Kermit Zarley | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Full name | Kermit Millard Zarley, Jr. |
Born | Seattle, Washington, U.S. | September 29, 1941
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
Weight | 175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st) |
Sporting nationality | ![]() |
Residence | Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S. |
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 |
PGA Championship | T8: 1968 |
U.S. Open | 6th: 1972 |
The Open Championship | DNP |
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 on Christianity, Jesus, and the Bible.
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 three wins. Zarley had three top-10 finishes in major championships; his best was a solo 6th at the 1972 U.S. Open. [1] Zarley won once on the Senior/Champions Tour. On both Tours, he finished second or tied for second seventeen times.
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 is still active in the world of professional golf. In the period between his careers on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour, he wrote three books on religion and world affairs. He received an honorary doctorate degree in 2001 from North Park University in Chicago, which has a lecture series named for him. [4] Zarley resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. [3]
Zarley, who has studied the Bible since his teens, is the author of several books on Christianity, Jesus, and the Bible. His first book, The Gospels Interwoven, in which he attempted to join all four gospels together into one narrative, received praise from Billy Graham and Richard C. Halverson. [5]
Zarley is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, and received an honorary Ph.D. from North Park University in Chicago in 2001. [5]
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jan 21, 1968 | Kaiser International Open Invitational | −15 (71-67-70-65=273) | 1 stroke | ![]() |
2 | Jul 5, 1970 | Canadian Open | −9 (69-73-70-67=279) | 3 strokes | ![]() |
3 | Jul 30, 1972 | National Team Championship (with ![]() | −22 (67-63-66-66=262) | 3 strokes | ![]() ![]() |
PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1976 | Florida Citrus Open | ![]() | Lost to par on sixth extra hole |
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Oct 9, 1994 | The Transamerica | −12 (70-68-66=204) | Playoff | ![]() |
Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1994 | Royal Caribbean Classic | ![]() | Lost to par on fourth extra hole |
2 | 1994 | The Transamerica | ![]() | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
3 | 1996 | Bruno's Memorial Classic | ![]() ![]() | Bland won with bogey on third extra hole Zarley eliminated by par on second hole |
Tournament | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | T20 | T35 | CUT | T17 | T31 | |||||
U.S. Open | CUT | T13 | T36 | T27 | 6 | CUT | T40 | |||
PGA Championship | T8 | T59 | T22 | T68 | T9 | T51 |
Tournament | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | ||||||||
U.S. Open | T24 | T44 | CUT | T39 | ||||
PGA Championship | T43 | T54 | T51 | T19 | T42 | CUT |
Note: Zarley never played in The Open Championship.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 8 |
The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 11 |
Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 28 | 23 |