Lloyd Mangrum

Golfer

• Born: August 1, 1914
• Birthplace: Trenton, Texas
• Died: November 17, 1973
• Place of death: Apple Valley, California

Sport: Golf

Early Life

Lloyd Eugene Mangrum was born on August 1, 1914, in Trenton, Texas. The youngest of three brothers, he grew up on a dirt farm just outside the city. His older brother, Ray, eventually became a golf professional and won several Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) events, until a leg ailment forced him to quit. The Mangrum family was poor. Lloyd did not grow up with many toys; he mostly played outdoors on the family farm. When he was older, his impoverished father decided things might get better if the family moved to Dallas. There Lloyd dropped out of school before he was legally old enough to do so. The young boy began playing golf, not only for fun but also for money.

The Road to Excellence

At the age of fifteen, Lloyd turned professional. Playing golf earned him enough money to live on. The next year, at the age of sixteen, he paid his own way to Los Angeles, where he played against amateurs for five and ten dollars. A child of the Depression, Lloyd had to play golf to win money because it was the only way he could afford to play the game, and he did so at a time when golf was still considered a game primarily for the upper class.

Lloyd was an ornery, tough player—a maverick at the game. He had to be, because the men he played against were a rough bunch. One of his opponents, it turned out, was wanted for bank robberies. Another stuffed Lloyd’s partner into a locker after losing to him. Once Lloyd gambled with a professional who lost by three putts. The man was so angry that he took his putter into the creek and jammed it knee-deep into the mud.

Because of the world in which he lived, Lloyd grew up fast. At the age of nineteen, he married Eleta, the operator of a beauty salon, who was eleven years older than Lloyd. She had three children, the eldest child only eight years younger than her new stepfather. Lloyd addressed Eleta as “Mother” and let her handle the handsome income his golf playing soon began to generate. In spite of the age difference, Lloyd and Eleta’s marriage was successful.

The Emerging Champion

In order to secure backing for some of his tournaments, Lloyd went to his brother Ray, who was then a successful golfer himself. Ray is said to have pulled out a wad of bills and peeled off two one-dollar bills, telling his younger brother to get a job because he was not good enough at golf. However, by 1943, Lloyd had become a successful golfer. That year, he won four PGA events, the first four out of a total of thirty-six that he would win over the course of his lifetime.

Lloyd was drafted and served in the armed forces as an infantry sergeant on the front lines. Later, he was a member of a reconnaissance team that headed the 90th Division of General George S. Patton’s Third Army on D day at Omaha Beach. After the ensuing battles, Lloyd was one of only two surviving members of his original platoon. For this and his multiple injuries, he was awarded two Purple Hearts.

After the war, Lloyd, the hero, returned to golf on the PGA Tour. It took him a while to get back into the game and to win enough to make a living. In 1946, he won the U.S. Open, and, by 1951, he led all the professionals, winning four tournaments for a grand total of $26,088. He was then able to buy his own airplane.

Although his career was interrupted by World War II, Lloyd still made it to the top. In addition to winning many PGA events, he won the Vardon Trophy twice. He won the Los Angeles Open four times and was on four Ryder Cup teams, serving as captain once.

Continuing the Story

Golf professionals and teachers were amazed by Lloyd’s success. To them, his game was nothing exceptional. Many of them could outdrive him and hit straighter. Somehow, the game just came naturally to him.

However it may have happened, Lloyd’s putts, chips, pitches, and bunker shots were nearly matchless, and he was considered one of the least nervous of putters in golf history. In fact, he was known for his calmness on the fairways. A thin, leathery-looking fellow, he always managed to appear constantly bored, as if there were nothing better for him to do. He would even putt with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Violence was a part of Lloyd’s life, on and off the fairways. During one tournament, he received a telephone call threatening his life if he won the game. He refused to withdraw and went on to win, surrounded by uniformed police.

Eventually, by 1953, Lloyd became only an occasional winner. In 1949, his first book was published, Golf, A New Approach. In this book, Lloyd revealed that he deliberately tried to copy the short game of Johnny Revolta, the swing of Sam Snead, and the putting style of Horton Smith. On November 17, 1973, at fifty-nine years of age, Lloyd died at home in Apple Valley, California, of his twelfth heart attack. He was survived by his wife, Eleta, his son, Robert, and his two daughters, Reina and Shirley. Lloyd is a member of both the California Golf Hall of Fame and the PGA Hall of Fame.

Summary

Lloyd Mangrum’s golf successes were remarkable for a man whose career was interrupted by the war and by injuries sustained in battle. In addition to winning thirty-six PGA events, Lloyd won the 1946 U.S. Open, won the Vardon Trophy twice, and played on four Ryder Cup teams.

Bibliography

Barrett, Ted. The Complete Encyclopedia of Golf. Chicago: Triumph Books, 2005.

Kalb, Elliott. Who’s Better, Who’s Best in Golf? Mr. Stats Sets the Record Straight on the Top Fifty Golfers of All Time. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006.

Mangrum, Lloyd. Golf: A New Approach. London: N. Kaye, 1949.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. How to Play Better Golf. Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett, 1954.

Peper, George, and Mary Tiegreen. The Secret of Golf: A Century of Groundbreaking, Innovative, and Occasionally Outlandish Ways to Master the World’s Most Vexing Game. New York: Workman, 2005.