Fansided

The best golfer from every U.S. state

By Cody Williams

DUBLIN, OH - JUNE 3: Tiger Woods poses with tournament host Jack Nicklaus and the tournament trophy after winning the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 3, 2012 in Dublin, Ohio. (Photo by Chris Condon/PGA TOUR)
DUBLIN, OH - JUNE 3: Tiger Woods poses with tournament host Jack Nicklaus and the tournament trophy after winning the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 3, 2012 in Dublin, Ohio. (Photo by Chris Condon/PGA TOUR) /
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(Original Caption) 1/12/1932-Los Angeles, CA- Well-known golfer Leo Diegel, in a four-way tie for second place at the end of the Los Angeles Open golf tournament. Diegel shot par golf all the way, but couldn’t catch up to MacDonald Smith, who finished the seventy-two holes three under par.
(Original Caption) 1/12/1932-Los Angeles, CA- Well-known golfer Leo Diegel, in a four-way tie for second place at the end of the Los Angeles Open golf tournament. Diegel shot par golf all the way, but couldn’t catch up to MacDonald Smith, who finished the seventy-two holes three under par. /

Michigan: Leo Diegel

After playing well in the state of Michigan, first winning the Michigan Open in 1916, Leo Diegel finally started to break through on the PGA Tour finally in 1920 when he was able to get his first victory. He would then go on to win at least one PGA Tour event in each of the next nine years, including winning three in 1924, five in 1925, four in both 1928 and 1929, and winning three in 1930.

Perhaps Diegel’s best accomplishment was his 1928 season as a whole. The Gratiot Township native was able to pull off two tremendous feats. First, he was able to end the historic four-year winning streak of Walter Hagen in the PGA Championship, which was then a match play tournament, by defeating him in the quarterfinals of the tournament. He would then go on to win the whole tournament, etching his name in history.

Diegel didn’t stop there in terms of PGA Championships, as he would go on to win the next year in 1929 as well. The following year, Diegel came close to winning The Open Championship, but was bested by the great Bobby Jones in the tournament. Thus, the two PGAs were the only major championship victories for Diegel in his career.

However, Diegel won 30 times on the PGA Tour throughout his career and has two majors to his credit, which helped earned him entry into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003. That’s more than enough to give him the nod from Michigan.

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