Golf Network News ← Back to the clubhouseClubhouse

Al Watrous

United States · born , Yonkers, New York · died

2Ryder Cup points from 3 matches

Summary

  • Ryder Cup 2 Cups · 2-1-0 · 2 points (66.7%)
  • Singles 1-1-0 · Foursomes 1-0-0 · Four-ball 0-0-0
  • Best major finish runner-up, 1926 Open
  • Open top 10s 1929 (T8)

Near misses

  1. 1926 The Open Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club · runner-up to Bobby Jones · 293
  2. 1929 The Open Muirfield · finished T8 · 304

Ryder Cup

2 Cups, 3 matches: 2 won, 1 lost, 0 halved, 2 points. Foursomes 1-0-0, four-ball 0-0-0, singles 1-1-0.

  1. 1927 Worcester Country Club USA · USA won 9.5–2.5 · 2-0-0, 2 points
  2. 1929 Moortown Golf Club USA · GB won 7–5 · 0-1-0, 0 points

Rivals

Beat him

Ryder Cup partners

Ryder Cup opponents

Next in the chain: Bobby Jones' rivals →

Moments

  1. 1929 Ryder Cup Henry Cotton, all square with Al Watrous at lunch, won 4 & 3 to give GB the winning point; play was in cold weather with hail and at one point snow on the greens.

Records and firsts

  1. — PGA Championship longest match on record · 41 or 42 holes (Golf Compendium: Bobby Cruickshank d. Al Watrous on the 41st hole, 1932 (from 9 down with 12 to play); but Golf Compendium 1948 and New England Golf have Claude Harmon d. Sam Snead on the 42nd hole of the 1948 quarterfinal)

Results by championship

    Best day

    1926 The Open

    Runner-up to Bobby Jones · 293.

    Chosen by rule: the most recent of the best major finishes. Year page: 1926.

    Career line, 1926–1929

    The Open
    1926 The Open: runner-up to Bobby Jones1929 The Open: finished T8
    Ryder Cup
    1927 Ryder Cup (USA): 2-0-01929 Ryder Cup (USA): 0-1-0
    192619281930

    4 results. Hover or tap a mark; click it for the year.

    • Runner-up
    • Top 10
    • Ryder Cup, USA

    Al Watrous was born in 1899 in Yonkers, New York. Watrous' best major finish was second, at the 1926 Open. Watrous played in 2 Ryder Cups for USA (1927, 1929), winning 2, losing 1 and halving 0 of 3 matches for 2 points.

    See Al Watrous in our rooms: The Open, Greatest Golfer by State and Every Ground.

    Cards you pull this visit stack here. Tap one to go back to it.

    The record

    Near misses

    Top-10 finishes are listed for The Open, the one championship with a full top 10 every year.

    1. 1926 The Open Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club · runner-up to Bobby Jones · 293
    2. 1929 The Open Muirfield · finished T8 · 304

    Ryder Cup

    Watrous played 2 Ryder Cups for USA: 3 matches, 2 won, 1 lost, 0 halved, 2 points (66.7% of those available). By format: foursomes 1-0-0, four-ball 0-0-0, singles 1-1-0 (won-lost-halved).

    1. 1927 Worcester Country Club USA · USA won 9.5–2.5 · 2-0-0, 2 points
    2. 1929 Moortown Golf Club USA · GB won 7–5 · 0-1-0, 0 points

    Partners, with matches played together: Gene Sarazen (1).

    PGA Championship match play

    Every recorded match in our bracket file, 1916–1957: 18 won, 19 lost.

