Jack “Jackie” Burke Jr. and Jimmy Demaret, two Texas golfers who shaped the game. Follow their trail through a sourced record of the tournaments they played — majors, tour events, team matches, sectional titles, senior events and exhibitions — and the courses where they played them.
Start here: New to Burke and Demaret? Begin with the Story below. The tabs then run in order: Tournaments, Courses, Map, Stats.
233 sourced appearances113 verified course records · 1934–1984
Burke and Demaret together among the azaleas, clubs in hand. Partners at Champions; rivals everywhere else. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.
109Jack Burke Jr. appearances
124Jimmy Demaret appearances
113verified course records
6appearances with an unresolved venue
Chapter 01 · The Numbers
Why Burke and Demaret matter
Burke and Demaret were Houston pros who won plenty: 47 PGA Tour titles and five majors between them, in the Hogan and Snead era. But winning was only part of it. They built a club of their own in Houston. Demaret helped carry golf onto television. Their teaching line runs back to Jack Burke Sr.’s tee at River Oaks, the same tee Ben Hogan credited with shaping his downswing. And Burke was still giving lessons at Champions when he turned 100.
47combined official PGA Tour wins — Burke 16, Demaret 31
5major championships — Burke 2, Demaret 3
13–1combined Ryder Cup record — Burke 7–1, Demaret a perfect 6–0
2World Golf Hall of Fame inductions — Demaret 1983, Burke 2000
1940–1950 · Demaret — the first man to win the Masters three times: 1940, 1947 and 1950.
1947 · Demaret — the Tour’s leading money winner ($27,936) and Vardon Trophy winner with a 69.90 scoring average.
1952 · Burke — won four tournaments in four successive weeks (the Texas, Houston, Baton Rouge and St. Petersburg Opens). In PGA Tour history the streak is bettered only by Byron Nelson’s 11 straight in 1945, Tiger Woods’ streaks of seven, six and five, and Ben Hogan’s six in 1948.
1956 · Burke — came from eight shots back in the final round to win the Masters, then beat Ted Kroll 3&2 to take the PGA Championship; named PGA Player of the Year.
Chapter 02 · Quick Answers
The quick answers
One card per career: the first win, the last win, the best season, and the achievement each man is remembered for. Everything here comes from the record in the Tournaments tab, with its sources attached.
Burke in his green jacket. He won the 1956 Masters after starting Sunday eight shots back. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.
Jack Burke Jr.
The teacher — 16 Tour wins · 2 majors · Ryder Cup 7–1 · Hall of Fame 2000
First win
Metropolitan Open · 1949His first professional win in this record: a course-record 64 at Metropolis CC to beat Gene Sarazen, by five shots or six (the sources differ). His first official Tour win followed at the 1950 Bing Crosby Pro-Am, where he shared a four-way tie.
Final Tour win
Lucky International Open · 1963His 16th and last official Tour title, at Harding Park. His last win of any kind came at home, the 1967 Texas State Open at Champions.
Best season
1956He won the Masters and the PGA Championship in the same year, the Masters after starting Sunday eight shots back, and was named PGA Player of the Year.
Signature
Four wins in four straight weeks · 1952The Texas, Houston, Baton Rouge and St. Petersburg Opens in four straight weeks. Then he taught for six more decades, and was still giving lessons at Champions at 100.
Demaret, driver in hand, in his playing prime, the gallery close behind him. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.
Jimmy Demaret
The showman — 31 Tour wins · 3 majors · Ryder Cup 6–0 · Hall of Fame 1983
First win
San Francisco National Match Play Open · 1938He beat Sam Snead 4&3 in the first of his 31 official Tour wins. Five straight Texas PGA titles (1934–38) came before it, the first of them worth a $25 first prize in 1934.
Final Tour win
Arlington Hotel Open · 1957His 31st and last Tour title. Burke finished tied for second, one shot behind him.
Best season
1947A second Masters title, the Tour money title at $27,936 and the Vardon Trophy with a 69.90 scoring average. His six-win 1940 season, capped by his first Masters, is a close second.
Signature
First man to win the Masters three times1940, 1947 and 1950. And a perfect 6–0 Ryder Cup record: he never lost a match.
Burke and Demaret founded Champions Golf Club in Houston in 1957. They built it for good players, and they sealed the partnership with a handshake; the two men never signed a contract. The club was nationally known almost from the start.
Burke and Demaret walk the raw 500 acres past the sign announcing The Champions Golf Club, before a single hole existed. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.Water guards a green at Champions, the course the two partners built for good players. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.
The Champions clubhouse. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.Inside Champions: the wood-paneled founders’ office, its walls lined with framed photographs and trophies. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.
