William August Kratzert III (born June 29, 1952) is an American professional golfer and sportscaster, who has played on both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour.
Early life
Kratzert was born in Quantico, Virginia[1] when his father was in the service but spent most of his youth in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he attended Elmhurst High School. His father was head pro for over 20 years at the Fort Wayne Country Club.[2] Kratzert won the Indiana State Amateur at age 16.[3]
Amateur career
Kratzert attended the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.[1] He was a distinguished member of the golf team and an All-American in 1973 and 1974.[2] Kratzert graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree in 1974. He turned pro in that same year.[1] Kratzert, after two failed attempts at earning his Tour card, quit golf and worked as a forklift operator.[4] After eight months at that job, Kratzert returned to golf and succeeded on his third attempt in 1976 to get his PGA Tour card.[2]
Professional career
Kratzert won four PGA Tour events in his career.[3] His most successful years in professional golf were 1977–1980 when he finished in the top-12 on the money list in three of those 4 years.[2] Kratzert's best year for majors was 1978, when he finished with a T-5 in The Masters and a T-6 in the U.S. Open.[5] His career earnings exceed $1.4 million.[2] He continued to play on the PGA Tour until 1997, when he went to work as a television golf commentator.
Since turning 50 in June 2002, Kratzert has played some on the Champions Tour with his best finish a T10 at the 2003 Royal Caribbean Golf Classic.[3]
Kratzert has worked for many years as a TV golf analyst for outlets such as the Golf Channel, ESPN, CBS, NBC, Turner Sports, SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio and pgatour.com.[6]
Kratzert was inducted into the Indiana Golf Hall of Fame in 1993.[2] He lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida with his wife and three children. His sister, Cathy Gerring, is also a professional golfer and has won three times on the LPGA Tour.
Amateur wins
- 1968 Indiana Amateur[7]
Professional wins (5)
PGA Tour wins (4)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nov 7, 1976 | Walt Disney World National Team Championship (with  Woody Blackburn)
|
−28 (63-68-63-66=260) | Playoff | Gay Brewer and Bobby Nichols
|
| 2 | Aug 7, 1977 | Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open | −19 (66-66-64-69=265) | 3 strokes | Grier Jones, Larry Nelson
|
| 3 | Jul 13, 1980 | Greater Milwaukee Open | −22 (67-66-67-66=266) | 4 strokes | Howard Twitty
|
| 4 | Oct 28, 1984 | Pensacola Open | −14 (67-66-71-66=270) | 2 strokes |  Ken Brown, John Mahaffey
|
PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1976 | Walt Disney World National Team Championship (with Woody Blackburn)
|
Gay Brewer and Bobby Nichols
|
Won with birdie on third extra hole |
| 2 | 1978 | Hawaiian Open | Hubert Green
|
Lost to par on second extra hole |
Other wins
- 1970 Indiana Open (as an amateur)
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | T24 | T5 | T17 | T19 | CUT | T14 | T42 | |||||
| U.S. Open | CUT | T19 | T6 | T36 | T33 | ||||||||
| The Open Championship | CUT | ||||||||||||
| PGA Championship | T25 | T12 | CUT | T50 | CUT | CUT | T40 |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Profile on PGA Tour's official site". Retrieved January 14, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f "King of the course: Bill Kratzert won four events and earned more than $1 million on the PGA Tour". Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. Archived from the original on May 22, 2008. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Biographical information on PGA Tour's official site". Retrieved January 14, 2013.
- ^ Achenbach, Jim (April 7, 1978). "Kratzert Patches Up His Life And His Game". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. p. 1-E. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
- ^ "Golf Major Championships". Retrieved January 14, 2013.
- ^ "Billy Kratzert".
- ^ "Indiana Amateur Championship". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
External links
- Billy Kratzert at the PGA Tour official site
- Billy Kratzert at the Official World Golf Ranking official site