Two-time PGA TOUR winner Ron Cerrudo dies at 79

In his two PGA TOUR victories, Ron Cerrudo left little doubt who was the best player in both of the weeks he walked away with trophies.

Near the end of the 1968 PGA TOUR season, at the Cajun Classic at Oakbourne Country Club in Lafayette, Louisiana, Cerrudo rolled to a four-shot triumph over the duo of Bobby Mitchell and Charlie Sifford. Fifteen months later, at the 1970 San Antonio Open, Cerrudo coasted to a four-stroke, 54-hole lead and went on to rout the field in winning at Pecan Valley Country Club by five shots.

Nailbiters, it seemed, were never a part of the equation for Cerrudo, who died April 24 in his adopted home of South Carolina. He was 79.

Cerrudo played the PGA TOUR full-time from 1968 to 1977, eventually leaving the touring life to become a successful club pro and instructor. Cerrudo, born in Palo Alto, California, on Feb. 4, 1945, was the 1964 California Amateur of the Year. He first attended Chabot Community College in nearby Hayward before transferring to San Jose State, where he led the Spartans to a second-place finish at the 1966 NCAA Championship, four shots behind winner Houston. Cerrudo tied for fifth in the individual competition. He twice earned first-team All-American honors as a Spartan.

In the summer of 1966, at the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania, Cerrudo had a two-foot putt that would have put him in a three-man playoff at a time when the United States Golf Association still used stroke play to determine a champion. Cerrudo admitted he rushed his putt on the 18th green, missed and then watched as Deane Beman defeated Gary Cowan in sudden death.

“It just goes to show you what one careless move can cost you,” Cerrudo later told the Oakland Tribune.“But it taught me a lesson, and maybe it’s for the best.”

A year later, Cerrudo, after finishing third at the U.S. Amateur, represented the U.S. at the Walker Cup against a team from Great Britain & Ireland at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in England. Cerrudo compiled a 1-1-2 record in his four matches as the U.S. retained the Cup.

While still an amateur, Cerrudo had already appeared in four PGA TOUR tournaments, making the cut in all four—his best finish a tie for 13th at the 1967 American Golf Classic in Akron, Ohio. He also played on the weekend at both of his Masters appearances (1966 and 1967). Cerrudo made his professional TOUR debut late in 1967 after two consecutive summers of close calls on the amateur circuit. Besides his third-place finishes at the U.S. Amateur, Cerrudo lost in the finals of The Amateur Championship, 2 & 1, to fellow American Bob Dickson. At the 1966 Western Amateur, Jim Wiechers, bested Cerrudo, 1-up, in the finals at Pinehurst Resort’s No. 2 Course.

Once he turned pro late in the season, Cerrudo made two TOUR starts, tying for 70th at the Hawaiian Open then finishing 11th at the Cajun Classic in Louisiana, a performance that was a harbinger of things to come in the Bayou.

A year later, Cerrudo’s talent was on full display the week before Thanksgiving in Louisiana as he shot rounds of 69-67-66-68—the only player in the field with four sub-70 scores—to win his first title.

“It’s a bigger thrill than anybody knows,” he told the media following his victory. “I was starting to get the feeling of a bridesmaid, wondering if I was ever going to win anything.”

Cerrudo then only waited 15 months to win again, this time in San Antonio. He played the final round with old friend Dick Lotz, also from California. It was a bit of revenge for Cerrudo, who lost to Lotz in the finals of the 1962 California State Amateur.

At Pecan Valley Golf Club, after Lotz had narrowed Cerrudo’s Sunday advantage to one stroke with nine holes to play, Cerrudo made a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 10, he chipped in for birdie at the 12th and rolled in back-to-back birdie putts, starting at No. 14, allowing him to salt away win No. 2.

“You’ve got to be aggressive to win,” he said. “You start playing it safe and the field’s going to go right by you.”

It turned out to be an abbreviated 1970 season for Cerrudo, who took time off after his win to rest his painful back. He eventually underwent surgery in August to repair a ruptured disc but still finished 57th on the money list despite appearing in only 15 tournaments. He closed the following season 81st on the money list, with three top-10s then was 85th in 1972. His lone highlight that season didn’t come in the U.S., however. In December, Cerrudo traveled to Africa to play in the second edition of the Hassan II Golf Trophy in Morocco. He battled Al Geiberger through 72 holes, the two Californians tying at the end of regulation. In the overtime, Cerrudo parred the first hole to Geiberger’s bogey, giving Cerrudo the first-place check of $13,000 and a trophy, a dagger encrusted with 210 diamonds.

Cerrudo’s play and health continued to drop off after that, and he never finished higher than No. 100 in earnings. By 1978, Cerrudo only played seven tournaments.

At the close of the 1970s, he essentially retired from TOUR golf to become the head teaching professional at the Shipyard Golf Club in Hilton Head, South Carolina. After 17 years at Shipyard, Cerrudo accepted a position as the head teaching pro at Port Royal Golf Club, also in Hilton Head, where he remained until 2002 when he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, and the Daniel Island Club. He held that position until his death.

Just three months ago, the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame inducted Cerrudo into its 2024 class.

Cerrudo is survived by his wife of 50 years, Madeline, his daughters, Katherine Erdman and Stacy Artherton, and two siblings, brother Gordon and sister Deborah.

The family will hold a celebration of life on May 10 at the Daniel Island Club.