Cary Middlecoff

Amateur golf in Tennessee was dominated in the early 1940s by the tall, long-driving Cary Middlecoff. Even as he was winning the Tennessee Amateur four years consecutively from 1940 to '43, Middlecoff was dutifully following family tradition by studying to become a dentist. In World War II, Middlecoff took his dental degree into war, serving as an officer in the Army Medical Corps.
In 1945, he won the North and South Open, to become the only amateur ever to have done so. In '46, after his military discharge, he played his way to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur and was named to the Walker Cup team. He withdrew in order to turn professional and in 1947 won his first pro tournament, the Charlotte Open. He won the Vardon Trophy in 1956 and was second on the money list in 1951, 1952 and 1955. Middlecoff's swing had an unprecedented pause at the top that fans would marvel at. In his later years, he developed a chronic twitch on short putts that, along with a bad back forced his retirement in the early 1960s. Known to his friends, for obvious reasons, as "Doc," Middlecoff served for decades as a professional advisor to Golf Digest magazine. He also worked as a television commentator for NBC. Was a member of the 1953, 1955 & 1959 Ryder Cup teams.