Tommy Bolt

Tommy Bolt
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Henry Bolt
Nickname	Thunder, Terrible Tommy
Born	(1916-03-31)March 31, 1916 Haworth, Oklahoma
Died	August 30, 2008(2008-08-30) (aged 92) Cherokee Village, Arkansas
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Nationality	United States
Career
Turned professional	1946
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	18
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	15
Other	3
Best results in major championships (wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	T3: 1952
U.S. Open	Won: 1958
The Open Championship	DNP
PGA Championship	3rd/T3: 1954, 1955, 1971
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	2002 (member page)

Thomas Henry Bolt (March 31, 1916 – August 30, 2008) was an American professional golfer.

Bolt was born in Haworth, Oklahoma. He served in the United States Army during World War II and turned professional in 1946. He worked as a caddie and club professional in Shreveport, Louisiana. He did not join the PGA Tour until he was in his thirties, but he went on to win fifteen PGA Tour titles, including one major championship, the 1958 U.S. Open. He was the fifth PGA Tour player to shoot a 60 (11 birdies) in an 18-hole round when he did it in the second round of the Insurance City Open outside Hartford, Connecticut Previously, Al Brosch, Wally Ulrich, Ted Kroll and Bill Nary had also shot 60s. Bolt had a putt for a 59, but he missed his 15-footer for birdie on the 18th green at the par-71 Wethersfield Country Club. He followed that round with a 69-71 over his final 36 holes that got him into a playoff with Earl Stewart, an extra session Bolt won.

Bolt was a member of the United States Ryder Cup teams of 1955 and 1957. His career Ryder Cup record was 3-1, including a singles victory over Christy O'Connor Snr in 1955 at Thunderbird Golf and Country Club in Palm Springs, California He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002.

Bolt's fiery disposition earned him the nickname "Thunder" and "Terrible Tommy". He was known to break clubs during rounds, and his penchant for throwing clubs led to the adoption of a rule prohibiting such behavior. In his later years, he admitted that a lot of his on-course eruptions were merely showmanship and that he felt they had detracted from his playing.

Bolt died in Cherokee Village, Arkansas at the age of 92.^[1] He is interred at Evening Shade Cemetery in Evening Shade, Arkansas.

Bolt was elected to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Inducted in 2002.^[2]

On Ben Hogan

"He's the only player I have ever known to get an ovation from the fans on the practice tee. I've seen him playing practice rounds before a tournament and half the gallery was made up of other professionals. Somebody asked me once, Who's better? Jack Nicklaus or Ben Hogan? Well, my answer was, I saw Nicklaus watch Hogan practice. But I never saw Hogan watch Nicklaus."^[3]

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (15)

1951 (1) North and South Open
1952 (1) Los Angeles Open
1953 (2) San Diego Open, Tucson Open
1954 (3) Miami Beach International Four-Ball (with Dick Mayer), Insurance City Open, Rubber City Open
1955 (3) Convair-San Diego Open, Tucson Open, St. Paul Open
1957 (1) Eastern Open Invitational
1958 (2) Colonial National Invitation, U.S. Open
1960 (1) Memphis Open Invitational
1961 (1) Pensacola Open Invitational

Major championship is shown in bold.

Senior wins (3)

1969 PGA Seniors' Championship
1980 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Art Wall)
1995 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Jack Fleck)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1958	U.S. Open	3 shot lead	+3 (71-71-69-72=283)	4 strokes	Gary Player

Results timeline

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	T3	T5	T12	T22	T8	CUT	T32	T30
U.S. Open	CUT	T29	T7	CUT	T6	T3	T22	WD	1	T38
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	R32	SF	SF	R128	R16	T5	T17

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
Masters Tournament	T20	T4	CUT	T37	CUT	T8	T17	T26	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	WD	T22	CUT	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T57	WD	T30	DNP	WD	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT
PGA Championship	DNP	3	WD	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Note: Bolt never played in The Open Championship.
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament	Wins	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	1	3	5	9	17	13
U.S. Open	1	1	2	4	6	17	8
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
PGA Championship	0	3	4	5	7	14	8
Totals	1	5	9	14	22	48	29

Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (1953 PGA – 1956 PGA)
Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (twice)

References

↑ "Tommy Bolt dies in Arkansas at 92". Tampa Bay Times. September 4, 2008.
↑ "ASHOF Inductee Profiles" (PDF).
↑ Apfelbaum, Jim, ed. (2007). The Gigantic Book of Golf Quotations. Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 978-1602390140.

