Kermit Zarley

Kermit Zarley
 Golfer 
Personal information
Full name Kermit Millard Zarley, Jr.
Born (1941-09-29) September 29, 1941
Seattle, Washington
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence Scottsdale, Arizona
Career
College University of Houston
Turned professional 1963
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins 6
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 3
PGA Tour Champions 1
Other 2
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T17: 1973
U.S. Open 6th: 1972
The Open Championship DNP
PGA Championship T8: 1968

Kermit Millard Zarley, Jr. (born September 29, 1941) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. He is also an author of several books.

Biography

Zarley was born in Seattle, Washington. He graduated from the University of Houston and was a distinguished member of the golf team. He was the individual champion at the 1962 NCAA Division I Championships and also led his team to victory.

Zarley had three dozen top-10 finishes in PGA Tour events during his 18 years on Tour including two wins. Zarley had three top-10 finishes in major championships; his best was a solo 6th at the 1972 U.S. Open.[1]

Due to his unusual name, Zarley was often called "the Pro from the Moon" or "Moon Man." It is because comedian Bob Hope once interviewed him on national television and remarked, "Kermit Zarley, with a name like that he must be the pro from the moon."[2] In a Wayne and Shuster sketch about a golf tournament being held on the streets of Toronto, Johnny Wayne's character is named "Zarley Kermit, Jr."

In 1965, Zarley co-founded the PGA Tour Bible Study group with fellow PGA Tour players, Jim and Babe Hiskey.[3] It still flourishes today and has proliferated throughout the world of professional golf. In the period between his careers on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour, he authored three books on religion and world affairs. He received an honorary doctorate degree in 2001 from Chicago's North Park University, which has a lecture series named for him.[4] Zarley lived much of his adult life in the Houston metropolitan area, but now resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.[3]

Controversial religious writings

In The Third Day Bible Code (2006), Zarley examined the relatively frequent occurrence of "third day" in the Bible. Applying the words “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day” (2 Peter 3:8), he offered the provocative interpretation that Jesus' expected second coming will occur during the early part of the third millennium following his departure, between the years 2070 and 2250.

The publication of his most recent book, The Restitution of Jesus Christ, was preceded by his usage of the pseudonym Servetus the Evangelical.[5] His stated reasons for doing so were: "if my fellow Evangelicals ever knew about my christological beliefs they would not accept me as a genuine Christian and ostracize me from the Evangelical community."[5] His book endorses a Unitarian[6] viewpoint of christology, similar to the quasi-Unitarian position of Michael Servetus himself.

Amateur wins

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of victoryRunner-up
1 Jan 21, 1968 Kaiser International Open Invitational –15 (71-67-70-65=273) 1 stroke United States Dave Marr
2 Jul 5, 1970 Canadian Open –9 (69-73-70-67=279) 3 strokes United States Gibby Gilbert
3 Jul 30, 1972 National Team Championship
(with Babe Hiskey)[7][8]
–22 (67-63-66-66=262) 3 strokes United States Grier Jones & United States Johnny Miller

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1976 Florida Citrus Open United States Hale Irwin Lost to par on sixth extra hole

Other wins

Senior PGA Tour wins

Books

References

  1. "Golf Major Championships".
  2. Connor, Floyd (June 1, 2001). Golf's most wanted: the top 10 book of the great game's outrageous duffers. Potomac Books Inc. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-57488-360-2.
  3. 1 2 "Kermit Zarley - The PGA Tour's Christian Pioneer". BC Golf News. July 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
  4. "2011 Kermit Zarley Lectures". North Park University.
  5. 1 2 "Pseudonym page from servetustheevangelical.com".
  6. "The Restitution of Jesus page from servetustheevangelical.com".
  7. "Just in ...". Golf World. Vol. 66 no. 10. September 17, 2012. p. 15. The victory totals for four former PGA Tour players have been increased after the tour determined they were not credited with winning the 1968 and 1972 National Team Championship ... Hiskey and Zarley now have three wins, Archer 13 and Nichols 12.
  8. "Zarley-Hiskey Win Team Championship". Observer–Reporter. Washington, Pennsylvania. AP. July 31, 1972. p. B-5. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
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