Bob Toski

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Bob Toski
Personal information
Full nameRobert John Toski
NicknameMighty Mouse [1]
Born (1926-09-18) September 18, 1926 (age 97)
Haydenville, Massachusetts
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight135 lb (61 kg; 9.6 st)
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Career
Turned professional1945
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins12
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour5
Other7
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T18: 1951
PGA Championship T9: 1950, 1954
U.S. Open T17: 1956
The Open Championship DNP
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour
leading money winner
1954

Robert John Toski, born Algustoski (born September 18, 1926), is an American professional golfer and golf instructor. He was inducted into the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame in 2013. [2]

Contents

Early years

He was born in Haydenville, Massachusetts of Polish descent, the eighth of nine children born to Walenty Algustoski and his wife Mary. He learned to play golf at Northampton Country Club, where he caddied and where two of his elder brothers, Jack and Ben, were assistant professionals. [2]

PGA Tour

He joined the PGA Tour in 1949 and broke through for his first win in the Insurance City Open in 1953. He was the leading money winner in 1954, when his four victories included the World Championship of Golf, where first prize was $50,000, by far the richest prize-money golf event in the world. That victory also earned him a $50,000 contract from promoter George S. May to put on 50 exhibitions the following year; he would put on 57 and play in only 14 events in 1955. He scaled back his playing career starting in 1957 after wife Lynn gave birth to three boys in a span of less than four years.

Toski found stardom on the Tour despite weighing only 118 pounds. He was the smallest Tour player throughout his playing career and his combination of his small size and his driving prowess earned him the nickname "Mouse" from Sam Snead, a reference to the cartoon superhero Mighty Mouse popular at that time.

Club professional, coach, author, broadcaster

Toski left the tour aged 30 so he could spend more time with his young family (perhaps influenced by having lost his own mother at age six), and took a series of jobs as a club professional, while still competing occasionally on the Tour.

Later he found renewed fame as a leading golf coach, assisting tour pros such as World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Tom Kite and Judy Rankin as well as Australian star Bruce Crampton. He also wrote several golf instructional books, and made some of the earliest golf instruction videos. In the early 1980s he was a regular on NBC Sports golf telecasts. He worked as color commentator with Hughes Sports Network golf telecasts in the 1970s.

Senior PGA Tour

Toski began playing on the Senior PGA Tour (now Champions Tour) upon its formation in 1980. He left the Tour in January 1986 after he became involved in a controversy over how he marked his ball in a tournament in Japan. [3] Fellow Senior PGA Tour player Gay Brewer stated that Toski improved his lie by marking it away from a spike mark near where his ball had come to rest on the green. Toski said that he had no recollection of any rules infraction. He returned in April 1986 [4] and played several more years on the Tour.

Legacy

He was the first living instructor inducted into the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame, and he is also a member of the National Polish-American Hall of Fame.

Professional wins (12)

PGA Tour wins (5)

Other wins (5)

this list is probably incomplete

Other senior wins (2)

Playoff record

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1982 Merrill Lynch/Golf Digest Commemorative Pro-Am Flag of the United States.svg Billy Casper Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament1950195119521953195419551956195719581959
Masters Tournament T18T40T22T41CUT
U.S. Open T20CUTT18T17CUTCUT
PGA Championship R16R64R64R32R16R128T20CUT
Tournament19601961196219631964196519661967
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
PGA Championship CUTT51

Note: Toski never played in The Open Championship.

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play

Major works

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References

  1. Desmith, David. "Golf's Animal Kingdom of Player Nicknames" . Links Magazine. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "PGA Museum of Golf -- Member Profiles". pgalinks.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  3. McManamon, Patrick (January 8, 1986). "Toski Withdraws From Senior Tour". The Palm Beach Post. p. D1.
  4. "28 Teams To Compete In Legends of Golf". The Palm Beach Post. April 24, 1986. p. D9.