Gene Craig Sauers (born August 22, 1962) is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the PGA Tour Champions. He had three wins on the PGA Tour and overcame a potentially fatal skin condition that kept him off the golf course for five years. He won the U.S. Senior Open in 2016, a senior major championship.
Early life and amateur career Sauers was born in Savannah, Georgia and started playing golf at the age of nine with his father. He attended Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia.
Professional career In 1984, Sauers turned pro. He joined the PGA Tour later in the year. He quickly had success winning the 1986 Bank of Boston Classic and the 1989 Hawaiian Open.Sauers' Sweet Putt He also won the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic in Mississippi in 1990, opposite the Masters in April, before it was an official money event.
In the early 1990s Sauers finished two tournaments in a tie for first place at the end of regulation: the 1992 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, which he lost on the fourth extra hole of a playoff to John Cook, and the 1994 St. Jude Classic, which he and Hal Sutton lost to Tour rookie Dicky Pride. During this era, he also recorded his highest finish in a major championship: a tie for second at the 1992 PGA Championship, which he led for the first three rounds.
Sauers lost his tour card in 1995 and had to play primarily on the Nike Tour. He recorded one victory on the Nike Tour at the 1998 Nike South Carolina Classic, and about a dozen top-10 finishes. In late 2002, Sauers won the Air Canada Championship on the PGA Tour. It gave him a two-year exemption. Sauers also received the PGA Comeback Player of the Year award in 2002.
Sauers competed on the PGA Tour until 2005. From 2006 to 2010, he did not compete professionally after an initial misdiagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis turned out to be Stevens–Johnson syndrome, and he was given only a 25-percent chance of survival. Over several months, during which he received multiple skin grafts that left visible scarring, he gradually recovered.
Senior career Sauers finally overcame the disease and played a limited Nationwide Tour schedule in 2011 and 2012 before making his Champions Tour debut at the Boeing Classic near Seattle in 2012. He earned two top-10 finishes in 2012 and was also inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame.Georgia Golf Hall of Fame profile of Sauers Playing a full season in 2013, Sauers was twice a runner-up, including a playoff loss to Esteban Toledo at the Insperity Invitational. He finished nineteenth on the Champions Tour money list.
In the first six months of 2014, Sauers played in eleven events, with six top-25 finishes and a best of T-15 at the Allianz Championship in early February. At the U.S. Senior Open in Oklahoma in July, he was tied with Colin Montgomerie after 72 holes but lost in a three-hole playoff.
Two years later in 2016, Sauers earned his first win as a senior at the U.S. Senior Open in Ohio.
Awards and honors In 2002, Sauers also received the PGA Comeback Player of the Year award After the 2016-17 season, Sauers received the PGA Tour's Courage Award
Professional wins (9) PGA Tour wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Sep 14, 1986Bank of Boston Classic70-71-64-69=274−10Playoff Blaine McCallister2Feb 12, 1989Hawaiian Open65-67-65=197−191 stroke David Ogrin3Sep 1, 2002Air Canada Championship69-65-66-69=269−15 1 stroke Steve Lowery
PGA Tour playoff record (1–3) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11986Bank of Boston Classic Blaine McCallisterWon with birdie on third extra hole21991KMart Greater Greensboro Open Mark BrooksLost to par on third extra hole31992Bob Hope Chrysler Classic John Cook, Rick Fehr, Tom Kite, Mark O'MearaCook won with eagle on fourth extra holeFehr eliminated by birdie on second holeKite and O'Meara eliminated by birdie on first hole 41994Federal Express St. Jude Classic Dicky Pride, Hal SuttonPride won with birdie on first extra hole
Nike Tour wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunners-up1 May 3, 1998Nike South Carolina Classic70-69-72-69=280−81 stroke Craig Kanada, Sean Murphy
Other wins (4) 1983 Georgia Open 1985 Georgia Open 1986 Georgia Open 1990 Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic
PGA Tour Champions wins (1) Legend Senior major championships (1) Other PGA Tour Champions (0) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunners-up1Aug 15, 2016U.S. Senior Open68-69-71-69=277−31 stroke Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Billy Mayfair
PGA Tour Champions playoff record (0–5) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12013Insperity Championship Mike Goodes, Esteban ToledoToledo won with par on third extra holeSauers eliminated by par on second hole22014U.S. Senior Open Colin MontgomerieLost three-hole aggregate playoff;Montgomerie: E (5-3-4=12),Sauers: x (5-4-x=x)32017Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic Miguel Ángel JiménezLost to birdie on first extra hole420173M Championship Paul GoydosLost to birdie on first extra hole52022ClubCorp Classic Steven Alker, Scott ParelParel won with par on first extra hole
Results in major championships Tournament198419851986198719881989Masters TournamentT33CUTU.S. OpenCUTT58T58The Open ChampionshipT52PGA ChampionshipT30T24CUTT58 Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999Masters TournamentT34U.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipT88PGA ChampionshipCUTT63T2T22T44 Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009Masters TournamentU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipCUT Tournament20102011201220132014201520162017Masters TournamentU.S. OpenCUTThe Open ChampionshipPGA Championship
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied
Results in The Players Championship Tournament19851986198719881989The Players ChampionshipCUTCUTT32T16T55 Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999The Players ChampionshipT29T9CUTCUTT51T3T53 Tournament20002001200220032004The Players ChampionshipCUTCUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament2003Match PlayChampionshipInvitational85
Senior major championships Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunners-up 2016 U.S. Senior Open 1 shot deficit −3 (68-69-71-69=277) 1 stroke Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Billy Mayfair
Results timeline Results not in chronological order Tournament 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 20192020202120222023202420252026Senior PGA ChampionshipT25T25CUTT14CUTT10NTT40T20T57CUTThe TraditionT15T25T3T12T10T252NTT42T26T35U.S. Senior OpenT352T471CUTT21CUTNTT17T4CUTCUTT38Senior Players ChampionshipT47T39T12T9T5429T16T16T25T33T52Senior British Open Championship10T18T23T24NT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
See also 1983 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
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