World Golf Hall of Fame
3 Carolina Vista Drive, Pinehurst, NC
For eight decades, Johnny Farrell had a starring role in the game of golf.
He is one of the few players to have taken down the legendary Bob Jones, birdieing the final two holes of a 36-hole playoff to defeat the nine-time USGA champion by one stroke in the 1928 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club.
All told, Farrell amassed 27 victories during his illustrious career. While the U.S. Open was his lone major title, he finished second in both The Open Championship and PGA Championship in 1929. He also had eight top-10s in 22 U.S. Open starts and represented the United States on the first three Ryder Cup Teams in 1927, 1929 and 1931.
Starting in the spring of 1927, Farrell won eight consecutive PGA Tour events, a run that was unequalled until Byron Nelson won 11 in a row in 1945. He was named Player of the Year in both 1927 and 1928. When he was not competing, Farrell was teaching the game to several U.S. Presidents (Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford), as well as celebrities Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Douglas Fairbanks.
Farrell also served as the head golf professional at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y., from 1919 to 1930. He then moved to Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., in 1934, where he served as the iconic club’s head pro for 33 years.