Craig Wood
Toronto Daily Star, June 15 1936
Craig Wood (1901-1968) had the misfortune of losing all four of golf's major championships - the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship - after extra-hole playoffs. When Gene Sarazen made his famous double-eagle at the 1936 Masters, this moved him into a tie for the lead with Wood; Sarazen then beat Wood in a 36-hole playoff. Wood finally did win the Masters and the U.S. Open in 1941.
When Wood passed away from a heart attack, he became the second former Masters champion to pass away. The first was the first Masters winner, Horton Smith, in 1963. No other former Masters champion would pass away until 1983, when Jimmy Demaret died. Wood's wife, shown in the photo above, was the former Jacqueline Valentine; she passed away in 1967 at the age of 60.
The caption mentioned the second-place finisher, Tony Manero, who won the 1936 U.S. Open. His name is more famous today as that of John Travolta's character in the movie Saturday Night Fever.
Created October 31, 2025.