Herman Densmore "Denny" Shute (October 25, 1904 – May 13, 1974) was an American professional golfer who won three major championships in the 1930s.
| Denny Shute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Shute in 1934 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Herman Densmore Shute | ||
| Nickname | Denny | ||
| Born | October 25, 1904 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | ||
| Died | May 13, 1974 (aged 69) Akron, Ohio, U.S. | ||
| Spouse | Hettie M. Potts Shute | ||
| Children | Nancy Paige (Shute) | ||
| Career | |||
| College | Western Reserve | ||
| Turned professional | 1928 | ||
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour | ||
| Professional wins | 17 | ||
| Number of wins by tour | |||
| PGA Tour | 16 | ||
| Other | 1 | ||
| Best results in major championships (wins: 3) | |||
| Masters Tournament | 5th: 1935 | ||
| PGA Championship | Won: 1936, 1937 | ||
| U.S. Open | 2nd: 1941 | ||
| The Open Championship | Won: 1933 | ||
| Achievements and awards | |||
| |||
Life and career
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Shute was the son of a golf pro from England; Hermon emigrated to the United States to work as the assistant professional at the Euclid Club.[1] Shute was raised in West Virginia and Ohio and attended Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland, and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta. He was married on March 20, 1930 to Hettie Marie Potts,[2] and they had one child, a daughter, Nancy Paige.[1]
Shute won the Open Championship at St Andrews in 1933 in a playoff[3] and the 1936 and 1937 PGA Championships, then conducted at match play. He was the last man to win consecutive PGA Championships before Tiger Woods did so in 1999 and 2000.
Shute was a member of the U.S. team in the Ryder Cup on three occasions: 1931, 1933, and 1937. In 1933, he missed a putt to tie the competition.
Shute died at age 69 at his home in Akron, Ohio.[1] He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in the veterans category in 2008.[4]
Professional wins
PGA Tour wins (16)
- 1929 (1) Ohio Open
- 1930 (3) Los Angeles Open, Texas Open, Ohio Open
- 1931 (1) Ohio Open
- 1932 (2) Glens Falls Open, Miami Biltmore Open
- 1933 (2) Gasparilla Open, British Open
- 1934 (3) Gasparilla Open-Tampa, Riverdale Open, Miami International Four-Ball (with Al Espinosa)
- 1936 (2) Tropical Open, PGA Championship
- 1937 (1) PGA Championship
- 1939 (1) Glens Falls Open
Major championships are shown in bold.
Other wins
this list may be incomplete
- 1950 Ohio Open
Major championships
Wins (3)
| Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1933 | The Open Championship | 3 shot deficit | E (73-73-73-73=292) | Playoff 1 |  Craig Wood |
| 1936 | PGA Championship | n/a | 3 & 2 |  / Jimmy Thomson | |
| 1937 | PGA Championship (2) | n/a | 37 holes | Harold "Jug" McSpaden | |
Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958
1 Defeated Craig Wood in a 36-hole playoff: Shute 75-74=149; Wood 78-76=154.
Results timeline
| Tournament | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Open | T43 | T48 | T6 | T3 |
| The Open Championship | ||||
| PGA Championship | R32 |
| Tournament | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | NYF | NYF | NYF | NYF | T13 | 5 | T11 | T13 | WD | 15 |
| U.S. Open | T25 | T25 | T14 | T21 | T43 | T4 | 10 | T10 | T11 | 3 |
| The Open Championship | 1 | 20 | 14 | |||||||
| PGA Championship | R16 | 2 | R32 | SF | R16 | 1 | 1 | R16 | R16 |
| Tournament | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 18 | WD | NT | NT | NT | T25 | 20 | 32 | T45 | |
| U.S. Open | 2 | NT | NT | NT | NT | CUT | CUT | CUT | ||
| The Open Championship | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | ||||
| PGA Championship | WD | QF | R32 | NT | QF | DNQ | DNQ | R64 |
| Tournament | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T35 | T47 | T49 | T55 | T68 | T36 | 71 | CUT | CUT | CUT |
| U.S. Open | T31 | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | |||||
| The Open Championship | ||||||||||
| PGA Championship | R16 | R32 | R64 | R64 | CUT | T44 |
| Tournament | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | CUT | CUT | |||||||
| U.S. Open | ||||||||||
| The Open Championship | ||||||||||
| PGA Championship | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT | CUT |
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | |||
| U.S. Open | |||
| The Open Championship | CUT | ||
| PGA Championship | CUT | CUT | CUT |
NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
DNQ = did not qualify for match play portion
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1958 PGA Championship)
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 25 | 17 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 23 | 16 |
| The Open Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| PGA Championship | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 29 | 19 |
| Totals | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 20 | 38 | 81 | 55 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 26 (1926 U.S. Open – 1937 PGA)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (1934 PGA – 1935 PGA)