Rod Curl | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Full name | Rodney Dean Curl |
Nickname | Little Beaver [1] |
Born | Redding, California | January 9, 1943
Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) |
Weight | 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st) |
Sporting nationality | United States |
Residence | Jupiter, Florida |
Career | |
Turned professional | 1968 |
Former tour(s) | PGA Tour Pro Golf Tour |
Professional wins | 3 |
Number of wins by tour | |
PGA Tour | 1 |
Other | 2 |
Best results in major championships | |
Masters Tournament | T15: 1975 |
PGA Championship | T20: 1980 |
U.S. Open | T30: 1978 |
The Open Championship | CUT: 1975 |
Rodney Dean Curl (born January 9, 1943) is an American professional golfer best known for being the first full-blooded Native American to win a PGA Tour event.
Born in Redding, California, Curl is a Wintu Indian. [2] [3] Before taking up golf at age 19, he was an outstanding baseball player at Central Valley High School in Shasta County, California. [4]
Curl joined the PGA Tour in 1969 and played regularly through 1978. He had 42 top-10 finishes in official PGA Tour events including one win and a half-dozen second and third-place finishes. In 1974, he won the Colonial National Invitation in Fort Worth by one stroke after runner-up Jack Nicklaus bogeyed the 17th hole and a birdied the last. [5] [2] [6] [7]
Curl played in a limited number of Senior Tour events after reaching the age of 50 in 1993. He lives in Jupiter, Florida and is a corporate instructor with VIP Golf Academy.
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | May 19, 1974 | Colonial National Invitation | 70-67-71-68=276 | −4 | 1 stroke | Jack Nicklaus |
No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | May 29, 1988 | Pointe Royale Invitational | 68-71-64-64=267 | −13 | 4 strokes | Ben Theobald |
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