PGA Tour legend Littler dies at 88
Gene Littler, an efficient golfer with an effortless swing who earned 29 PGA Tour victories, including a U.S. Open, and was nicknamed Gene the Machine, died Saturday in San Diego at the age of 88.
"Gene was the consummate gentleman but also a fierce competitor. His rhythmic swing that earned him his distinctive nickname remains in our minds a thing of beauty. It was a pleasure to watch Gene Littler hit a golf ball," PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said on the organization's website. "San Diego has produced great champions like Billy Casper, Phil Mickelson and Mickey Wright. Gene Littler stood right there beside those giants of the game, and we mourn the passing of a tremendous golfer, husband and father."
Born in San Diego on July 21, 1930, Littler graduated from San Diego State University and served in the U.S. Navy from 1951-54. He played on the Navy golf team with other future PGA Tour players including Casper, Don Whitt, Bill Bisdorf, Bob Goetz, Bud Holscher and Bill Blanton.
After winning the U.S. Amateur in 1953, he won the San Diego Open by four shots in 1954, then turned professional later that year.
In winning 1961 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills Country Club, Littler shot 68 in the final round to overcome a three-stroke deficit to defeat Bob Goalby and third-round leader Doug Sanders by a shot.
"Littler ... was playing brilliant golf in the final round -- and he was doing it unnoticed, as this splendid athlete, with his amazing talent for obscurity, so often has during the past years," Alfred Wright of Sports Illustrated wrote about that final round. "Jack Murphy, a golf writer for The San Diego Union, counted Littler's gallery on the 3rd hole on the last round. There were seven people. By the 11th it was up to about a hundred."
Littler also finished second in the 1970 Masters and second in the 1977 PGA Championship.
However, there were the two USGA events that cemented his place in golf history, he believed.
"To win both those -- the U.S. Open and the U.S. Amateur -- is really, really special; a big thrill for me," Little said in a 2012 interview.
Regarding his smooth, stylish swing, Littler added, "I worked on tempo a lot, and I think my tempo was really pretty good. I think maybe that's what gives the impression of a terrific swing. I don't know if mechanically it was that sound or not, but it must have been OK."
His golf career was interrupted in 1972, when a malignant tumor on the lymph glands under Littler's left arm was removed. All the gland-bearing tissue under that same arm was removed two weeks later. He soon resumed playing and went on to win five more events on the PGA Tour.
Despite his success on the tour, Littler, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990, didn't care much for the limelight, preferring to lead a quiet life with his family.
"I probably would have performed better and won more tournaments had I not wanted to go home so often," Littler told the Los Angeles Times in 1988. "But I guess I loved my family so much that that was the most important thing in my life."
--Field Level Media
