Apparently no one in Ontario, myself included, noticed that Canadian golf legend Stan Leonard passed away last week from heart failure. He was 90. Reports say he died last Thursday after suffering a heart attack at his home.
Though he didn’t turn professional until he was 40, Leonard was one of the greatest golfers the country has produced. He played in 12 Masters tournaments starting in the late 1950s, including one in which he held the third round lead and finished fourth. The Vancouver Sun, in a well written article by Brad Ziemer, quotes Richard Zokol:
“He was an absolute legend and just adored by all the members,” said former PGA Tour regular Dick Zokol, who grew up playing at Marine Drive. “I remember what pride I felt as a junior golfer when he approached me and asked me to caddie for him in the Sun Match play and the B.C. Open.”Zokol saw Leonard just last month at Marine Drive.”He was on the putting green in November,” Zokol said. “It was a sunny day and there was Stan, at age 90, practising his putting.”
With Leonard gone, and the death of Moe Norman last year, only Al Balding remains from the great Canadians who played the game five decades ago.
the most beautiful golf swing I have ever seen