Tommy Bolt

Thomas Henry Bolt (March 31, 1916 – August 30, 2008) was an American professional golfer. He did not join the PGA Tour until he was in his thirties, but he went on to win 15 PGA Tour titles, including the 1958 U.S. Open. He played in the Ryder Cup in 1955 and 1957.

Tommy Bolt
Tommy Bolt and Bobby Locke
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Henry Bolt
Nickname	Thunder, Terrible Tommy
Born	(1916-03-31)March 31, 1916 Haworth, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	August 30, 2008(2008-08-30) (aged 92) Cherokee Village, Arkansas, U.S.
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Sporting nationality	United States
Career
Turned professional	1946
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	20
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	15
Other	5
Best results in major championships (wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	T3: 1952
PGA Championship	3rd/T3: 1954, 1955, 1971
U.S. Open	Won: 1958
The Open Championship	DNP
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 2002 (member page)

Early life

Bolt was born in Haworth, Oklahoma. He served in the United States Army during World War II and turned professional in 1946. He worked as a caddie and club professional in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Professional career

Bolt was the fifth PGA Tour player to shoot a round of 60 when he did it in the second round of the 1954 Insurance City Open at the par-71 Wethersfield Country Club, outside Hartford, Connecticut.^[1] Previously, Al Brosch, Wally Ulrich, Ted Kroll and Bill Nary had also scored 60.^[1] Bolt had 11 birdies in his round and had a putt for a 59, but missed a 15-foot putt for birdie on the 18th green.^[1] Bolt had scored 71 in his first round and followed with rounds of 69 and 71 over his final 36 holes.^[2] Bolt tied with Earl Stewart, but won an 18-hole playoff the following day.^[3]

Bolt was a member of the United States Ryder Cup teams in 1955 and 1957. In 1955, at Thunderbird Country Club in California, he won his two matches, including a singles victory over Christy O'Connor Snr. In the 1957 match at Lindrick Golf Club in England he won his foursomes match but lost to Eric Brown in the singles.

Bolt's fiery disposition earned him the nickname "Thunder" and "Terrible Tommy". He was known to break clubs during rounds, and his penchant for throwing clubs led to the adoption of a rule prohibiting such behavior. In his later years, he admitted that a lot of his on-course eruptions were merely showmanship and that he felt they had detracted from his playing.

Bolt was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002. He was also elected to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, inducted in 2002.^[4]

Death

Bolt died in Cherokee Village, Arkansas at the age of 92.^[5] He is interred at Evening Shade Cemetery in Evening Shade, Arkansas.

Professional wins (20)

PGA Tour wins (15)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (14)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Nov 11, 1951	North and South Open	−5 (71-72-71-69=283)	3 strokes	John Barnum
2	Jan 8, 1952	Los Angeles Open	[phone]=289)	Playoff	Jack Burke Jr., Dutch Harrison
3	Jan 18, 1953	San Diego Open	−14 (66-68-70-70=274)	3 strokes	Doug Ford
4	Feb 1, 1953	Tucson Open	−15 (65-68-66-66=265)	1 stroke	Chandler Harper
5	Mar 21, 1954	Miami Beach International Four-Ball (with Dick Mayer)	−30 (67-61-65-65=258)	Playoff	Julius Boros and Dutch Harrison
6	Jun 28, 1954	Insurance City Open	−13 (71-60-69-71=271)	Playoff	Earl Stewart
7	Sep 5, 1954	Rubber City Open	−23 (69-69-63-64=265)	5 strokes	Fred Hawkins
8	Jan 23, 1955	Convair-San Diego Open (2)	−14 (64-67-72-71=274)	2 strokes	Johnny Palmer
9	Feb 13, 1955	Tucson Open (2)	−14 (69-67-65-65=266)	3 strokes	Bud Holscher, Art Wall Jr.
10	Jul 10, 1955	St. Paul Open	−19 (65-68-68-68=269)	2 strokes	Jerry Barber
11	Jul 28, 1957	Eastern Open Invitational	−12 (64-72-69-71=276)	4 strokes	Billy Casper, Fred Hawkins
12	May 4, 1958	Colonial National Invitation	[phone]=282)	1 stroke	Ken Venturi
13	Jun 14, 1958	U.S. Open	[phone]=283)	4 strokes	Gary Player
14	Jun 6, 1960	Memphis Open Invitational	−7 (72-69-65-67=273)	Playoff	Ben Hogan, Gene Littler
15	Mar 12, 1961	Pensacola Open Invitational	−13 (72-68-68-67=275)	2 strokes	Gary Player

