| Art Wall Jr. | |
| Fullname: | Arthur Jonathan Wall Jr. |
| Birth Date: | 25 November 1923 |
| Birth Place: | Honesdale, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Spouse: | Jean Louise Miller Wall (1923–2004) |
| Children: | 5 |
| College: | Duke University |
| Status: | Professional |
| Extour: | PGA Tour Senior PGA Tour |
| Prowins: | 31 |
| Pgawins: | 14 |
| Otherwins: | 17 |
| Majorwins: | 1 |
| Masters: | Won: 1959 |
| Usopen: | T9: 1967 |
| Open: | DNP |
| Pga: | T5: 1961 |
| Award1: | PGA Tour money list winner |
| Year1: | 1959 |
| Award2: | PGA Player of the Year |
| Year2: | 1959 |
| Award3: | Vardon Trophy |
| Year3: | 1959 |
| Branch: | U.S. Army Air Forces |
| Serviceyears: | 1943–1946 |
| Battles: | World War II |
Arthur Jonathan Wall Jr. (November 25, 1923 – October 31, 2001) was an American professional golfer, best known for winning the Masters Tournament in 1959.[1] [2] [3]
Wall was born and raised in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. He and his younger brother "Dewey" caddied for their parents, starting around age ten, and began playing shortly after.[4] [5] The brothers served in the military during World War II. Art served in the Army Air Forces[6] and Dewey in the Navy. Dewey was killed at the age of 20 in October 1944 when his submarine USS Shark was sunk in the Pacific Ocean near Taiwan.[7]
Wall won the Pennsylvania Amateur in 1947 and 1949. He attended Duke University and graduated in 1949 with a business degree.
Wall won 14 titles on the PGA Tour, including four in 1959. That year he was chosen as the PGA Player of the Year, and also won the money title and Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average. His most notable career achievement was his victory at the Masters.[8] [9] In the final round in 1959, he birdied five of his last six holes to shoot a 66 and overtake Cary Middlecoff and defending champion Arnold Palmer.[8] [10]
He was a member of three United States Ryder Cup teams: 1957, 1959, and 1961. Wall is also notable for sinking 45 holes-in-one in his playing career (including casual rounds), a world record for many years.[2] [11] [12]
Wall's final tour win came as a grandfather at age 51 years 7 months at the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1975, which was his first tour win in nine years.[13] [14] [15]
Wall died at the age of 77 from respiratory failure after a lengthy illness.[16] He is buried at Glen Dyberry Cemetery in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Major championships (1) | |
| Other PGA Tour (13) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 17, 1953 | Fort Wayne Open | 66-66-68-65=265 | −23 | Playoff |  Cary Middlecoff | |
| 2 | Apr 25, 1954 | Tournament of Champions | 69-66-70-73=278 | −10 | 6 strokes | Al Besselink, Lloyd Mangrum | |
| 3 | Sep 16, 1956 | Fort Wayne Open (2) | 70-64-70-65=269 | −19 | Playoff | Gardner Dickinson, Bill Trombley | |
| 4 | Mar 10, 1957 | Pensacola Open | 70-68-69-66=273 | −15 | 2 strokes |  Peter Thomson | |
| 5 | Jul 6, 1958 | Rubber City Open Invitational | 65-67-68-69=269 | −15 | Playoff | Dow Finsterwald | |
| 6 | Jul 27, 1958 | Eastern Open Invitational | 69-69-71-67=276 | −12 | Playoff | Jack Burke Jr., Bob Rosburg | |
| 7 | Jan 18, 1959 | Bing Crosby National Pro-Am | 69-65-70-75=279 | −9 | 2 strokes | Jimmy Demaret, Gene Littler | |
| 8 | Mar 30, 1959 | Azalea Open Invitational | 72-66-71-73=282 | −6 | 3 strokes | Mike Souchak | |
| 9 | Apr 5, 1959 | Masters Tournament | 73-74-71-66=284 | −4 | 1 stroke | Cary Middlecoff | |
| 10 | Jul 6, 1959 | Buick Open Invitational | 71-67-72-72=282 | −6 | Playoff | Dow Finsterwald | |
| 11 | Jul 9, 1960 | Canadian Open | 66-67-67-69=269 | −19 | 6 strokes | Bob Goalby, Jay Hebert | |
| 12 | Jan 12, 1964 | San Diego Open Invitational | 71-65-68-70=274 | −6 | 2 strokes | Tony Lema, Bob Rosburg | |
| 13 | Aug 21, 1966 | Insurance City Open Invitational | 65-64-69-68=266 | −18 | 2 strokes | Wes Ellis | |
| 14 | Jul 5, 1975 | Greater Milwaukee Open | 67-67-67-70=271 | −17 | 1 stroke | Gary McCord |
PGA Tour playoff record (5–5)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1953 | Greater Greensboro Open | Doug Ford, Sam Snead, Earl Stewart | Stewart won with par on first extra hole after 18-hole playoff; Stewart: −2 (68), Snead: −2 (68), Ford: E (70), Wall: +2 (72) | |
| 2 | 1953 | Fort Wayne Open | Cary Middlecoff | Won 18-hole playoff; Wall: −2 (70), Middlecoff: E (72) | |
| 3 | 1956 | Fort Wayne Open | Gardner Dickinson, Bill Trombley | Won with birdie on first extra hole | |
| 4 | 1958 | Rubber City Open Invitational | Dow Finsterwald | Won with birdie on second extra hole | |
| 5 | 1958 | Eastern Open Invitational | Jack Burke Jr., Bob Rosburg | Won with birdie on first extra hole | |
| 6 | 1959 | Buick Open Invitational | Dow Finsterwald | Won 18-hole playoff; Wall: −1 (71), Finsterwald: +1 (73) | |
| 7 | 1960 | Western Open |  Stan Leonard | Lost to birdie on first extra hole | |
| 8 | 1962 | Insurance City Open Invitational | Bob Goalby | Lost to birdie on seventh extra hole | |
| 9 | 1967 | Canadian Open | Billy Casper | Lost 18-hole playoff; Casper: −6 (65), Wall: −2 (69) | |
| 10 | 1971 | Canadian Open | Lee Trevino | Lost to birdie on first extra hole |
| Tournament | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T34 | CUT | T6 | 1 | |||||
| U.S. Open | 47 | T26 | CUT | T16 | CUT | CUT | WD | ||
| PGA Championship | R32 | R64 | T11 | T25 |
| Tournament | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | WD | CUT | T21 | CUT | T45 | CUT | T49 | T22 | T40 | ||
| U.S. Open | T43 | T11 | T40 | T9 | T50 | ||||||
| PGA Championship | T39 | T5 | T23 | T8 | 58 | CUT |
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | T27 | CUT | T37 | T37 | T15 | T28 | T35 | CUT | CUT | |
| U.S. Open | CUT | T45 | |||||||||
| PGA Championship | T24 | T50 | CUT |
| Tournament | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 51 | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | ||
| U.S. Open | ||||||||||
| PGA Championship |
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 31 | 15 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 9 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 11 | |
| Totals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 58 | 35 |
Professional
1957, 1959 (winners), 1961 (winners)