Craig Ralph Wood (November 18, 1901 – May 7, 1968) was an American professional golfer in the 1930s and 1940s, the winner of 21 PGA Tour titles including two major championships and a member of three Ryder Cup teams .

Wood was the first player to lose all four major championships in extra holes. His major wins came late in his career at age 39, winning the first two of 1941, the Masters and U.S. Open.

Early life Born in Lake Placid, New York, Wood turned professional in 1920 at age 18.

Professional career Despite his two major championships, he is probably most well known as the victim of Gene Sarazen's famous double eagle in the 1935 Augusta National Invitational (now known as the Masters Tournament). The shot left the two players tied at the end of regulation and Sarazen went on to victory in a 36-hole playoff.

This was Wood's fourth runner-up and third playoff loss in a major in just two years. In the 1933 British Open at St Andrews, Denny Shute had defeated Wood in another 36-hole playoff. In the spring of 1934, Wood was the runner up by a single shot to Horton Smith at the first Masters and later that year he was defeated on the 38th hole by Paul Runyan in the PGA Championship, then a match play event. At the 1939 U.S. Open he birdied the 72nd hole and was again in a playoff, but this time Byron Nelson was the winner, making Wood the first player to lose all four major championships in extra holes. Greg Norman is the only other player to suffer this fate.

At age 39 in 1941, Wood finally beat his "jinx" in noteworthy fashion. He won the eighth 1941 Masters Tournament in April, its first wire-to-wire champion with rounds of 66-71-71-72=280 for a three-shot victory over runner-up Byron Nelson. Two months later, he won the 45th U.S. Open, held at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. His score of 284 (+4) was three strokes ahead of Denny Shute, another on-course nemesis. This was the first time the winner of the Masters had won the U.S. Open in the same year for the first half of the grand slam. Subsequent winners of the first two majors were Ben Hogan (1951, 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972), Tiger Woods (2002), and Jordan Spieth (2015).

Death Wood died in Palm Beach, Florida in 1968 at age 66, of a heart attack. He was the second Masters champion to die, preceded by Horton Smith in 1963 and followed by Jimmy Demaret in 1983. Wood and his wife are buried in North Elba, New York, just south of Lake Placid.

Awards and honors In 1954, the Lake Placid Golf and Country Club changed its name to the "Craig Wood Golf Course" in honor of him In 2008, Wood was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame on the PGA Tour ballot

Professional wins (28) PGA Tour wins (20) 1929 (2) Oklahoma City Open, Hawaiian Open 1930 (2) New Jersey PGA Championship, Reddy Tee Tournament 1931 (1) Harlingen Open 1932 (3) New Jersey PGA Match Play Championship, San Francisco National Match Play Open, Pasadena Open 1933 (2) Los Angeles Open, Radium Springs Open 1934 (2) Galveston Open Championship, New Jersey Open 1936 (1) General Brock Open 1938 (1) Augusta Open-Forest Hills 1940 (2) Metropolitan Open, Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball (with Billy Burke) 1941 (2) Masters Tournament, U.S. Open 1942 (1) Canadian Open 1944 (1) Durham Open

Major championships are shown in bold.

Source:

Other wins (8) Note: This list may be incomplete. 1925 Kentucky Open 1928 New Jersey PGA Championship 1926 Kentucky PGA Championship 1929 Pasadena Open (January) 1934 Lakes Open 1938 New Jersey PGA Championship 1942 Metropolitan PGA Championship 1943 Golden Valley Four-Ball (with Jimmy Demaret)

Major championships

Wins (2) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 1941 Masters Tournament 3 shot lead −8 (66-71-71-72=280) 3 strokes Byron Nelson 1941 U.S. Open 2 shot lead +4 (73-71-70-70=284) 3 strokes Denny Shute

Results timeline Tournament19251926192719281929U.S. OpenT51CUTT46T16The Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipQF

Tournament1930193119321933193419351936193719381939Masters TournamentNYFNYFNYFNYF22T20T26T346U.S. OpenT9T143DQT21T66T362The Open Championship2PGA ChampionshipR322SFR32

Tournament1940194119421943194419451946194719481949Masters TournamentT71T23NTNTNTWDT53T4334U.S. Open41NTNTNTNTCUTCUTT27The Open ChampionshipNTNTNTNTNTNTPGA ChampionshipR32R32QFNTR16R64

Tournament1950195119521953195419551956195719581959Masters Tournament5962716270CUTCUTCUTU.S. OpenCUTT47The Open ChampionshipPGA Championship

Tournament19601961196219631964Masters TournamentWDCUTWDWDU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipPGA Championship

NYF = tournament not yet founded 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 Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 1 2 0 3 5 7 25 17U.S. Open 1 1 1 4 5 8 19 14The Open Championship 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1PGA Championship 0 1 1 4 5 9 10 10Totals 2 5 2 12 16 25 55 42 Most consecutive cuts made – 21 (1934 PGA – 1944 PGA) Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (1939 Masters – 1940 U.S. Open)

See also List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins List of men's major championships winning golfers

References

External links

PGA of America: Metropolitan Section – Craig Wood GolfCompendium.com – Craig Wood Craig Wood Golf Club – Lake Placid / North Elba, New York