Leo Harvey Diegel (April 20, 1899 – May 5, 1951) was an American professional golfer of the 1920s and early 1930s. He captured consecutive PGA Championships, played on the first four Ryder Cup teams, and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.[3]
| Leo Diegel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Diegel in 1932 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Leo Harvey Diegel | ||
| Nickname | Eagle | ||
| Born | April 20, 1899 Gratiot Township, Wayne County, Michigan, U.S. | ||
| Died | May 5, 1951 (aged 52) North Hollywood, California, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
| Weight | 164 lb (74 kg; 11.7 st) | ||
| Sporting nationality |  United States | ||
| Spouse | Violet Bird Diegel[1] (m.1934–1951, his death)[2] | ||
| Career | |||
| Turned professional | 1916 | ||
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour | ||
| Professional wins | 36 | ||
| Number of wins by tour | |||
| PGA Tour | 28 | ||
| Other | 8 | ||
| Best results in major championships (wins: 2) | |||
| Masters Tournament | T16: 1934 | ||
| PGA Championship | Won: 1928, 1929 | ||
| U.S. Open | T2: 1920 | ||
| The Open Championship | T2: 1930 | ||
| Achievements and awards | |||
| |||
Early years
editBorn in Gratiot Township, Wayne County, Michigan,[4] Diegel began caddying at age ten[1] and won his first significant event at age 17, the 1916 Michigan Open.
Career
editDiegel was a runner-up in his first U.S. Open in 1920, one stroke behind champion Ted Ray. He won 28 PGA circuit events, and was a four-time winner of the Canadian Open (1924–25, 1928–29); a record for that event. In 1925, Diegel outperformed over 100 competitors to win the Florida Open (billed as the "Greatest Field Of Golfers Ever to Play in Florida") at the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club.
Diegel was selected for the first four Ryder Cup teams in 1927, 1929, 1931, and 1933. His greatest season was 1928, with wins at the Canadian Open and the match play PGA Championship, where he stopped the four-year winning streak of Walter Hagen. Diegel defeated him in the quarterfinal to avenge earlier defeats in the 1925 quarterfinal and the 1926 final.[5] Diegel achieved the rare feat of defending both titles successfully in 1929, this time defeating Hagen in the semifinals of the PGA. Diegel was a runner-up to Bobby Jones at the British Open in 1930.
Diegel was an excellent ball-striker, but struggled with his putting after joining the tour. After extensive experimentation, he eventually developed an unusual putting style where he pointed both elbows outwards; this was referred to as 'Diegeling'. He was a tour winner from 1920 to 1934, but dropped out of regular contention when he reached his mid-30s; a playful wrestling incident in Australia in late 1934 with friend Harry Cooper caused nerve damage to his right shoulder and effectively ended his tour career.[6]
Death
editDiagnosed with throat and lung cancer in 1947, Diegel died at home in North Hollywood, California in 1951 at age 52;[1][7] he had taken a position there as a club professional after scaling back his Tour play. He was buried in Michigan at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Detroit.
Diegel was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003.
Professional wins (36)
editPGA Tour wins (28)
edit- 1920 (1) Pinehurst Fall Pro-Am Bestball (with Tommy Armour)
- 1921 (1) Coronado Beach Open
- 1922 (1) Shreveport Open
- 1923 (1) District of Columbia Open Championship
- 1924 (3) Shawnee Open, Canadian Open, Illinois Open
- 1925 (4) Florida Open, Canadian Open, Middle Atlantic Open, Mid South All Pro
- 1926 (1) Middle Atlantic Open
- 1927 (2) Middle Atlantic Open, San Diego Open
- 1928 (4) Long Beach Open (January; tie with Bill Mehlhorn), Canadian Open, PGA Championship, Massachusetts Open
- 1929 (4) San Diego Open, Miami International Four-Ball (with Walter Hagen), Canadian Open, PGA Championship
- 1930 (3) Pacific Southwest Pro, Oregon Open, San Francisco National Match Play Open
- 1933 (1) California Open
- 1934 (2) Rochester Open, New England PGA
Major championships are shown in bold.
Note: The PGA Tour[8] and World Golf Hall of Fame[9] list Diegel with 28 official wins. The PGA Tour book History of the PGA Tour lists 29 wins, and includes the 1925 Mid-Southern Amateur-Professional listed below.[10]
Other wins (8)
editNote: This list may be incomplete.
- 1916 Michigan Open
- 1919 Michigan Open
- 1922 Louisiana Open
- 1925 Mid-Southern Amateur-Professional
- 1926 Maryland Open
- 1931 California Open
- 1933 Timber Point Open, Southern California Open
Major championships
editWins (2)
edit| Year | Championship | Winning score | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 | PGA Championship | 6 & 5 |  Al Espinosa
|
| 1929 | PGA Championship | 6 & 4 | Johnny Farrell
|
Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958
Results timeline
edit| Tournament | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Open | T2 | T26 | 7 | T8 | T25 | 8 | T3 | T11 | T18 | T8 |
| The Open Championship | T25 | 3 | ||||||||
| PGA Championship | R32 | R32 | QF | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Tournament | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | NYF | T16 | T19 | |||||||
| U.S. Open | T11 | 3 | 4 | T17 | T17 | CUT | ||||
| The Open Championship | T2 | T3 | ||||||||
| PGA Championship | R16 | R32 | R32 | R32 | DNQ | DNQ | R64 | R32 | R32 | |
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary
edit| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 15 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| PGA Championship | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 13 | 13 |
| Totals | 2 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 16 | 32 | 35 | 34 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 31 (1920 U.S. Open – 1935 Masters)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (twice)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "Golfer Leo Diegel dies after lingering illness". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. May 9, 1951. p. 6-part 2.
- ^ "Another prize for golf pro". Florence Times. Alabama. February 22, 1934. p. 6.
- ^ Trenham, Peter C. "The Leaders and The Legends: 1930 to 1939" (PDF). PGA: Philadelphia Section. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ^ "Michigan, Births, 1867–1902". familysearch.org. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
- ^ "Local golfer wins from New Yorker". Evening Independent. St. Petersburg, Florida. Associated Press. September 27, 1926. p. 8.
- ^ Rawles, Wallace N. (January 13, 1936). "Wrestling injury forces Leo Diegel to quit pro golf". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah. INS. p. 9. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
- ^ "Leo Diegel dies of long illness". Miami Daily News. Associated Press. May 9, 1951. p. 13-A. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
- ^ "Most career wins (top 50)". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
- ^ "World Golf Hall of Fame profile". Archived from the original on July 7, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
- ^ Barkow, Al (1989). The History of the PGA Tour. Doubleday. p. 276. ISBN 0-385-26145-4.
External links
edit
- Leo Diegel at the World Golf Hall of Fame
- USGA Museum – Leo Diegel and his Magic Wand Putter
- PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame – member profiles
- Leo Diegel at golf.about.com at the Wayback Machine (archived September 19, 2005)
- Leo Diegel at Find a Grave