Bobby Locke
| Bobby Locke | |
|---|---|
| — Golfer — | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Arthur D'Arcy Locke |
| Nickname | Bobby Old Baggy Pants Old Muffin Face |
| Born |
20 November 1917 Germiston, South Africa |
| Died | 9 March 1987 (aged 69) Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Nationality |
 South Africa
|
| Spouse | Mary Fenton (m. 1958–87, his death) |
| Children | Caroline |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1938 |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Professional wins | 74 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 15 |
| Sunshine Tour | 30 (3rd all time) |
| Other | 29 |
| Best results in major championships (wins: 4) |
|
| Masters Tournament | T10: 1948 |
| U.S. Open | 3rd/T3: 1947, 1951 |
| The Open Championship | Won: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1957 |
| PGA Championship | T33: 1947 |
| British Amateur | T33: 1937 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 1977 (member page) |
| Harry Vardon Trophy | 1946, 1950, 1954 |
Arthur D'Arcy "Bobby" Locke (20 November 1917 – 9 March 1987) was a South African professional golfer. He won four Open Championships, nine South African Opens, seven South African PGA Championships and 15 PGA Tour events.
Locke was born in Germiston, South Africa. He won the South African Open for the first of nine times in 1935, playing as an amateur. He played in his first Open Championship in 1936, when he was eighteen, and finished as low amateur. He turned professional two years later and was a prolific tournament winner in his native country, eventually accumulating 38 wins on the Southern Africa Tour (now the Sunshine Tour). His golf career was interrupted by service in the South African Air Force during World War II.
Following the end of World War II, Locke successfully resumed his career in South Africa in 1946. He hosted Sam Snead, one of the top American golfers of the day, for a series of exhibition matches in South Africa in 1946, winning 12 out of the 16 matches. So impressed was Snead that he suggested that Locke come to the United States and give the PGA Tour a try, advice that Locke quickly followed.
Locke arrived in the U.S. for the first time in April 1947, well after the American Tour season had begun. In two-and-a-half years on the PGA Tour, Locke played in 59 events; he won 11, and finished in the top three in 30, just over half. In 1947, despite a late start, Locke dominated the American tour, winning six tournaments (including four in a five-week period), and finishing second to Jimmy Demaret on the money list.
In 1948, he won the Chicago Victory National by 16 strokes, which remains a PGA Tour record for margin of victory (tied for margin of victory with J. Douglas Edgar's win in the 1919 Canadian Open).
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