[Photo: Michael Cohen]
John Harris, the decorated amateur who was a member of four US Walker Cup teams and the last mid-amateur to win the US Amateur, died on Wednesday in the US after battling Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. He was 73.
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Harris was one of the best players to come out of Minnesota and is a member of the state’s Golf Hall of Fame. He won four amateur titles in Minnesota and was the Player of the Year 10 times.
The Minnesota Golf Association reported that Harris played golf only seven days ago at Edina Country Club and shot even-par 72.
“He was probably the best amateur player at our state level [in the modern era] that we had seen in a long time,” the MGA’s Warren Ryan told the USGA. “He basically dominated Minnesota amateur golf from the mid-80s until 2001 before he decided to turn pro again. He beat everybody young and old.
“Speaking to some of his close friends, they all said the same thing—he was the consummate gentleman on and off the golf course. He always knew the right thing to say and the right thing to do… his reputation was huge.”
Harris was an exceptional ice hockey player as a youth and was the leading scorer on the 1974 University of Minnesota team that captured the NCAA title. That same year he won the individual Big 10 Conference crown for the Gophers in golf.
The 1995 US Walker Cup team included Tiger Woods (top left), Notah Begay (back row, fourth in line) and John Harris (top right). David Cannon
Although Harris was a legend in Minnesota, he was a titan on the national amateur golf circuit too. But that only came after a brief, yet unsuccessful, stint on the PGA Tour. Harris earned his PGA Tour card in 1975 but regained his amateur status eight years later.
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From then, Harris was a major player on the amateur scene. His biggest victory came at the 1993 US Amateur at Champions Golf Club in Houston where he beat Danny Ellis, 5 and 3, in the 36-hole championship match. He was 41 at the time and still remains the last mid-amateur to capture the US Amateur. He counted the Sunnehanna Amateur, Porter Cup and Terra Cotta Invitational among other big national amateur victories.
Harris, who owned an insurance business in Minnesota, was selected to play for the US in the Walker Cup in 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2001, collecting a combined 10-4 record in 14 matches. Some of his teammates on the victorious 1993 team at Interlachen in his beloved Minnesota were Brian Gay, Tim Herron and Justin Leonard. Tiger Woods, Notah Begay and Trip Kuehne were among his teammates in a losing effort in 1995. In the opening foursomes match that year Harris and Woods partnered to beat Gordon Sherry and Stephen Gallacher 4 and 3. The next morning, however, they lost to Irishmen Padraig Harrington and Jody Fanagan, 2 and 1. By 2001, Harris was 49 and played with 21-year-olds Erik Compton and Lucas Glover on the US squad.
Many were surprised when in 2002 Harris opted to turn professional for a second time and attempt to play on the Senior Tour. Four years later he won his lone title on the tour, the 2006 Commerce Bank Championship in a playoff over Tom Jenkins. He officially retired from the PGA Tour Champions in 2021.
“As one of the most accomplished amateurs of his generation, and a PGA Tour Champions winner, John Harris was an incredible ambassador for our sport,” PGA Tour Champions president Miller Brady told the tour’s website. “He was beloved by his fellow players, as well as our tournaments and staff, and represented the game of golf with unwavering class and humility. We extend our condolences to his family during this difficult time.”