    1. 1922 Round of 64 beat George Sargent 1 up
    2. 1922 Round of 32 lost to Bobby Cruickshank 3 & 2
    3. 1923 Round of 64 lost to Willie Hunter 2 & 1
    4. 1924 Round of 32 beat George Aulbach 3 & 1
    5. 1924 Round of 16 lost to Walter Hagen 4 & 3
    6. 1925 Round of 32 lost to Walter Hagen won on 39th hole
    7. 1926 Round of 32 lost to Johnny Farrell 6 & 5
    8. 1928 Round of 32 beat Olin Dutra 2 & 1
    9. 1928 Round of 16 lost to Ed Dudley 3 & 2
    10. 1929 Round of 32 beat Neal McIntyre 4 & 3
    11. 1929 Round of 16 beat Larry Nabholtz 9 & 7
    12. 1929 Quarterfinal beat Al Espinosa 2 up
    13. 1929 Semifinal lost to Johnny Farrell 6 & 5
    14. 1930 Round of 32 beat Eric Seavall 3 & 1
    15. 1930 Round of 16 lost to Charles Lacey 5 & 4
    16. 1932 Round of 32 lost to Bobby Cruickshank won on 41st hole
    17. 1934 Round of 32 beat Errie Ball 8 & 7
    18. 1934 Round of 16 beat Gene Sarazen 4 & 3
    19. 1934 Quarterfinal lost to Craig Wood 2 & 1
    20. 1935 Round of 64 beat Charles Lacey 3 & 2
    21. 1935 Round of 32 beat Harold Sampson 2 & 1
    22. 1935 Round of 16 beat Sam Parks Jr. 4 & 3
    23. 1935 Quarterfinal beat Horton Smith 1 up
    24. 1935 Semifinal lost to Tommy Armour 2 & 1
    25. 1937 Round of 64 beat Bill Mehlhorn won on 23rd hole
    26. 1937 Round of 32 lost to Horton Smith won on 19th hole
    27. 1939 Round of 64 beat Tom Lo Presti 1 up
    28. 1939 Round of 32 beat Ken Tucker 5 & 3
    29. 1939 Round of 16 lost to Henry Picard 8 & 7
    30. 1940 Round of 64 beat Alex Follmer 5 & 4
    31. 1940 Round of 32 lost to Paul Runyan 3 & 2
    32. 1947 Round of 64 lost to Jim Turnesa won on 20th hole
    33. 1948 Round of 64 lost to Lew Worsham 1 up
    34. 1950 Round of 64 beat Jock Hutchison Jr. 1 up
    35. 1950 Round of 32 lost to Ted Kroll 2 & 1
    36. 1953 Round of 64 lost to Jim Ferrier 1 up
    37. 1955 Round of 64 lost to Tommy Bolt won by default

    Records and firsts

    Rows from our record tables that name this player, worded as the tables word them.

    1. — PGA Championship longest match on record · 41 or 42 holes (Golf Compendium: Bobby Cruickshank d. Al Watrous on the 41st hole, 1932 (from 9 down with 12 to play); but Golf Compendium 1948 and New England Golf have Claude Harmon d. Sam Snead on the 42nd hole of the 1948 quarterfinal)

    Sources

    Elsewhere: Wikipedia.

    Every fact on this page comes from Golf Network News data sets compiled in October 2026 (Masters, PGA Championship, The Open, U.S. Women's Open, Ryder Cup, PGA Tour 2024–2026, major host sites, Champions Dinner menus, and the U.S. Open and state rooms). These are the sources those rows cite.

    1. WP: List of American Ryder Cup golfers
    2. WP: Al Watrous
    3. R&A 1929
    4. Golf Compendium 1922
    5. PGA of America 2013 media guide, p. 108
    6. Golf Compendium 1924
    7. Golf Compendium 1925
    8. Golf Compendium 1928
    9. Golf Compendium 1929
    10. Golf Compendium 1930
    11. Golf Compendium biggest comebacks
    12. Golf Compendium 1934
    13. Golf Compendium 1935
    14. Golf Compendium 1939
    15. Golf Compendium 1953
    16. GC: 1927 ryder cup
    17. Wikipedia: 1927 Ryder Cup
    18. GC: 1929 ryder cup
    19. Wikipedia: 1929 Ryder Cup
    20. Golf Compendium 1948
    21. New England Golf, match-play history