Champions went on to host the 1967 Ryder Cup, the 1969 U.S. Open, the 1993 U.S. Amateur, the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur in 1998 and 2017, the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open, and five playings of the Tour Championship: the 1990 Nabisco Championship and the editions of 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003. It also hosted the Houston Champions International five times from 1966 to 1971. The pair founded the Champions Cup Invitational as well, an amateur event played there since 1961. In 1971, Ben Hogan hit his last shot in competition at Champions.
Televised golf was still young when Demaret, the Tour’s most flamboyant dresser and one of its great talkers, became a host of Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf in the 1960s and carried the game’s best players and courses into living rooms across America.
He played the series as well as presented it: in a 1966 episode at Eisenhower Golf Club at the U.S. Air Force Academy, he lost to Sam Snead, 76–74 — and longtime academy coach Gene Miranda, who studied the match film, maintained Snead should have drawn a two-stroke penalty at the 17th for moving loose rocks while taking his stance in a hazard, a penalty that would have tied the match. Burke appeared too, facing Stan Leonard at Banff Springs in 1962; the result of that match remains unverified. The series outlived them both. In 1996 it came to Champions itself, where Ben Crenshaw faced Tom Kite.
Burke in his later years at Champions. The lessons never stopped. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.
Burke’s playing career wound down in the 1960s; his teaching never stopped. As he turned 100 in January 2023, he was still at Champions six days a week, offering quick lessons out on the practice range. “His eyes aren’t great anymore but he can tell a lot without seeing the ball,” his wife, Robin, said.
Generations of players came to Houston to work with him. Hal Sutton, Phil Mickelson and Steve Elkington were Burke acolytes; Ben Crenshaw counted him an influence. Tiger Woods has said one of the great lessons he ever got came from Jackie Burke on a U.S. Amateur driving range — “you have to tee that ball down, kid” — the keep-it-down lesson behind his famous stinger. Burke also turned Mickelson’s putting around in 1999. He died in Houston on January 19, 2024, ten days short of his 101st birthday and the oldest living Masters champion.
The line starts a generation earlier, with Jack Burke Sr., the head professional at Houston’s River Oaks Country Club. Burke Sr. hired a teenage Jimmy Demaret as his assistant, and his students included both Demaret and his own son. Ben Hogan credited Burke Sr. with shaping his downswing, as recounted in The Secret of Hogan’s Swing. That downswing became the most studied move in golf, and it started on a Houston teaching tee.
Demaret and Hogan became the era’s great four-ball pairing, winning six Tour titles together: the Inverness Invitational Four-Ball in 1941, 1946, 1947 and 1948, and the Miami International Four-Ball in 1946 and 1947. Hogan captained Demaret’s first two Ryder Cup teams, in 1947 and 1949, and counted Burke Jr. among his few close friends. The families were close from the start: as a young pro at River Oaks, Demaret babysat the infant Jackie Burke.
Numbers only tell half of it. Demaret was the Tour’s great wit (Bob Hope called him the funniest amateur comedian in the world), and Burke taught in short, unforgettable bursts. Every line below is quoted as published, with its source attached.
An older Burke, smiling at Champions, where he taught for six decades. Many of the lines below are his. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.
Burke on Demaret: “If you were around Demaret, you were going to have a good time. He was a singer, you know. He didn’t know if he wanted to sing or play golf. But he could do both.”E74
You know what they say about big hitters… the woods are full of them.
Jimmy DemaretHis signature line on long drivers, in the SCGA’s 75 Greatest Quotes About Golf
From Demaret’s first Texas title in 1934 to Burke’s last lessons at 100: the majors, the Ryder Cups and the landmarks, in order.
BurkeDemaretTogether
1934–38
Landmark
Demaret’s Texas apprenticeship
Working for Jack Burke Sr. at River Oaks, Demaret wins five straight Texas PGA Championships, starting with a $25 first prize in 1934.
A young Demaret seated on the fairway, hat off, during his Texas apprenticeship years. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.
1938
First Tour win
First title on the national stage
Demaret beats Sam Snead 4&3 to win the San Francisco National Match Play Open — the first of 31 official PGA Tour wins.
1940
Major
Demaret’s first Masters
A six-win season, capped by the Masters at Augusta National — the first of his three green jackets.
1947
MajorRyder Cup
The peak Demaret season
A second Masters, the money title ($27,936) and the Vardon Trophy at 69.90, then a Ryder Cup debut in Portland, where the USA won 11–1 and his perfect 6–0 Ryder Cup career began.
1949–50
First Tour wins
Burke arrives
After Marine service in the war, Burke wins the 1949 Metropolitan Open, then three times in 1950 — including a share of the Bing Crosby Pro-Am, counted as an official Tour win.
1950
Major
First man to win the Masters three times
Demaret’s third green jacket, in 1950, makes him the first three-time Masters champion.
