Johnny Revolta

John F. Revolta (April 5, 1911 – March 3, 1991) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1930s, 1940s, and early 1950s. He won a major title, the 1935 PGA Championship, and had 20 career wins on tour.

Revolta was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His family relocated to Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1923 when he was twelve. He learned the game as a caddie at the public course in Oshkosh and won the state caddie championship at age 14.

Like most professional golfers of his generation, Revolta started out as a club professional. He worked at Swan Lake Country Club in Portage in 1930, Chippewa Elks Golf Club in 1931, Riverside Country Club in Menominee, Michigan 1932–1933, and Tripoli Country Club in Milwaukee from 1934 to 1936. He won the Wisconsin State Open four times in a six-year period; he was not eligible for two years while working in Michigan. Revolta was a member of the PGA Tour from 1935 to 1952.

Revolta's best year as a tour pro was 1935, when he won five tournaments and led the PGA Tour's money list. He defeated Tommy Armour 5 & 4 in the PGA Championship held at Twin Hills Golf & Country Club and also won the Western Open, the era's "fifth major". He also played in the Ryder Cup in 1935 and 1937.

Revolta was known as the "Iron Master" because of his outstanding short game. Regarding his bunker play in particular, short game master Paul Runyan said Revolta "led the class [of outstanding bunker players] by a big margin. His skill from sand simply left me aghast." His instruction book, Johnny Revolta's Short Cuts to Better Golf, first published in 1949, is still in print today.

Revolta was the head professional at Evanston Golf Club in Skokie, Illinois, from 1935 to 1966, and continued to teach there during summers into the late 1980s.

In 1991, Revolta died in Palm Springs, California a month shy of his 80th birthday.

• 1933 (1) Miami Open
• 1934 (2) St. Paul Open, Wisconsin Open
• 1935 (6) Western Open, Sarasota Open, Wisconsin Open, PGA Championship, Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Henry Picard), Miami International Four-Ball (with Henry Picard)
• 1936 (2) Thomasville Open, Miami International Four-Ball (with Henry Picard)
• 1937 (2) Miami Biltmore Open, Miami International Four-Ball (with Henry Picard)
• 1938 (4) Sacramento Open, St. Petersburg Open, St. Paul Open, Columbia Open
• 1939 (1) Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Henry Picard)
• 1941 (1) San Francisco National Match Play Open
• 1944 (1) Texas Open

Major championship is shown in bold.

Source:

this list is probably incomplete

• 1930 Wisconsin State Open
• 1931 Wisconsin State Open
• 1936 Waterloo Open Golf Classic, Illinois PGA Championship
• 1937 Illinois PGA Championship
• 1938 Illinois PGA Championship
• 1941 Illinois PGA Championship
• 1944 Pro-Lady Victory National (with Patty Berg)
• 1947 Illinois PGA Championship

Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958

NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF, F = round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place

• Most consecutive cuts made – 24 (1933 U.S. Open – 1940 PGA)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1934 U.S. Open – 1934 PGA)