Great American Tour Player – Ted Kroll

The past few months, we have been bringing you profiles of players almost everyone has heard of.  This month, we bring you the profile of a prominent American player who seems to have gotten lost with time.   Ted Kroll was born in 1919, and was a three-time Ryder Cup player for the United States in 1953, 1955, and 1957.  He won eight times on what is now the PGA Tour, and while he never won a major championship, he contended strongly in the 1956 US Open and lost later that year in the PGA Championship final match.  He also figured in the historic 1960 US Open, shooting a final-round 67 which fell three shots shy of eventual winner Arnold Palmer.   Kroll also held the record-low round on Tour for years, shooting a 60 in the 1954 Texas Open.  His last victory of note occurred in the 1972 Florida Open.  In the 1980’s, the Senior Tour gave Kroll a new lease on competitive life, competing frequently.  He died in 2002 at the age of 82 after suffering in his later years from Parkinson’s disease.