Background
Sanders was born in Cedartown, Georgia, to a poor family and picked cotton as a teenager.
Sanders was born in Cedartown, Georgia, to a poor family and picked cotton as a teenager.
University of Florida.
He was a self-taught golfer. He accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for the Florida Gators men"s golf team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (National Collegiate Athletic Association) competition in 1955. Sanders had 13 top-10 finishes in major championships, including four second-place finishes: 1959 Professional Golf Association Championship, 1961 United States. Open, 1966 and 1970 British Opens.
In 1966, he became one of the few players in history to finish in the top ten of all four major championships in a single season, despite winning none of them.
He is remembered for an exceptionally short, flat golf swing—a consequence, it appears, of a painful neck condition that radically restricted his movements. Sanders has always been known as a stylish, flamboyant dresser on the golf course, which earned him the nickname "Peacock of the Fairways." Esquire magazine named Sanders one of America"s Ten Best Dressed Jocks in 1973.
Sanders identified himself as the lead character, a playboy Professional Golf Association Tour golfer, in the golf novel Dead Solid Perfect, by Dan Jenkins. Since retiring from competitive golf, Sanders has been active in his own corporate golf entertainment company and has for nearly 20 years, sponsored the Doug Sanders International Junior Golf Championship in Houston, Texas.
From 1988 to 1994, he also sponsored the Doug Sanders Celebrity Classic.
He currently resides in Houston. Professional Golf Association Tour wins (20) Other wins (2) Senior Professional Golf Association Tour wins (1) Amateur Professional Los Angeles = Low Amateur Northwest Territories = Number tournament DNP = Did not play World Development = Withdrew CUT = missed the half-way cut R64, R32, R16, QF, San Francisco = Round in which player lost in match play "T" indicates a tie for a place Yellow background for top-10.
He is a member of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, and the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame.