Butch Harmon

Last updated
Butch Harmon
ButchHarmon.jpg
Harmon during a practice round of the 2009 U.S. Open
Personal information
Full nameClaude Harmon Jr.
Born (1943-08-28) August 28, 1943 (age 80)
New Rochelle, New York
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
ResidenceHenderson, Nevada
SpouseChristy Harmon
Children3
Career
College University of Houston
Turned professional1965
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Professional wins1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament DNP
PGA Championship DNP
U.S. Open CUT: 1970
The Open Championship DNP

Claude "Butch" Harmon Jr. (born August 28, 1943) is an American golf instructor and former professional player. He is the son of 1948 Masters Tournament champion Claude Harmon Sr. and has been in the golf industry since 1965.

Contents

Early life

Butch Harmon was raised in New Rochelle, New York by Eugene Claude Harmon (1916–1989) and Alice Cullen McKee Harmon (1918–1970). His father was the head pro at the nearby Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck. The family also lived part of the year in Florida, when Butch's father served as the winter professional at the Seminole Golf Club. Butch began playing golf from an early age, as did his three younger brothers, Craig, Bill, and Dick (1947-2006), who also all became golf professionals. Butch graduated from Iona Grammar School in 1958 and went to Iona Prep for one year before he transferred to and graduated from New Rochelle High School in 1962. Butch excelled at all sports, and was a star halfback on the 1961 New Rochelle High School football team that compiled a 5–2–1 record.[ citation needed ]

Tour and club professional

Harmon attended the University of Houston, and served in the U.S. Army for three years, seeing duty in the Vietnam War. [1] Harmon was a PGA Tour player from 1970 to 1971, with one win to his name on the Tour, the 1971 inaugural Broome County Open, which was a satellite event during The Open Championship in the UK. He lived in Morocco for several years in the 1970s, serving as the personal instructor to King Hassan II. He was a club professional in the United States, beginning his career at Crow Valley Golf Club in Davenport, Iowa where he met his now wife Christy.

Instructor to Tour stars

Harmon is best known for having been Tiger Woods's golf coach from 1993 to 2004 and Phil Mickelson's golf coach from 2007 to 2015. [2] He has also worked with other major champions such as Ernie Els, Stewart Cink, Greg Norman, Davis Love III, Fred Couples and Justin Leonard, and with younger stars such as Nick Watney and Rickie Fowler. Before semi retiring from the tour in 2019, he coached Jimmy Walker, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Gary Woodland, and Nick Watney. [3] [4]

In 2003 Harmon was ranked the top golf teacher in the United States in a poll of his peers organized by Golf Digest magazine, and has repeated as winner of this honor each year since. He runs the Butch Harmon School of Golf at the Rio Secco Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. The school also has a branch in Dubai at The Els Golf Club in Dubai Sports City [5] and The Floridian in Palm City, Florida. He also gives golf clinics around the world.

On April 8, 2008, Ernie Els officially announced that he was switching swing coaches from David Leadbetter (whom Els had worked with since 1990) to Butch Harmon. During Els' 2008 Masters press conference, Els said the change was made to try to shorten and tighten his swing, as well as get a fresh perspective.

Harmon's brothers Craig and Bill are also both top golf coaches, who have made the top 50 Instructors' list compiled by Golf Digest on several occasions. Butch's other brother Dick was the golf professional at the River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas from 1977 to 2001. After leaving that position, he established two teaching centers in Houston. Dick died February 10, 2006, at age 58 from pneumonia.

Author, broadcaster

Harmon appears regularly in the media, including work for Britain's Sky Sports. Commentating for Sky Sports at the 1997 Ryder cup, Harmon was asked about the negative press Nick Faldo was receiving from the media in the buildup to the event. Harmon replied, "How can you not like Nick Faldo? He's one of the greatest golfers of all time and he's also one hell of a nice guy."

Butch Harmon wrote the 2006 book The Pro, describing his life in golf with his father, brothers, friends, and the top players he has coached.

Harmon has written golf instructional books under the titles Four Cornerstones of Winning Golf and Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons. He also worked with Greg Norman on his multi-media learning system Greg Norman's Better Golf, which consists of three videos, a book, skill guide cards, and an audio tape; as well as on Greg Norman's book Advanced Golf. Harmon writes a regular monthly instructional column in Golf Digest magazine. Butch has also appeared in an episode of the TV show Pawn Stars in which he taught Chumlee to play golf, along with Corey Harrison.

Professional wins (1)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Norman</span> Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer (born 1955)

Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournaments and two majors: The Open Championship in 1986 and 1993. Norman also earned thirty top-10 finishes and was the runner-up eight times in majors throughout his career. In a reference to his blond hair, size, aggressive golf style and his birthplace's native coastal animal, Norman's nickname is "the Great White Shark", which he earned after his play at the 1981 Masters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernie Els</span> South African professional golfer

Theodore Ernest Els is a South African professional golfer. A former World No. 1, he is nicknamed "The Big Easy" due to his physical stature along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victories are four major championships: the U.S. Open in 1994 at Oakmont and in 1997 at Congressional, and The Open Championship in 2002 at Muirfield and in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St Annes. He is one of six golfers to twice win both the U.S. Open and The Open Championship.

Golf instruction is the art of equipping and training golfers to play better golf through improved awareness of swing cause and effects as a result of the actions by their body, the club, and their effect on the golf ball. Most great golfers have a few common elements that make them great including: proper intentionality, swing repeatability to produce an action that fits the golfers intentionality, and a strong level of automaticity for long lasting enjoyment of the game golf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Mickelson</span> American professional golfer

Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles, two PGA Championships, and one Open Championship (2013). With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months, and 7 days. He is nicknamed Lefty, as he plays left-handed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Faldo</span> English professional golfer

Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo, is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his dedication to the game, he was ranked No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking for a total of 97 weeks. His 41 professional wins include 30 victories on the European Tour and six major championships: three Open Championships and three Masters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Azinger</span> American professional golfer

Paul William Azinger is an American professional golfer and TV golf analyst. He won 12 times on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 1993 PGA Championship. He spent almost 300 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 1988 and 1994.

Eugene Claude Harmon Sr. was an American professional golfer and golf instructor.

The following is a partial timeline of the history of golf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Williams (caddie)</span> New Zealand caddy

Steve Williams is a New Zealander who has served as a caddie for several top professional golfers, most recently with Jason Day. Williams is best known for having served as Tiger Woods' caddie from 1999 to 2011. Woods was the top-ranked golfer in the world for much of Williams' tenure as his caddie.

Dick Harmon was a golf instructor with clients including Fred Couples, Jay Haas, Craig Stadler, Lanny Wadkins, Steve Elkington and 2009 U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover. He was a native of New Rochelle, New York and Palm Springs, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Leadbetter (golf instructor)</span> American golf instructor

David Leadbetter is a leading golf instructor, originally from Worthing in Sussex, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Watney</span> American professional golfer

Nicholas Alan Watney is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. The highlight of Watney's career is his victory at the 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship. In July 2011, Watney won the AT&T National and broke into the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time.

The 2002 Masters Tournament was the 66th Masters Tournament, held April 11–14 at Augusta National Golf Club. Tiger Woods won his third Masters, and second consecutive, with a score of 276 (−12), three strokes ahead of runner-up Retief Goosen. The course was lengthened by 285 yards (261 m) over the previous year. It was only the third successful defense of a Masters title, previously accomplished in 1966 by Jack Nicklaus and 1990 by Nick Faldo.

The 1996 Masters Tournament was the 60th Masters Tournament, held April 11–14 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Foley (golf instructor)</span> Canadian golf instructor

Sean Foley is a Canadian born golf instructor, who resides in Orlando, Florida and has coached Tiger Woods, Lydia Ko, Sean O'Hair, Hunter Mahan, Stephen Ames, An Byeong-hun, Cameron Champ, Michael Kim, Erik van Rooyen, Sam Horsfield, Justin Rose and Lee Westwood, as well as other PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and LIV Golf professionals. Foley also coached many players on PGA Tour Canada, including players such as Chris Baryla. Foley began working with Tiger Woods during the summer of 2010.

The 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship was a golf tournament held March 10–13 at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Doral, Florida, a suburb west of Miami. It was the 12th WGC-Cadillac Championship tournament, the second of four World Golf Championships events staged in 2011. Cadillac replaced CA Technologies as the title sponsor.

The 2011 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational was the 13th WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, held August 4–7 at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Adam Scott was the winner on the South Course, four strokes ahead of Luke Donald and Rickie Fowler. This tournament was the third of four World Golf Championships events held in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 U.S. Open (golf)</span> Golf tournament

The 2013 United States Open Championship was the 113th U.S. Open, held June 13–16 at the East Course of Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia. Justin Rose won his first major title, two strokes ahead of runners-up Jason Day and Phil Mickelson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Open Championship</span> Golf tournament

The 2013 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 142nd Open Championship, held from 18–21 July at Muirfield Golf Links in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Phil Mickelson shot a final round 66 (−5) to win his fifth major title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Henrik Stenson. Mickelson began the round five strokes back, in a tie for ninth place. Ian Poulter, Adam Scott, and 54-hole leader Lee Westwood tied for third, four back of Mickelson.

References

  1. The Pro, by Butch Harmon, 2006.
  2. "Phil Mickelson, Longtime Swing Coach Butch Harmon Split". Fox Sports. November 4, 2015.
  3. Babineau, Jeff (January 10, 2012). "Woodland's new coach: It's Butch Harmon". Golfweek.
  4. "Forecaddie: Famed coach Butch Harmon retiring from Tour life". Golfweek. March 17, 2019.
  5. "Home". butchharmondubai.com.