Why do so many golfers have nutty names? Fuzzy Zoehler, Fred Funk, Boo Weekly and Duffy Waldorf to name a tiny fraction.
I’ve searched through thousands and found screeds of strange ones, but none weirder than this man. A lot of listeners didn’t believe me so here he is. Check out the Wiffy Cox swing. Of the thousands I’ve looked up there were only 7 Smiths, and only 1 of those still playing! What is going on?
"Wiffy" Cox (October 27, 1896 – February 20, 1969) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1930s. Cox won nine times on the PGA Tour. His first individual win on the PGA Tour came at the 1931 North and South Open; his four wins that year led the PGA Tour for most wins. His best finish in a major championship was tied for third at the 1934 U.S. Open. Cox played on the winning U.S. team in the 1931 Ryder Cup, winning both his matches.
Here are some others:
Retief Goosen
Curtis Strange
Fuzzy Zoehller
Rich Beem
Mike Weir
Paine Stewart
Tiger Woods
Fred Funk
Duffy Waldorf
Notah Begay The Third
Davis Love The Third
Tommy Armour The Third
Charles Howell The Third
Why are there no seconds?
Names that are sentences:
Rocco Mediate
Briny Baird
Wiffy Cox
Fred Couples
Bob Burns
Justin Rose
Sean O’Hair
D. A. Points
Boo Weekly
Chuck Fruit (Sports Marketing CEO at Coke)
Typically Wacky:
Brent Delahoussay
Brian Gay
Matt Goggin
Robert Garrigus
Brent Geiberger
Padraig Harrington
Skip Kendall
Hank Keuhn
Derek Lamely
Frank Likleiter
Jeff Maggert
David Lutterus
John Merrick (That’s the name of The Elephant Man)
Kevin Na
Dick Pride
Kirk Triplett
Bubba Watson
Bubba Dickerson
Chad Campbel
Matt Weibring
Chip Beck
Hale Irwin
Jodie Mudd
David Peoples
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Boonchu Ruangitt
Rod Spittle
Keoke Cotner
Joe Affrunti
Bubba Dickerson
Sunny Kim
Luke List
Jamie Lovemark
Major Manning
Blaine Peffley
Tag Ridings
Tyrone Van Asswegen
Rohan Blizzard
Brandell Chamblee
Chawalit Plaphol
Mike Cunning
Forest Fezler
Scott Gump
Bunky Henry
Chuck Kocsis
Colt Knost
Trip Kuehne
Ky Laffoon USA
Rives McBee
Spike McRoy
Jug McSpaden
Dick Mast
Jumbo Ozaki
Mungo Park (Scot)
Johnny Revolta
Howard Twitty
Wang Terchang
Bo Winninger
Guy Walsenhome
Here are the Smiths I could find:
Alex Smith 1872–1930
Chris Smith 1969–
Horton Smith HoF 1908–1963
Macdonald Smith 1892–1949
Marilynn Smith HoF 1929–
Warren Smith 1915–
Willie Smith 18??–1916
Names that SHOULD be golfers:
Itchibum Suzuki
Wiffy Longdrop
Haydron Kalyder The Third
Oozy Skidmark the Third
Wi Sun Puz
Crop Duster
Dusty Mantlepiece
Chubb Wankle
Snoopy Beaglehole
Mince Pye
Clam Chowder
Foo Na
Bun Ji Jumpa
Frisbee Haveacrack
Ralf Daly
Itsgunarain Gecharanarak (Thailand)
Swivell Stick
Grey Warbler
Randy Funpants