Jay Sigel, a Hall of Fame golfer from Berwyn who held one of the most impressive win records in the sport’s history, died on April 19 aged 81, writes Gary Miles for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Sigel, who was also an exceptional salesman and owned an insurance company that he sold in 2004, recorded his first win when he was aged just 18 by taking the International Jaycee Junior Golf Tournament.
Over the next four decades, he captured back-to-back U.S. Amateur titles in 1982 and 1983, three U.S. Mid-Amateur championships between 1983 and 1987, eleven Pennsylvania Amateur Championships, and four Pennsylvania Open Championships, which were open to both pros and amateurs.
His final win before retiring came when he was 60 years old, and won the Bayer Advantage Celebrity Pro-Am title.
He is still the only golfer to have won both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur titles in the same year. He also represented the United States in a record nine Walker Cup tournaments.
“It is difficult to argue with the portrayal of Jay Sigel as the greatest amateur golfer since Bobby Jones,” said longtime Inquirer golf writer Joe Juliano.
Read more about golf Hall of Famer Jay Sigel’s life and legacy in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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