Born in Monterey, California,[5] Dutra was a descendant of early Spanish settlers in California.[4][7] At age nine, he and his older brother Mortimer were introduced to golf as a caddies at the country club in Del Monte,[8] where the club professional was Macdonald Smith.[7] For years, they woke up very early to practice golf before going to work. Early in his career, Dutra worked at a hardware store for five years.[9]
Professional career
In 1923, Dutra resigned from a job at his father's hardware store to become a golf professional.[10] His best years as a golf professional were in the early 1930s, when he won his two majors[5] and played on the 1933 and 1935 Ryder Cup teams. In the 1932 PGA Championship in St. Paul, Dutra played 196 holes and finished an astounding 19-under-par. He was the medalist in the 36-hole qualifier[11] and won his five matches by comfortable margins (9 & 8, 5 & 3, 5 & 4, 3 & 2, and 4 & 3).[12][13]
Dutra is best remembered for his performance at the 1934 U.S. Open at Merion near Philadelphia. More than a year earlier, Dutra became afflicted with amoebic dysentery, an often uncomfortable and painful intestinal infection. While traveling east from Los Angeles, Dutra stopped in the Detroit area to meet up with his brother Mortie, as both were entered in the Open, and began to feel very ill. He spent a short time in the hospital, casting doubt whether he could even play in the tournament. He resorted to unusual measures to cope with the infection, and lost close to 20 pounds (9 kg) off his 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m), 230-pound (104 kg) frame.[4] After the first two rounds, Dutra was eight strokes behind the leaders and in 18th place. On the eve of the 36-hole final day, he had an attack of dysentery, forcing him to snack on sugar cubes throughout the day. He was still able to shoot a 71-72, and held off 54-hole leader Gene Sarazen to win by a single stroke.[5][14] (Mortie Dutra finished tied for 28th.)
Dutra began his career as a club pro in Fresno, California at Fort Washington Country Club for several years and then was at Sunnyside Country Club for a year. He won his two majors as the pro at Brentwood Country Club in Los Angeles, and moved over to Wilshire Country Club in 1935.[2][15] While at Brentwood in 1932, he gave Babe Didrickson a two-minute lesson before she played her "first" round of golf, shortly after the 1932 Olympics; her first tee shot was 240 yards (220 m), outdriving her male playing partners.[16] (It was later revealed she had previous golf experience.)[17] Dutra later worked in Mexico City, then back in California in Avila Beach and Watsonville. In 1966, Dutra was inducted into the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame.[18] He died after an extended illness at age 82 in Newman in Stanislaus County.[5][3] Dutra and his wife Gladys are buried in the Hills Ferry Cemetery in Newman.
NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
DNQ = did not qualify for match play portion
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
^"Photo-Biography—No.40"(PDF). The American Golfer. LA 84 Foundation. September 1935. Archived from the original(PDF) on August 7, 2010. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire; # indicates the event was won by an amateur; 1942–1945 cancelled due to World War II
