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Tommy Bolt

United States · born , Haworth, Oklahoma, USA · died

1major championship

Summary

  • First major 1958 U.S. Open
  • Ryder Cup 2 Cups · 3-1-0 · 3 points (75.0%)

Wins

  1. 1958 U.S. Open Southern Hills C.C. · 283 (+3) · by 4 strokes from Gary Player

Ryder Cup

2 Cups, 4 matches: 3 won, 1 lost, 0 halved, 3 points. Foursomes 2-0-0, four-ball 0-0-0, singles 1-1-0.

  1. 1955 Thunderbird Ranch & Country Club USA · USA won 8–4 · 2-0-0, 2 points
  2. 1957 Lindrick Golf Club USA · GB won 7.5–4.5 · 1-1-0, 1 point · automatic

Rivals

Ryder Cup partners

Ryder Cup opponents

Next in the chain: Jack Burke Jr.'s rivals →

Moments

  1. 1957 Ryder Cup Eric Brown beat Tommy Bolt 4 & 3 in the top singles; they did not shake hands and Bolt broke a wedge in the locker room.

Results by championship

    Best day

    1958 U.S. Open

    Southern Hills C.C., Tulsa, OK · 283 (+3) · by 4 strokes from Gary Player

    Chosen by rule: his widest winning margin in a major. Year page: 1958.

    Career line, 1955–1958

    U.S. Open
    1958 U.S. Open: won
    Ryder Cup
    1955 Ryder Cup (USA): 2-0-01957 Ryder Cup (USA): 1-1-0
    19561958

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

    • Major win
    • Ryder Cup, USA

    Tommy Bolt was born on March 31, 1916, in Haworth, Oklahoma, USA. Bolt won one major championship: the 1958 U.S. Open. Bolt played in 2 Ryder Cups for USA (1955, 1957), winning 3, losing 1 and halving 0 of 4 matches for 3 points.

    See Tommy Bolt in our rooms: U.S. Open, Greatest Golfer by State and Every Ground.

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    The record

    Wins in the majors (1)

    1. 1958 U.S. Open Southern Hills C.C., Tulsa, OK · 283 (+3) · by 4 strokes from Gary Player

    Near misses

      U.S. Open top-10 finishes in his career: 4 (GNN U.S. Open room data).

      Ryder Cup

      Bolt played 2 Ryder Cups for USA: 4 matches, 3 won, 1 lost, 0 halved, 3 points (75.0% of those available). By format: foursomes 2-0-0, four-ball 0-0-0, singles 1-1-0 (won-lost-halved).

      1. 1955 Thunderbird Ranch & Country Club USA · USA won 8–4 · 2-0-0, 2 points
      2. 1957 Lindrick Golf Club USA · GB won 7.5–4.5 · 1-1-0, 1 point · automatic

      Partners, with matches played together: Jack Burke Jr. (1), Dick Mayer (1).

      PGA Championship match play

      Every recorded match in our bracket file, 1916–1957: 10 won, 4 lost.

      1. 1953 Round of 64 beat Virgil Shreeve 3 & 2
      2. 1953 Round of 32 lost to Jackson Bradley 1 up
      3. 1954 Round of 64 beat Mike Turnesa 2 & 1
      4. 1954 Round of 32 beat Arthur Doering 2 & 1
      5. 1954 Round of 16 beat Jim Browning 2 & 1
      6. 1954 Quarterfinal beat Sam Snead won on 39th hole
      7. 1954 Semifinal lost to Chick Harbert 1 up
      8. 1955 Round of 64 beat Al Watrous won by default
      9. 1955 Round of 32 beat Sam Snead 3 & 2
      10. 1955 Round of 16 beat Jack Fleck 3 & 1
      11. 1955 Quarterfinal beat Lew Worsham 8 & 7
      12. 1955 Semifinal lost to Cary Middlecoff 4 & 3
      13. 1957 Round of 32 beat Eldon Briggs 7 & 6
      14. 1957 Round of 16 lost to Claude Harmon 1 up

      Sources

      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. GNN U.S. Open room (champions data)
      3. Golf Compendium 1953
      4. PGA of America 2013 media guide, p. 78
      5. Golf Compendium 1954
      6. Golf Compendium 1955
      7. Golf Compendium 1957
      8. GC: 1955 ryder cup
      9. Wikipedia: 1955 Ryder Cup
      10. GC: 1957 ryder cup
      11. Wikipedia: 1957 Ryder Cup