Frank Stranahan

Frank Richard Stranahan (August 5, 1922 – June 23, 2013) was an American sportsman. He had significant success in both amateur and professional golf. He was ranked number one in his weight class in powerlifting, from 1945 to 1954, and he became known on the golf course and off as the "Toledo strongman" long before the modern game of golf and fitness. After he retired from tournament golf in the early 1960s, he became a prolific long-distance runner, competing in 102 marathons.

Early life Stranahan was born in Toledo, Ohio, on August 5, 1922. He was born into a very wealthy family. His father, Robert A. Stranahan Sr., and his uncle, Frank D. Stranahan, co-founded the highly successful Champion Spark Plug company. His uncle Frank was married to the actress and soprano Marie Celeste.

Frank's father's millions allowed Frank to concentrate on golf, and while in his teens he set a goal of becoming the best golfer in the world. He grew up playing the famous Inverness Club in Toledo, and won several club championships there. He received instruction as a junior at Inverness in the early 1940s from Byron Nelson, the club's professional, who was also playing the PGA Tour at that time.

Stranahan played college golf for the University of Miami. Nelson later mentored several other young players who went on to significant competitive success, including World Golf Hall of Fame members Ken Venturi, Tom Watson, and Marty Fleckman.

Amateur career During his amateur golf career, spanning from 1936 to 1954, Stranahan won over 70 amateur tournaments, and several Open events as well, competing against professionals. Stranahan was able to remain amateur by forgoing the prize money he could have won as a professional, due to his family wealth. His greatest accomplishments included appearing as a finalist in over a dozen national championships, winning seven. He won two major championships (as they were counted at the time): the 1948 and 1950 British Amateurs. He is the only amateur golfer in PGA history to win a professional event as an amateur more than once. Stranahan's dream was to win this championship; his closest was a 1950 finals loss in extra holes to Sam Urzetta. Stranahan stated at the time of turning pro that one of his reasons for making the switch was a desire for the Tour players to develop greater respect for him, since if he won a Tour event as an amateur, the runner-up received the first-place money. As a pro, his greatest victory was the 1958 Los Angeles Open. Notably, Stranahan was warned, and then finally suspended from the tournament in 1948, for playing more than one ball during practice rounds, although he had finished as runner-up the previous year. Stranahan appealed unsuccessfully to Bobby Jones, as well as fellow competitors, to be reinstated. Stranahan was invited to compete again the following year, despite the controversy, which continued, due to his failure to respect the rules. After Stranahan's father was approached by Jones over the matter, the younger Stranahan eventually wrote letters of apology to Jones, and behaved properly thereafter at the tournament, while maintaining there was much more to this situation which remained behind the scenes, without ever specifying the details of this. Stranahan retired from competitive golf in the early 1960s.

Post-golf career After leaving competitive golf, he concentrated on business. He studied at Harvard University and the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Personal life Stranahan married his wife Ann in 1954. Like Stranahan, she was also a top-class amateur golfer, finishing as the runner-up in the 1960 Canadian Women's Amateur. At age 45, Ann died from cancer. His eldest son Frank Jr. died from cancer at age 11. His second son Jimmy died of a drug overdose in Houston at age 19. Stranahan's father also died from cancer. His youngest son Lance works in real estate in Florida.

Death and legacy Stranahan died June 23, 2013, aged 90, at his home in Miami Beach, Florida.

Stranahan helped save the Open Championship. After World War II when few American golfers competed in the event, Stranahan competed in eight consecutive Open Championships, and was runner-up in 1947 and 1953. His personal support, along with the 1961 and 1962 wins of Arnold Palmer, revived, sustained, and returned the greatness of the Open Championship through encouraging other top Americans to compete, despite the low prize funds of that era.

Other wins this list is incomplete 1948 Ohio Open (as an amateur) 1960 Ohio Open 1961 Ohio Open

Major championships Amateur wins (2) YearChampionshipWinning scoreRunner-up 1948 British Amateur 5 & 4 Charlie Stowe 1950 British Amateur 8 & 6 Dick Chapman

Results timeline Amateur

Professional Note: Stranahan never played in the PGA Championship.

LA = low amateur NT = no tournament CUT = missed the half-way cut DNQ = did not qualify for match play portion R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play "T" indicates a tie for a place

Sources: Masters, U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur, The Open Championship, The Amateur Championship: 1946, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1954.

Summary Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (twice) Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (five times)

U.S. national team appearances Amateur Walker Cup: 1947 (winners), 1949 (winners), 1951 (winners) Americas Cup: 1952 (winners)