From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
Kermit Zarley
American professional golfer (born 1941)
American professional golfer (born 1941)
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Kermit Zarley |
| imagesize | |
| fullname | Kermit Millard Zarley, Jr. |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| death_date | |
| height | |
| weight | 175 lb |
| nationality | |
| residence | Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S. |
| college | University of Houston |
| yearpro | 1963 |
| retired | |
| tour | |
| extour | PGA Tour |
| Champions Tour | |
| prowins | 6 |
| pgawins | 3 |
| champwins | 1 |
| otherwins | 2 |
| majorwins | |
| masters | T17: 1973 |
| usopen | 6th: 1972 |
| open | DNP |
| pga | T8: 1968 |
| wghofid | |
| wghofyear | |
| award1 | |
| year1 | |
| awardssection |
Champions Tour Kermit Millard Zarley, Jr. (born September 29, 1941) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. He is also an author of several books on Christianity, Jesus, and the Bible.
Early life and amateur career
Zarley was born in Seattle, Washington. He attended from the University of Houston. Zarley was a distinguished member of the Houston Cougars golf team. He was the individual champion at the 1962 NCAA Division I Championships and also led his team to victory. Zarley graduated in 1963.
Professional career
Zarley had three dozen top-10 finishes in PGA Tour events during his 18 years on Tour including three wins. He had three top-10 finishes in major championships; his best was a solo 6th at the 1972 U.S. Open. Zarley won once on the PGA Senior Tour. Between tours, he finished second or tied for second seventeen times.
In 1965, Zarley co-founded the PGA Tour Bible Study group with fellow PGA Tour players Jim and Babe Hiskey. It is still active in the world of professional golf. In the period between his careers on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour he wrote three books on religion and world affairs.
Personal life
Zarley, who has studied the Bible since his teens, is the author of several books on Christianity, Jesus, and the Bible. His first book, The Gospels Interwoven, in which he attempted to join all four gospels together into one narrative, received praise from Billy Graham and Richard C. Halverson. Zarley is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Zarley resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Awards and honors
Zarley received an honorary Ph.D. from North Park University in Chicago in 2001. The university has a lecture series named after him.
In popular culture
- Due to his unusual name, Zarley was often called "the Pro from the Moon" or "Moon Man." It is because comedian Bob Hope once interviewed him on national television and remarked, "Kermit Zarley, with a name like that he must be the pro from the moon."
- In a Wayne and Shuster sketch about a golf tournament being held on the streets of Toronto, Johnny Wayne's character is named "Zarley Kermit, Jr."
Amateur wins
- 1962 NCAA Championship, Pacific Northwest Amateur
Professional wins (6)
PGA Tour wins (3)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| victory | Runner(s)-up | ||||
| 1 | Jan 21, 1968 | Kaiser International Open Invitational | −15 (71-67-70-65=273) | 1 stroke | USA Dave Marr |
| 2 | Jul 5, 1970 | Canadian Open | −9 (69-73-70-67=279) | 3 strokes | USA Gibby Gilbert |
| 3 | Jul 30, 1972 | National Team Championship | |||
| (with USA Babe Hiskey) | −22 (67-63-66-66=262) | 3 strokes | USA Grier Jones and USA Johnny Miller |
PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1976 | Florida Citrus Open | USA Hale Irwin | Lost to par on sixth extra hole |
Source:
Tournament Players Series wins (1)
- 1984 Tallahassee Open
Other wins (1)
- 1964 Arizona Open
Senior PGA Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| victory | Runner-up | ||||
| 1 | Oct 9, 1994 | The Transamerica | −12 (70-68-66=204) | Playoff | JPN Isao Aoki |
Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1994 | Royal Caribbean Classic | USA Lee Trevino | Lost to par on fourth extra hole |
| 2 | 1994 | The Transamerica | JPN Isao Aoki | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 3 | 1996 | Bruno's Memorial Classic | ZAF John Bland, USA John Paul Cain | Bland won with bogey on third extra hole |
| Zarley eliminated by par on second hole |
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T20 | T35 | CUT | T17 | T31 | |||||
| U.S. Open | CUT | T13 | T36 | T27 | 6 | CUT | T40 | |||
| PGA Championship | T8 | T59 | T22 | T68 | T9 | T51 |
| Tournament | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | ||||||||
| U.S. Open | T24 | T44 | CUT | T39 | ||||
| PGA Championship | T43 | T54 | T51 | T19 | T42 | CUT |
Note: Zarley never played in The Open Championship.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made | Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 28 | 23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | |||||||||
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 8 | |||||||||
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 11 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1973 PGA – 1976 PGA)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)
Books
- The Gospel (1987). Scripture Press. Out-of-print. German adaptation--Das Leben Jesu: Die authentische Biographie (1991). Hanssler.
- The Gospels Interwoven (1987). Scripture Press. Reprinted by Wipf & Stock (2001). . (with introduction by S. Lewis Johnson)
- Palestine Is Coming: The Revival of Ancient Philistia (1990). Hannibal Books. Re-issued by Wipf & Stock (2005). .
- The Third Day Bible Code (2006). Synergy Books. .
- Warrior from Heaven (2009). Synergy Books. .
- The Restitution of Jesus Christ (2008). Self-published. No ISBN.
- The Solving the Samaritan Riddle: Peter's Keys Explain Early Spirit Baptism (2015). Wipf & Stock. .
- The Restitution: Biblical Proof Jesus Is Not God (2023).
- The Gospel Corrupted: When Jesus was Made God (2023).
- Christ on the PGA Tour (1965-1982) (2025).
References
References
- "Golf Major Championships".
- (July 2009). "Kermit Zarley - The PGA Tour's Christian Pioneer". BC Golf News.
- "Author Kermit Zarley".
- (February 2020). "2011 Kermit Zarley Lectures". North Park University}}{{Dead link.
- Connor, Floyd. (June 1, 2001). "Golf's most wanted: the top 10 book of the great game's outrageous duffers". Potomac Books Inc..
- "Kermit Zarley". PGA Tour.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about Kermit Zarley — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report