Gene Sarazen back

Golfing legend Gene Sarazen has died at the age of 97 in Florida.

Sarazen, just one of four golfers ever to win all four major championships, died after complications resulting from pneumonia. He stunned the golfing world by winning 1922 U.S. Open at the age of 20, shooting a final-round 68 to defeat Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen. He proved the success was no fluke by taking the PGA Championship that same year and retaining it the following year.

In total, Sarazen won the PGA Championship three times, the U.S. Open twice and the Masters and British Open once each. The only other men to won all four majors are Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.

His best year is considered to be 1932, when he won the British Open with a then-record 283 and captured the U.S. Open by shooting a final-round 66. Jones called Sarazen's late charge, "the finest competitive round ever played."

But it was a shot he played in 1935 in an event which became known as the Masters that accorded Sarazen his status as one of golf's greats. Trailing Craig Wood by three strokes with just four holes remaining, Sarazen holed a 235-yard 4-wood shot on the 15th hole for a double-eagle 2. "Actually, it was just a piece of luck," he would later say. He went on to win the competition and helped put the Augusta event on the golfing map. As such, a perennial highlight of the Masters was Sarazen, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead hitting the ceremonial first ball to start the tournament.

"I take my greatest pride in having won the U.S. and British Opens in the same year, 1932," Sarazen said. Among other things, Sarazen is credited with having discovered one of the golfer's most essential clubs. (The Sand Wedge) "I invented it in 1931 and I showed it at the British Open in 1932. I had it hidden because I was afraid they were going to ban it."

"The game has lost one of its great heroes," said PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem. "Gene Sarazen dedicated his life to golf and became one of the game's legendary figures. When the PGA Tour inaugurated its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996, Gene was an obvious choice as its first recipient. "In addition to being a Hall of Fame player, he was a wonderful ambassador of the game throughout his life."