While three-time major champion Julius Boros is typically regarded as the most accomplished professional golfer from Connecticut, the state has produced a number of talented golfers. Other major champions from Connecticut include Doug Ford and Billy Burke.
Doug Ford was born in West Haven in 1922 and turned pro in 1949. He played for three years on the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) tour before claiming his first tournament win at the Jacksonville Open. In an unusual turn, Ford won after Sam Snead forfeited rather than compete in an 18-hole playoff the following day, citing an unfair ruling he perceived himself to have benefited from earlier in the competition.
Ford needed no such fortune to win his first major tournament three years later at the PGA Championship. In 1955, the tournament was played in a match play format. Ford defeated Cary Middlecoff in the final and was later named the PGA Player of the Year.
Ford and Snead would meet in another final, this time in the 1957 Masters Tournament. Snead, who would win three Masters events and seven majors total in his career, led the field heading into the final day, but Ford made an unlikely shot from the bunker to birdie on his final hole and win by three strokes, securing his second and final career major. The West Haven native made a top-five run at the United States Open in 1958. His last career win came in 1963, though he enjoyed a career best top-24 finish at The Open Championship the following year.
Billy Burke, meanwhile, was born in Naugatuck and first played on the tour during the 1927 season. He scored his first tournament victory the next year at the North-South Open. Burke made a name for himself early due to his unorthodox grip resulting from the partial loss of two fingers.
When Burke won the 1931 US Open at Inverness in Toledo, the Connecticut native became the first golfer to win a major tournament with a steel-shafted club. His first and only major win came after a 72-hole playoff, the longest playoff ever recorded. By the end of his career, which spanned nearly 160 events, he had recorded 10 tournament wins and a pair of third-place results at The Masters.
Further, Burke was viewed as a stalwart of the Ryder Cup teams during his career. A class of 1966 inductee to the PGA Hall of Fame, Burke finished both the 1931 and 1933 Ryder Cup tournaments without a loss. Also known as Billy Burkowski, he was one of the first successful Polish-American golfers, paving the way for Bob Toski and Ed Furgol.
Prominent women golfers from Connecticut are highlighted by Suzy Whaley, who was elected the first ever female president of the PGA of America in 2018. Other accomplished Connecticut golfers include Dick Mayer, Dick Chapman, Isabelle Lendl, and Glenna Collett-Vare. The latter was a champion at the American Hall of Fame and has been recognized by the organization as the finest golfer of her generation.
