Sweet-swinging Gene Littler dies at 88
SAN DIEGO — Gene
Littler, whose fluid swing carried him to 29 victories on the PGA Tour and a U.S. Open title at Oakland Hills, died Friday night. He was 88.
Littler held his own among the golfing greats to emerge from San Diego with a tempo to his swing that made the game look easy. Gene Sarazen once said Littler had a perfect swing, like Sam Snead, “only better.”
He was known as “Gene the Machine,” and he won the first of his tour titles in the 1954 San Diego Open while still an amateur. He won the 1955 Los Angeles Open for his first pro victory and went on to win three more times that year.
A testament to the quality of his swing was that Littler had a malignant tumor removed from the lymph glands under his left arm in 1972 when he was 42, and he won four more times. Little won three times at age 45 in 1975.
His most productive year was in 1959 when Littler won five times, was runner-up three times and finished No. 2 on the PGA Tour money list behind Art Wall.
Two years later, Littler rallied from three shots behind in the final round at Oakland Hills to win the U.S. Open. That was his only professional major, though he nearly won the 1977 PGA Championship at Pebble Beach until losing to Lanny Wadkins in the first sudden-death playoff in a major.
Littler played on six Ryder Cup teams, all U.S. victories, compiling a 14-5-8 record. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990 and in 1973 received the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor by the U.S. Golf Association that recognizes distinguished sportsmanship in golf.