| Jack Burke Jr. | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Burke, circa 1950 | |||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Full name | John Joseph Burke Jr. | ||||||||||
| Nickname | Jackie | ||||||||||
| Born | January 29, 1923 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Died | January 19, 2024 (aged 100) Houston, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | ||||||||||
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st) | ||||||||||
| Sporting nationality |  United States | ||||||||||
| Career | |||||||||||
| Turned professional | 1941 | ||||||||||
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour | ||||||||||
| Professional wins | 19 | ||||||||||
| Number of wins by tour | |||||||||||
| PGA Tour | 16 | ||||||||||
| Other | 3 | ||||||||||
| Best results in major championships (wins: 2) | |||||||||||
| Masters Tournament | Won: 1956 | ||||||||||
| PGA Championship | Won: 1956 | ||||||||||
| U.S. Open | T10: 1955 | ||||||||||
| The Open Championship | DNP | ||||||||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||||||||
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John Joseph Burke Jr. (January 29, 1923 – January 19, 2024) was an American professional golfer who was most prominent in the 1950s. The son of a professional golfer, Jack Burke Sr., he won two major titles, both in 1956, the Masters and PGA Championship, and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Burke won 16 PGA Tour events between 1950 and 1963. He won four times in 1950 and five times in 1952, including four in consecutive weeks in February and March. He had not won since 1953 when he won the 1956 Masters, coming from eight strokes behind in the final round to overtake leader Ken Venturi, an amateur, who took 80. Later in 1956 he won the PGA Championship, beating Ted Kroll 3&2 in the final. His last tour win came in 1963, just before his 40th birthday. Burke was on five successive American Ryder Cup teams from 1951 to 1959, serving as playing captain in 1957, when Great Britain won for the first time since 1933, and as the non-playing captain in 1973. He had a successful playing record, winning 7 of his 8 matches, only losing his singles match in 1957.
In 1957, Burke and Jimmy Demaret founded Champions Golf Club in Houston. The club has hosted a number of important events including the 1967 Ryder Cup and the 1969 U.S. Open.