Hubert Green
Golfer known for the speed of his swing and turn of the wrist
HUBERT GREEN, who has died aged 71, was a golfer who won 19 times on the PGA tour, including two majors, the 1977 US Open and the 1985 USPGA.
He was noted for his implacable determination. In 1977, at Southern Hills, Oklahoma, he was leading by one stroke in the final round of the US Open, and had just played the 14th hole when tournament officials informed him that they had received a telephone call from someone threatening to shoot him at the 15th.
He was told that the course could be cleared of spectators if he wished, or he could resume the next day. He elected to play on, and nine police officers were detailed to protect him. The 15th came and went without incident and he won his first major by a stroke.
That year he also enjoyed his highest finish at the Open Championship, a distant third behind Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus, who slugged it out at Turnberry in the famed “duel in the sun”. Watson won by a stroke from Nicklaus, with Green a further 10 shots back. “Even my wife went off to watch Tom and Jack,” he remarked.
He was renowned for the speed of his swing, which incorporated an unusual cock of the wrist. “I don’t analyse it,” he said. “I looked at it once on film and almost got sick.”
The son of a doctor, Hubert Myatt Green was born on December 28 1946 in Birmingham, Alabama. His parents were members of Birmingham Country Club, where young Hubert learnt the game, and he was a star golfer at Florida State University, graduating in 1968.
He turned professional the next year, won his PGA Tour card in 1970 and within a year had won his first tournament. Two more followed in 1973, and in 1974 he enjoyed a purple patch, winning three in a row.
The year after his US Open victory, he received another death threat, presumed to have come from the same source. A note pinned to his locker read: “Sorry I missed you last year at Tulsa on 15. We’ll see you today.’’ He never found out who had made the threats.
That year, 1978, he was in sight of another major win, at the US Masters in Augusta. Going into the final round he was ahead of Gary Player by seven strokes, but gave up his lead and missed out on a play-off when he failed to sink a short putt at the 18th. He was said to have been distracted by an overenthusiastic radio commentator, but he explained simply: “I hit a bad putt.”
He did bag a second major in 1985 following a long fallow period during which he slipped from fourth on the Tour earnings list to 135th. He was three strokes ahead of Lee Trevino at the start of the final round of the USPGA at Cherry Hills, near Denver, but the Texan fought back strongly until a bogey on the 15th gave Green a lead he did not relinquish.
That was his last victory on the PGA Tour, though he had a large dose of bad luck in the 1988 Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes. On the third day he raced up the leader board with five birdies in the first seven holes when a deluge washed out the day’s play and all scores were scratched. “It’s not the end of the world,” he said. “It’s a game called golf. I’m not complaining. Life’s been good to me.”
He also played in three Ryder Cups, never losing a singles match. In his fifties he joined the Senior PGA Tour, winning four events. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2007 and retired from competitive golf two years later.
He supported charities for cerebral palsy and children suffering from cancer. Three of his marriages ended in divorce, and he is survived by his fourth wife, Becky Blair, along with three sons and two stepsons.