External links

Tommy Bolt at the PGA Tour official site
World Golf Hall of Fame profile
Tommy Bolt at Find a Grave
St. Petersburg Times feature

U.S. Open champions

1895 Horace Rawlins 1896 James Foulis 1897 Joe Lloyd 1898 Fred Herd 1899 Willie Smith 1900 Harry Vardon 1901 Willie Anderson† 1902 Laurie Auchterlonie 1903 Willie Anderson† 1904 Willie Anderson 1905 Willie Anderson 1906 Alex Smith 1907 Alec Ross 1908 Fred McLeod† 1909 George Sargent 1910 Alex Smith† 1911 John McDermott† 1912 John McDermott 1913 Francis Ouimet#† 1914‡ Walter Hagen 1915 Jerome Travers# 1916 Chick Evans# 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I 1919 Walter Hagen† 1920 Ted Ray 1921‡ Jim Barnes 1922 Gene Sarazen 1923 Bobby Jones#† 1924 Cyril Walker 1925 Willie Macfarlane† 1926 Bobby Jones# 1927 Tommy Armour† 1928 Johnny Farrell† 1929 Bobby Jones#† 1930 Bobby Jones# 1931 Billy Burke† 1932 Gene Sarazen 1933 Johnny Goodman# 1934 Olin Dutra 1935 Sam Parks, Jr. 1936 Tony Manero 1937 Ralph Guldahl 1938 Ralph Guldahl 1939 Byron Nelson† 1940 Lawson Little† 1941 Craig Wood 1942–45 Cancelled due to World War II 1946 Lloyd Mangrum† 1947 Lew Worsham† 1948 Ben Hogan 1949 Cary Middlecoff 1950 Ben Hogan† 1951 Ben Hogan 1952 Julius Boros 1953‡ Ben Hogan 1954 Ed Furgol 1955 Jack Fleck† 1956 Cary Middlecoff 1957 Dick Mayer† 1958 Tommy Bolt 1959 Billy Casper 1960 Arnold Palmer 1961 Gene Littler 1962 Jack Nicklaus† 1963 Julius Boros† 1964 Ken Venturi 1965 Gary Player† 1966 Billy Casper† 1967 Jack Nicklaus 1968 Lee Trevino 1969 Orville Moody 1970‡ Tony Jacklin 1971 Lee Trevino† 1972 Jack Nicklaus 1973 Johnny Miller 1974 Hale Irwin 1975 Lou Graham† 1976 Jerry Pate 1977 Hubert Green 1978 Andy North 1979 Hale Irwin 1980 Jack Nicklaus 1981 David Graham 1982 Tom Watson 1983 Larry Nelson 1984 Fuzzy Zoeller† 1985 Andy North 1986 Raymond Floyd 1987 Scott Simpson 1988 Curtis Strange† 1989 Curtis Strange 1990 Hale Irwin† 1991 Payne Stewart† 1992 Tom Kite 1993 Lee Janzen 1994 Ernie Els† 1995 Corey Pavin 1996 Steve Jones 1997 Ernie Els 1998 Lee Janzen 1999 Payne Stewart 2000‡ Tiger Woods 2001 Retief Goosen† 2002‡ Tiger Woods 2003 Jim Furyk 2004 Retief Goosen 2005 Michael Campbell 2006 Geoff Ogilvy 2007 Ángel Cabrera 2008 Tiger Woods† 2009 Lucas Glover 2010 Graeme McDowell 2011‡ Rory McIlroy 2012 Webb Simpson 2013 Justin Rose 2014‡ Martin Kaymer 2015 Jordan Spieth 2016 Dustin Johnson

† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire; # indicates the event was won by an amateur

Tommy Bolt in the Ryder Cup

United States Ryder Cup team – 1955

Jerry Barber Tommy Bolt Jack Burke, Jr. Doug Ford Marty Furgol Chandler Harper Ted Kroll Cary Middlecoff Sam Snead Chick Harbert (playing captain)

Won: 8 – 4

United States Ryder Cup team – 1957

Tommy Bolt Dow Finsterwald Doug Ford Ed Furgol Fred Hawkins Lionel Hebert Ted Kroll Dick Mayer Art Wall Jr. Jack Burke Jr. (playing captain)

Lost: 4.5 – 7.5

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 56088624

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.