's best players in the mid-1930s, he won two PGA Championships, and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Runyan was also a golf instructor.

Early life

Born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Runyan started out as a caddie and then an apprentice at a golf course in his hometown, before turning pro at age 17. He was head professional at a Little Rock club by age 18.^[1] Runyan served as head pro at Metropolis Country Club in White Plains, New York from 1931 to 1943 during which time he won both of his PGA championships.

Tour winner

Three years later, Runyan defeated Craig Wood in extra holes in the title match of the 1934 PGA Championship, the first of his two PGA Championships. Of Runyan's 29 career PGA Tour wins, 16 of them came in 1933 and 1934, and his nine wins in 1933 make him one of only seven golfers to win nine or more times in one year on the PGA Tour. In the first Masters Tournament in 1934, he was paired for the first 36 holes with tournament host Bobby Jones. Runyan won the tour money title in 1934, and was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1933 and 1935.

Runyan was competitive for many years; he won the PGA Championship again in 1938 and led the U.S. Open after three rounds as late as 1951. In the finals of his 1938 PGA, Runyan defeated Sam Snead 8 and 7, the most lopsided title match ever in the event, conducted as match play through 1957. This was despite Snead's vastly greater length off the tee, as much as 75 yards (70 m) per hole.^[1]

Fellow golfers nicknamed him "Little Poison" (a take on 1930s baseball player Lloyd Waner, who had the same nickname), primarily because he did not drive the ball very far, but also because he had a terrific short game. Runyan had worked tirelessly on his short game from boyhood, since he realized early on if he were to succeed in golf, he had to compensate for his lack of length. Runyan opined that he is the smallest player in golf history who had significant success,^[1] although Fred McLeod had a fine record, too, and stood only 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) and weighed a paltry 108 lb (49 kg; 7.7 st).

Master teacher

Runyan's teaching prowess led many top pros to him over his 75 years of teaching, including Gene Littler, Phil Rodgers, Chuck Courtney, Frank Beard, Jim Ferree and Mickey Wright. Golf Magazine wrote: "... since the late 1930s, he has probably been the most influential short game instructor. Untold thousands have been taught his methods for putting and chipping." Runyan wrote an influential book outlining his short-game methods, The Short Way to Lower Scoring.

He appeared as a contestant on the October 25, 1950, edition of You Bet Your Life where he tells an anecdote of hitting a spectator with his ball and in another competition his partner hits the same man.

Runyan was the first head golf professional at Sahalee Country Club outside Seattle in Sammamish, Washington, and served from 1968 to 1971. He attended the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee and while there received the PGA Distinguished Service Award after playing nine holes on the championship course at age 90.

In 2000, he completed the annual Par 3 competition held one day before the Masters at the age of 91. He died in Palm Springs, California.^[2]

Honors

Runyan was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990. In addition, he is a member of the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame, the Arkansas Hall of Fame and The Southern California Golf Association Hall of Fame. He received the Harvey Penick Lifetime Teaching Award and the PGA of America Distinguished Service Award.

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (29)

1930 (2) North and South Open, New Jersey Open
1931 (2) Metropolitan PGA, Westchester Open
1932 (1) Gasparilla Open Match Play
1933 (9) Agua Caliente Open, Miami Biltmore Open (March), Virginia Beach Cavalier Open, Eastern Open Championship, National Capital Open, Mid-South Pro-Pro (with Willie Macfarlane), Mid-South Open (tie with Willie Macfarlane and Joe Turnesa), Miami International Four-Ball (with Horton Smith), Pasadena Open
1934 (6) St. Petersburg Open, Florida West Coast Open, Tournament of the Gardens Open, The Cavalier Open, Metropolitan Open, PGA Championship
1935 (4) North and South Open, Grand Slam Open, Westchester Open, Metropolitan PGA
1936 (2) Westchester Open, Metropolitan PGA
1938 (1) PGA Championship
1939 (1) Westchester Open
1941 (1) Goodall Round Robin

Major championships are shown in bold.

Other wins

this list is probably incomplete

1934 Westchester Open
1938 Argentine Open
1942 Westchester Open
1947 Southern California PGA Championship

Senior wins

Major championships

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Runner-up
1934	PGA Championship	38 holes	Craig Wood
1938	PGA Championship	8 & 7	Sam Snead

Note: The PGA Championship was match play through 1957

Results timeline

Tournament	1928	1929
U.S. Open	63
The Open Championship
PGA Championship

Tournament	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
Masters Tournament	NYF	NYF	NYF	NYF	T3	7	T4	T19	4	T16
U.S. Open			T12	DQ	T28	T10	T8	T14	T7	T9
The Open Championship				CUT
PGA Championship		R16	R32	QF	1	QF	R64	R16	1	QF

