“PRO” File – Touring Professional Cary Middlecoff

Quick – name the top 10 all-time winners on the PGA Tour. Names like Snead, Nicklaus, Woods, Hogan and Nelson quickly come to mind, with Casper and Hagen not far behind. But sitting there in 10th place is a name that seems to be forgotten among modern golf fans, and that name is Dr. Cary Middlecoff.

Middlecoff was, in fact, one of the most dominating players of his era. Three times he won six tournaments in a year (1949, 1951, 1956) and won more tournaments than anyone during the 1950s. He was a multiple major winner, capturing the U.S. Open in 1949 and 1956 and the Masters in 1955. Although he is seemingly lost to history today with hardly any mention by golf pundits and writers, he was, according to the New York Times, a “glamorous figure” in his prime. Upon his retirement from professional golf, he became a television commentator in a career that lasted 18 years.

Middlecoff completed dentistry school and was commissioned in the Army as a dentist, but when he won a tour event as an amateur, he quickly gave up filling cavities for filling golf holes with birdies. He passed away in 1998 at the age of 77.