Billy Burke (golfer)

Billy Burke
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name	William John Burke
Born	(1902-12-14)December 14, 1902 Naugatuck, Connecticut
Died	April 19, 1972(1972-04-19) (aged 69) Clearwater, Florida
Height	5 ft 11.5 in (1.82 m)
Weight	172 lb (78 kg; 12.3 st)
Nationality	United States
Career
Status	Professional
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	17
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	13
Other	4
Best results in major championships (wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	T3: 1934, 1939
U.S. Open	Won: 1931
The Open Championship	DNP
PGA Championship	T3: 1931

William John Burke, Burkauskas (polonized Burkowski) (December 14, 1902 – April 19, 1972) was a prominent Lithuanian American professional golfer of the 1920s and 1930s.

Burke was born in Naugatuck, Connecticut. His greatest season was 1931, when he won the U.S. Open, reached the semi-finals of the PGA Championship, and won four events on the professional circuit, plus appeared on the Ryder Cup team where he was undefeated in two matches. He was also selected for the 1933 Ryder Cup team but not before some agitation by Gene Sarazen was done on his behalf.^[1] Burke won his only match in the 1933 competition.

Burke's 1931 U.S. Open win came in a marathon playoff. He and George Von Elm were tied at 292 (8-over-par) after regulation play. They played a 36-hole playoff the next day and tied again at 149 (7-over-par). The following day they played 36 more holes and Burke emerged victorious 148 to 149.

Throughout Burke's golf career he used an unorthodox grip due to the loss of two fingers on his left hand.^[2] In 2005, Burke was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.^[3] Burke died in Clearwater, Florida.

Professional wins (17)

PGA Tour wins (13)

1927 (2) Florida Open, Central Florida Open
1928 (1) North and South Open
1929 (2) New York State Open, Glens Falls Open
1930 (1) Mid South Open
1931 (2) U.S. Open, Glens Falls Open
1932 (1) Florida West Coast Open
1935 (1) The Cascades Open
1936 (1) Centennial Open
1939 (1) Walter Hagen 25th Anniversary (with Ed Dudley)
1940 (1) Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball (with Craig Wood)

Major championship is shown in bold.

Other wins (4)

this list may be incomplete

1938 Ohio Open
1939 Ohio Open
1945 Ohio Open
1955 Ohio Open

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1931	U.S. Open	2 shot deficit	+8 (73-72-74-73=292)	Playoff ¹	George Von Elm

¹ Defeated George Von Elm in a playoff. First 36-hole playoff - Burke 73-76=149 (+7), Von Elm 75-74=149 (+7). Second 36-hole playoff - Burke 71-77=148 (+6), Von Elm 76-73=149 (+7).

Results timeline

Tournament	1928	1929
U.S. Open	T18	15
PGA Championship	R32	DNP

Tournament	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
Masters Tournament	NYF	NYF	NYF	NYF	T3	T37	28	T29	T13	T3
U.S. Open	T28	1	T7	T33	T6	T32	T18	T16	WD	T42
PGA Championship	R32	SF	DNP	DNP	DNP	R64	R16	R32	R16	R16

Tournament	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
Masters Tournament	WD	DNP	T23	NT	NT	NT	46	57	T43	T35
U.S. Open	DNP	WD	NT	NT	NT	NT	T45	T27	DNP	CUT
PGA Championship	R32	DNP	DNP	NT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
Masters Tournament	T29	DNP	WD	WD	DNP	T36	WD	WD	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	CUT	CUT	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1960	1961	1962
Masters Tournament	CUT	CUT	WD
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP

Note: Burke never played in The Open Championship.
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
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
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	2	2	2	4	23	13
U.S. Open	1	0	1	3	7	19	13
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
PGA Championship	0	1	1	4	8	9	9
Totals	1	3	4	9	19	51	35

Most consecutive cuts made – 12 (1934 Masters – 1938 Masters)
Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (1931 U.S. Open – 1932 U.S. Open)

References

↑ "Ryder Cup Team Sails Thursday for England". The Milwaukee Journal. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. AP. June 13, 1933. p. 2.
↑ "Billy Burke, Open Champ, Dark Harbor Pro, Is Dead". Bangor Daily News. Bangor, Maine. UPI. April 21, 1972. p. 15.
↑ "Billy (Burkowski) Burke". National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 22, 2014.

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

Billy Burke in the Ryder Cup

United States Ryder Cup team – 1931

Billy Burke Wiffy Cox Leo Diegel Al Espinosa Johnny Farrell Gene Sarazen Denny Shute Horton Smith Craig Wood Walter Hagen (playing captain)

Won: 9 – 3

United States Ryder Cup team – 1933

Billy Burke Leo Diegel Ed Dudley Olin Dutra Paul Runyan Gene Sarazen Denny Shute Horton Smith Craig Wood Walter Hagen (playing captain)

Lost: 5.5 – 6.5

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