PGA Tour playoff record (4–2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1952	Los Angeles Open	Jack Burke Jr., Dutch Harrison	Won 18-hole playoff; Bolt: −2 (69), Burke: E (71), Harrison: +3 (74)
2	1954	Miami Beach International Four-Ball (with Dick Mayer)	Julius Boros and Dutch Harrison	Won with birdie on first extra hole
3	1954	Insurance City Open	Earl Stewart	Won 18-hole playoff; Stewart conceded on final hole
4	1955	Miami Open	Sam Snead	Lost to par on first extra hole
5	1960	Memphis Open Invitational	Ben Hogan, Gene Littler	Won 18-hole playoff; Bolt: −2 (68), Hogan: −1 (69), Littler: +1 (71)
6	1961	Home of the Sun Open	Dave Hill, Bud Sullivan	Hill won with birdie on third extra hole

Senior wins (5)

• 1969 PGA Seniors' Championship, World Senior Championship
• 1978 Australian Seniors Championship^[6]
• 1980 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Art Wall Jr.)
• 1995 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Jack Fleck)

Sources:^[23]

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1958	U.S. Open	3 shot lead	+3 (71-71-69-72=283)	4 strokes	Gary Player

Results timeline

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
Masters Tournament			T3	T5	T12	T22	T8	CUT	T32	T30
U.S. Open	CUT	T29	T7	CUT	T6	T3	T22	WD	1	T38
PGA Championship				R32	SF	SF	R128	R16	T5	T17

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
Masters Tournament	T20	T4	CUT	T37	CUT	T8	T17	T26
U.S. Open	WD	T22	CUT	CUT				CUT
PGA Championship	T57	WD	T30		WD					CUT

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977
Masters Tournament			CUT
U.S. Open	CUT							CUT
PGA Championship		3	WD

Note: Bolt never played in The Open Championship.

  Win

  Top 10

  Did not play

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

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	1	3	5	9	17	13
U.S. Open	1	0	1	2	4	6	17	8
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
PGA Championship	0	0	3	4	5	7	14	8
Totals	1	0	5	9	14	22	48	29

• Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (1953 PGA – 1956 PGA)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (twice)

U.S. national team appearances

• Ryder Cup: 1955 (winners), 1957
• Hopkins Trophy: 1953 (winners), 1956 (winners)
• Lakes International Cup: 1954 (winners)

See also

• List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins

References

1. "Bolt Scores Record-Tying 60 In Insurance Open". Youngstown Vindicator. June 26, 1954. p. 7.
2. "Tommy Bolt; Stewart Tie". Youngstown Vindicator. June 28, 1954. p. 9.
3. "Bolt Captures Insurance City Open Playoff; Stewart Concedes on Last Hole". Youngstown Vindicator. June 29, 1954. p. 15.
4. "ASHOF Inductee Profiles" (PDF).
5. Litsky, Frank; Weber, Bruce (September 4, 2008). "Tommy Bolt, a Top Golfer Who Was Known Better for His Temper, Dies at 92". The New York Times.
6. "American veteran wins seniors title with 1-over-par round". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. October 16, 1978. p. 18. Retrieved February 11, 2020 – via Trove.
7. "Tommy Bolt wins North and South golf tournament". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). Associated Press. November 12, 1951. p. 5.
8. "Three Gain Golf Playoff". Youngstown Vindicator. January 8, 1952. p. 11.
9. "Bolt Takes Open In Play-off Duel". The Spokesman-Review. January 9, 1952. p. 13.
10. "Bolt Captures San Diego Golf Tourney With 274; Tops Ford By Three Strokes". Youngstown Vindicator. January 19, 1953. p. 9.
11. "Tommy Bolt Clips 15 Strokes Off Par With 265 to Capture Tucson Tourney". Youngstown Vindicator. February 2, 1953. p. 11.
12. "Mayer Sinks Long Putt to Gain Victory". Youngstown Vindicator. March 22, 1954. p. 12.
13. Howell, Fritz (September 6, 1954). "Tommy Bolt wins Rubber City Open". Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. p. 12.
14. "Bolt Takes San Diego Golf Title". Youngstown Vindicator. January 24, 1955. p. 9.
15. "Tommy Bolt Stages Rally; Wins Tucson Open With 266". Youngstown Vindicator. February 14, 1955. p. 9.
16. "Bolt Overhauls Barber to Capture St. Paul Open With 19-Under-Par 269". Youngstown Vindicator. July 11, 1955. p. 9.
17. "Bolt Captures Eastern Open". Youngstown Vindicator. July 29, 1957. p. 10.
18. "Tommy Bolt Golf Winner". Youngstown Vindicator. May 5, 1958. p. 13.
19. Drum, Bob (June 15, 1958). "Tom Bolt wraps up Open title with 283". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1, sec. 4.
20. "Bolt Gets 67; Three in Tie". The Spokesman-Review. June 6, 1960. p. 11.
21. "Bolt Wins In Playoff". Youngstown Vindicator. June 7, 1960. p. 21.
22. "Bolt Wins Golf Meet". Youngstown Vindicator. March 13, 1961. p. 15.
23. ^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][2][3][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]}

External links

• Tommy Bolt at the PGA Tour official site
• Tommy Bolt at the World Golf Hall of Fame
• Tommy Bolt at Find a Grave
• St. Petersburg Times feature