1951
Ryder Cup
Teammates at Pinehurst
Burke’s Ryder Cup debut comes alongside Demaret at Pinehurst No. 2; the USA won 9½–2½. Burke will finish his Ryder career 7–1, Demaret a perfect 6–0.
1952
Landmark
Burke’s four in a row
Texas, Houston, Baton Rouge and St. Petersburg Opens in four successive weeks — a streak bettered only by Nelson, Woods and Hogan — plus the Vardon Trophy at 70.54.
1956
Major ×2
Burke’s double-major year
From eight shots back on Sunday to win the Masters, then a 3&2 win over Ted Kroll for the PGA Championship — and PGA Player of the Year.
Burke with a winner’s trophy and the check to go with it, in his double-major year. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.
1957
LandmarkRyder Cup
They build Champions — and meet head-to-head
Burke and Demaret found Champions Golf Club in Houston, on a handshake. The same year, Demaret’s 31st and final Tour win comes at the Arlington Hotel Open with Burke tied for second, one shot back, while Burke captains the Ryder Cup side at Lindrick, his only Ryder Cup loss.
1960s
Landmark
Demaret takes golf to television
As host of Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf, Demaret carries the game into American living rooms. Burke plays the series too, at Banff Springs in 1962; Demaret faces Snead at the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1966.
1963
Final Tour win
Burke’s last Tour title
The Lucky International Open at Harding Park is Burke’s 16th and final official Tour win. His work at Champions — and on its lesson tee — is just beginning.
1967–69
Ryder CupMajor venue
Champions hosts the world
Their club stages the 1967 Ryder Cup and the 1969 U.S. Open — a decade after two tour pros founded it for good players.
1973
Ryder Cup
Burke captains at Muirfield
As non-playing captain, Burke leads the USA to a 19–13 Ryder Cup win in Scotland — his last of six Ryder Cup teams.
1978
Landmark
Demaret helps invent senior golf
Demaret co-founds the Legends of Golf — the event that proved senior golf could draw, and later carried an over-70 Demaret Division in his name.
1983
Hall of Fame
Demaret enters the Hall — and says goodbye
Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1983, Demaret dies that December at Champions, preparing for his daily tour of the course he built.
2000
Hall of Fame
Burke joins him in the Hall
Burke is inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000, joining Demaret.
2020
Major venue
Champions hosts the U.S. Women’s Open
Six decades on, their club is still staging major championships.
2023–24
Landmark
Lessons at 100, a century closed
Burke turns 100 in January 2023 still giving lessons at Champions six days a week. He dies in Houston on January 19, 2024, ten days short of 101 — the oldest living Masters champion.
Burke at 100, waving from Champions, where he was still teaching. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.
Chapter 06 · Ryder Cup Spotlight
Thirteen wins, one loss
Nine Ryder Cup teams between them, one of them shared, and a combined match record of 13–1. Burke appeared on six teams between 1951 and 1973, the last as non-playing captain. Demaret played three, in 1947, 1949 and 1951, and never lost a match.
13–1combined Ryder Cup match record — Burke 7–1, Demaret a perfect 6–0
Jack Burke Jr. — 7–1
1951Pinehurst No. 2 · player — USA won 9½–2½
1953Wentworth · player — USA won 6½–5½
1955Thunderbird CC · player — USA won 8–4
1957Lindrick · playing captain — GB won 7½–4½
1959Eldorado CC · player — USA won 8½–3½
1973Muirfield · non-playing captain — USA won 19–13
Jimmy Demaret — 6–0
1947Portland GC · player — USA won 11–1
1949Ganton · player — USA won 7–5
1951Pinehurst No. 2 · player — USA won 9½–2½
Demaret was also selected for the 1941 team, which never played; the match was cancelled.
The one Cup they shared was Pinehurst in 1951, where they were teammates in a 9½–2½ win. Of the nine teams the two men appeared on, only one lost: Burke’s 1957 side at Lindrick, where he was playing captain.
Career totals favor one man; the same-week record is closer. Every figure below comes from this page’s verified record. The head-to-head tally is counted from the 233 appearances in the Tournaments tab: same event, same year, individual finishes compared, with match-play runs ranked by the round reached.
Burke through the ball, in his full follow-through. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.Jack Burke Jr.In this index: 1941–1984 · 109 appearances
VS
Demaret, driver in hand, in his playing prime. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.Jimmy DemaretIn this index: 1934–1982 · 124 appearances
14times Burke finished higher
30shared tournaments
14times Demaret finished higher
Dead level. Twice more, at the 1941 and 1956 U.S. Opens, neither man recorded a placing. The 1951 Ryder Cup is not counted; there they were teammates. In majors alone the count is Burke 13, Demaret 12, across 27 shared championships.
