Henry Edward Cooper (August 4, 1904 – October 17, 2000) was an English-American PGA Tour golfer of the 1920s and 1930s. After he retired from competitive golf, he became a well-regarded instructor, into his 90s. In his long golf career he had 30 PGA Tour victories and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992.
Early life
Cooper was born in the town of Leatherhead, England. His father Syd was a professional golfer who had served as an apprentice to Old Tom Morris at St. Andrews. His mother, Alice Cooper, was also a golf professional, a very rare career for women in that era. His family moved to Texas when Cooper was young, and his father took a job as a club professional in Dallas.
Golf career
Cooper honed his skills at Cedar Crest and turned professional in 1923. His first pro win, the Galveston Open in 1923, came before he turned twenty years of age. A perennial U.S. Open contender (with seven top-10 finishes and second place in 1927 and 1936), Cooper was nicknamed "Lighthorse Harry" by sportswriter Damon Runyon for his quick pace of play in winning the inaugural Los Angeles Open in 1926, completing the final 18 holes in 2.5 hours. where he remained until his death. He was remarkable for his ability to work in the golf industry into his nineties. When Cooper died, he was the longest-serving member of the PGA of America.
Starting in the 1950s, Cooper became the director of golf for Home Lines, sailing first on their ship the Homeric and later the Oceanic. They sailed between New York City and the Caribbean Sea each year from the Christmas season through to the spring when he would return to his club. Aboard ship he taught golf and ran daily golf clinics for the passengers and when they reached the islands he arranged golf on shore for the passengers.
Cooper is often classified as the greatest golfer who never won a major tournament, with 30 career wins. Some claim this classification is erroneous because Cooper won the 1934 Western Open, which many considered one of golf's major championships at that time. Although in its early decades the Western Open was widely regarded as a major championship, this designation was unofficial and it is generally not included in tallies of golfers' major championship wins. Other male professional golfers who have had a comparable record of repeated success at the major championships without winning one are Colin Montgomerie, Doug Sanders, Macdonald Smith, and Lee Westwood.
Death and legacy
thumb|upright=1.2|While playing at the [[Agua Caliente Open in January 1930, Cooper flew to Los Angeles to marry a local woman, Emma Buchanan. ]]
thumb|upright=1.2|The grave of Harry Cooper in [[Kensico Cemetery]]
Cooper had no children and died in a hospital in White Plains, New York in 2000. He and his wife Emma (who died in 2002) are interred in Lot 15, Graves 1 and 2, in the Kensico Gardens Section of the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. His grave is now marked with a headstone, but his grave marker erroneously shows 1906 instead of 1904 as his birth year.
He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992.
Professional wins (36)
PGA Tour wins (29)
- 1923 (1) Galveston Open Championship
- 1926 (2) Los Angeles Open, Monterey Peninsula Championship
- 1927 (1) Pebble Beach Open
- 1929 (2) Shawnee Open
- 1930 (3) St. Paul Open, Medinah C.C. Invitational, Salt Lake Open
- 1931 (2) Tri-State Open, Pasadena Open
- 1932 (1) Canadian Open
- 1933 (1) Arizona Open
- 1934 (2) Western Open, Illinois Open
- 1935 (3) Medinah Open, Illinois Open, St. Paul Open
- 1936 (2) Florida West Coast Open, St. Paul Open
- 1937 (7) Los Angeles Open, Houston Open, St. Petersburg Open, True Temper Open, Canadian Open, Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Horton Smith), Oklahoma Four-Ball (with Horton Smith)
- 1938 (2) Oakland Open, Crescent City Open
- 1939 (1) Goodall Palm Beach Round Robin
Sources:
Other wins (7)
this list is probably incomplete
- 1927 Oklahoma City Open
- 1929 Old Westbury Invitational
- 1932 Illinois PGA Championship
- 1934 Illinois PGA Championship
- 1939 Connecticut Open
- 1942 Minnesota State Open
- 1955 Metropolitan PGA Championship
Results in major championships
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"
!Tournament
!1923
!1924
!1925
!1926
!1927
!1928
!1929
|-
|align=left|U.S. Open
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|CUT
|style="background:yellow;"|2
|CUT
|T51
|-
|align=left|PGA Championship
|R32
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:yellow;"|SF
|R32
|style="background:yellow;"|R16
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"
!Tournament
!1930
!1931
!1932
!1933
!1934
!1935
!1936
!1937
!1938
!1939
|-
|align=left|Masters Tournament
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NYF
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NYF
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NYF
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NYF
|WD
|T25
|style="background:yellow;"|2
|style="background:yellow;"|4
|style="background:yellow;"|T2
|T33
|-
|align=left|U.S. Open
|style="background:yellow;"|4
|T15
|style="background:yellow;"|T7
|T29
|style="background:yellow;"|T3
|T28
|style="background:yellow;"|2
|style="background:yellow;"|4
|style="background:yellow;"|T3
|T12
|-
|align=left|PGA Championship
|style="background:yellow;"|R16
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:yellow;"|R16
|style="background:yellow;"|R16
|R64
|style="background:yellow;"|R16
|style="background:yellow;"|QF
|R64
|R64
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"
!Tournament
!1940
!1941
!1942
|-
|align=left|Masters Tournament
|style="background:yellow;"|T4
|T14
|T18
|-
|align=left|U.S. Open
|CUT
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT
|-
|align=left|PGA Championship
|R64
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:yellow;"|QF
|}
Note: Cooper did not play in The Open Championship.<br />
NYF = tournament not yet founded<br />
NT = no tournament<br />
WD = withdrew<br />
CUT = missed the half-way cut<br />
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play<br />
"T" indicates a tie for a place
See also
- List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins
References
External links
- PGA Museum of Golf: Hall of Fame – member profiles
- Texas Golf Hall of Fame – Harry "Lighthorse" Cooper