Orville Moody

American professional golfer

Orville James Moody (December 9, 1933 – August 8, 2008) was an American professional golfer who won numerous tournaments in his career. He won the U. S. Open in 1969, the last champion in the 20th century to win through local and sectional qualifying.

Born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, Moody was the youngest of ten children. The son of a golf course superintendent, he began his career at Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City, winning the 1952 state high school golf championship. After attempting college for a few weeks at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Moody joined the U. S. Army. He was able to continue playing golf while in uniform, winning the All Service championship and three Korea Opens. He spent fourteen years in the Army, heading up maintenance supervision and instruction at all Army golf courses. Moody had limited success on the PGA Tour prior to 1969. In April of that year, he took part in a four way playoff at the Greater Greensboro Open won by Gene Littler. The U. S. Open in 1969 was played in June at the Cypress Creek Course of the Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas. Defending champion Lee Trevino picked Moody to win, saying, "He's one helluva player." Moody won by one stroke over Deane Beman, Al Geiberger, and Bob Rosburg with a 72 hole score of 281. He tied for sixteenth at the British Open, tied for seventh at the PGA Championship, and was named PGA Player of the Year for 1969. The U. S. Open win was Moody's sole tour victory in 266 career events, although he was runner up five times. He toured Japan, played in a few tournaments and eventually took a club pro job in Sulphur Springs, Texas. Moody was troubled by poor putting during his early pro years. His career on the Senior PGA Tour (now PGA Tour Champions) was dramatically different. After turning fifty in late 1983, he won two of his first five tournaments in 1984 and finished fifth on the money list. In 1989, he became only the fourth man to win both the U. S. Open and the U. S. Senior Open. Moody went to a long putter after becoming a senior golfer, and this method improved his putting significantly. He had eleven wins on the senior tour, with the last in 1992. Moody had triple bypass heart surgery prior to the 1995 season, but still managed to play in 29 events.

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunners up 1969 U. S. Open 3 shot deficit +1 (71 70 68 72=281) 1 stroke Deane Beman, Al Geiberger, Bob Rosburg

YearChampionshipWinning ScoreMarginRunner up 1989 Mazda Senior Tournament Players Championship −17 (67−69−64−71=271) 2 strokes Charles Coody 1989 U. S. Senior Open −9 (72−73−64−70=279) 2 strokes Frank Beard