Tournament	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948
Masters Tournament	T12	T35	3	NT	NT	NT
U.S. Open	49	T5	NT	NT	NT	NT	21	T6	T53
The Open Championship	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT
PGA Championship	QF	R64	DNQ	NT				DNQ

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1956	1957	1958
Masters Tournament							CUT	T35
U.S. Open	T25	T6	T22	CUT	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship	R64	DNQ

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1965	1968
Masters Tournament	CUT
U.S. Open	CUT
The Open Championship		T18	CUT
PGA Championship				WD	CUT

Tournament	1973	1974
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Championship	CUT	WD

Win

Top 10

Did not play

NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
DQ = disqualified
DNQ = did not qualify for match play portion
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

Tournament	Wins	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	2	4	5	8	12	10
U.S. Open	0	0	1	7	12	21	16
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	1	3	1
PGA Championship	2	0	6	8	9	16	12
Totals	2	2	11	20	30	52	39

Most consecutive cuts made – 33 (1933 PGA – 1952 U.S. Open)
Longest streak of top-10s – 6 (1934 PGA – 1936 U.S. Open)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Barkow, Al (1986). Gettin' to the Dance Floor: An Oral History of American Golf. Atheneum Books. ISBN 978-0-689-11517-2.
^ "Paul Runyan, 93, Winner Of 29 Events on PGA Tour". The New York Times. March 19, 2002. Retrieved December 24, 2010.

External links

Paul Runyan at the World Golf Hall of Fame

[dance-1] Barkow, Al (1986). Gettin' to the Dance Floor: An Oral History of American Golf. Atheneum Books. ISBN 978-0-689-11517-2.

[2] "Paul Runyan, 93, Winner Of 29 Events on PGA Tour". The New York Times. March 19, 2002. Retrieved December 24, 2010.

[1]

[2]

v t e PGA Championship champions
Match play era	1916 Jim Barnes 1919 Jim Barnes 1920 Jock Hutchison 1921 Walter Hagen 1922 Gene Sarazen 1923 Gene Sarazen 1924 Walter Hagen 1925 Walter Hagen 1926 Walter Hagen 1927 Walter Hagen 1928 Leo Diegel 1929 Leo Diegel 1930 Tommy Armour 1931 Tom Creavy 1932 Olin Dutra 1933 Gene Sarazen 1934 Paul Runyan 1935 Johnny Revolta 1936 Denny Shute 1937 Denny Shute 1938 Paul Runyan 1939 Henry Picard 1940 Byron Nelson 1941 Vic Ghezzi 1942 Sam Snead 1944 Bob Hamilton 1945 Byron Nelson 1946 Ben Hogan 1947 Jim Ferrier 1948 Ben Hogan 1949 Sam Snead 1950 Chandler Harper 1951 Sam Snead 1952 Jim Turnesa 1953 Walter Burkemo 1954 Chick Harbert 1955 Doug Ford 1956 Jack Burke Jr. 1957 Lionel Hebert
Stroke play era	1958 Dow Finsterwald 1959 Bob Rosburg 1960 Jay Hebert 1961 Jerry Barber† 1962 Gary Player 1963 Jack Nicklaus 1964‡ Bobby Nichols 1965 Dave Marr 1966 Al Geiberger 1967 Don January† 1968 Julius Boros 1969‡ Raymond Floyd 1970 Dave Stockton 1971 Jack Nicklaus 1972 Gary Player 1973 Jack Nicklaus 1974 Lee Trevino 1975 Jack Nicklaus 1976 Dave Stockton 1977 Lanny Wadkins† 1978 John Mahaffey† 1979 David Graham† 1980 Jack Nicklaus 1981 Larry Nelson 1982‡ Raymond Floyd 1983‡ Hal Sutton 1984 Lee Trevino 1985 Hubert Green 1986 Bob Tway 1987 Larry Nelson† 1988 Jeff Sluman 1989 Payne Stewart 1990 Wayne Grady 1991 John Daly 1992 Nick Price 1993 Paul Azinger† 1994 Nick Price 1995 Steve Elkington† 1996 Mark Brooks† 1997 Davis Love III 1998 Vijay Singh 1999 Tiger Woods 2000‡ Tiger Woods† 2001 David Toms 2002 Rich Beem 2003 Shaun Micheel 2004 Vijay Singh† 2005 Phil Mickelson 2006 Tiger Woods 2007 Tiger Woods 2008 Pádraig Harrington 2009 Y. E. Yang 2010 Martin Kaymer† 2011 Keegan Bradley† 2012 Rory McIlroy 2013 Jason Dufner 2014 Rory McIlroy 2015 Jason Day 2016 Jimmy Walker 2017 Justin Thomas 2018 Brooks Koepka 2019 Brooks Koepka 2020 Collin Morikawa 2021 Phil Mickelson 2022 Justin Thomas† 2023 Brooks Koepka 2024‡ Xander Schauffele
† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire; 1943 cancelled due to World War II