16
PGA Tour wins
Edge31
21956 Masters · 1956 PGA
Major championships
Edge3Masters 1940 · 1947 · 1950
56
Major starts
56
12
Major top-10s
Edge19
7–1more wins
Ryder Cup record
6–0never lost
Edge61951–1973, twice as captain
Ryder Cup teams
31947–1951
1952 · 70.54
Vardon Trophy season
1947 · 69.90
2000
World Golf Hall of Fame
Edge1983entered first
14
Finished higher, shared events
14
The meetings that mattered
1950 Masters — Demaret champion; Burke withdrew.
1956 Masters — Burke champion, from eight shots back on Sunday; Demaret T34.
1956 PGA Championship — Burke champion, beating Ted Kroll 3&2; Demaret went out in the first round.
1949 Long Beach Open — Ben Hogan beat them both: Demaret 2nd after a playoff, Burke T3.
1957 Arlington Hotel Open — Demaret’s 31st and final Tour win; Burke T2, one shot back.
1982 Legends of Golf — a generation on, Burke (with Paul Harney) finished T10; Demaret (with Gene Sarazen) 24th.
On career numbers, Demaret’s card is the heavier one: nearly twice the Tour wins, one more major, and he reached the Hall of Fame first. But put them in the same field in the same week, and across the 30 shared tournaments in this index they finished dead level, 14–14.
Burke and Demaret are two of the most underappreciated greats in golf. If this page gave you a new appreciation for them, send it to someone who loves the game.
Reading the finishes: T2 means a tie for second; CUT, WD and DQ mean the week ended early; match-play codes (SF, QF, R32) mark the round a player reached. Tap any finish in the list to see what its code means.
No appearances match those filters.
The entrance sign at Champions Golf Club in Houston, the club Burke and Demaret founded in 1957 and the home ground of this record. Courtesy of Champions Golf Club.
113 verified course recordsOpen a course to see its appearances
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Where their influence traveled
Every venue in the record with a verified map point. Pick a dot on the map, or a course from the list, to see its tournaments, years and players.
BurkeDemaretBoth
116 map points
No map points match that search.
Map couldn’t load. Browse the complete course list beside the map (or below it on mobile), then select any venue to see its tournaments, years and players. Each tournament profile also includes an “Open in maps” link.
Points combine the alternate historical names used for the same course.
Not mapped
These appearances either lack a verified course identity or name a historical venue without a precise map point. They stay off the map rather than being placed by guesswork.
Verified career snapshot
Career summaries, each backed by its sources. Where historical totals conflict, the conflict is left visible rather than forced into a single answer.
Masters 22 starts / 14 cuts; U.S. Open 12 / 6; PGA 22 / 21; The Open — never played
Professional wins
19 in the principal career record: 16 official Tour wins + 3 other wins. A secondary source lists 18 and omits Yomiuri.
Runner-up finishes
19 verified in this index, each one individually sourced. Four came in his winless 1951 season: 2nd at Colonial, the Houston Open and the Reading Open, and a tie for 2nd at Tucson, in a year he still finished 5th on the money list. The Field Level Media obituary credits 21 career runner-up finishes, so two remain undocumented here.
Playoffs
4–4 from 1952–1961; the 1982 Senior Guide’s 0–0 is treated as incomplete.
Career earnings
$260,746 in the 1982 Senior PGA Tour Guide.
Honors
1956 PGA Player of the Year · World Golf Hall of Fame 2000 · PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement 2003 · Bob Jones Award 2004.
CompleteBoth players’ major starts and finishes, official Tour wins, and Ryder Cup appearances.
ExpandedTeam events, senior appearances, sectional wins, television matches and selected non-win Tour finishes.
Still openBurke’s career-start totals; six unresolved venue appearances; Demaret’s remaining PGA match details and career earnings.
Open research gaps
No published career-start or top-10 total was found for Burke’s pre-1968 Tour career.
Six appearances still lack a verified course: Burke’s reported 1958 Yomiuri win and Demaret’s five Texas PGA titles from 1934 through 1938.
Burke’s 1962 Shell match result and his 1979 Bob Hope round-by-course order remain unverified.
Demaret’s 1958 PGA disqualification reason, other PGA match details, exact career earnings and exact December 1951 Havana dates remain unresolved.
Method: when the same appearance turned up in more than one list (majors, wins, event results), the listings were merged into a single row. “Verified venue labels” excludes rows marked unknown or unverified. Ryder Cup and other team-event rows show the team result, since an individual placing may not apply. Course names keep the historical naming used by the sources.
Sources
Each row’s reference codes point here. The record was compiled by cross-checking event histories, player records and venue lists; these links are the sources attached to it.
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