Editing Cary Middlecoff (section)

==Professional career==
In 1947, Middlecoff turned professional. He was selected for the [[1947 Walker Cup]] team but immediately withdrew as he intended turning professional.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hFNAAAAAIBAJ&pg=6205%2C642537 |newspaper=[[Glasgow Herald]] |date=January 13, 1947 |title=Twelve Names in U.S. Walker Cup Selection |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ilNAAAAAIBAJ&pg=4009%2C1063513 |newspaper=[[Glasgow Herald]] |date=January 20, 1947 |title=U.S. Walker Cup Team Change |page=2}}</ref>

During his playing career, Middlecoff won 39 PGA Tour tournaments,<ref name=pga>{{cite book |title=PGA TOUR 2007 Guide |year=2006 |publisher=PGA Tour |chapter=All-Time Records - Top 50 All-Time PGA Tour Winners |pages=6–12 }}</ref> including the 1955 [[Masters Tournament|Masters]] and [[U.S. Open (golf)|U.S. Open]] titles in 1949 and 1956. He won the [[Vardon Trophy]] for lowest scoring average in 1956.

Middlecoff played on three [[Ryder Cup]] teams: 1953, 1955, and 1959 – the U.S. teams won all three times. He was ineligible for the 1957 Ryder Cup because he failed to play in the PGA Championship that year.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=80FBAAAAIBAJ&pg=3310,2263919&dq=ryder+cup+points&hl=en |title=U.S. Ryder Cup side named |newspaper=The Bulletin |page=10 |date=July 30, 1957 |access-date=June 14, 2013}}</ref> Middlecoff was disappointed to lose a playoff in the [[1957 U.S. Open (golf)|1957 U.S. Open]] to [[Dick Mayer]], and played very few events following that event. The U.S. lost the Cup in 1957, for the first time since 1933.

Middlecoff's three best seasons were 1949, 1951 and 1956, as he won six tour titles in each of those years. He won at least one tour tournament in 13 of his 15 seasons, missing only in 1957 and 1960.

During the decade of the 1950s, Middlecoff won 28 tour titles, more than any other player during that span. A tall player with plenty of power and very good accuracy, Middlecoff during his best years was also a superb putter. He was known for often taking excessive time to play his shots.

Back problems and struggles with his nerves during competition ended his career in the early 1960s, when he was in his early 40s, although he continued to play occasionally, competing in the Masters until 1971, as a past champion.

Middlecoff became a top player despite having one leg slightly shorter than the other.<ref>{{cite book |title=The U.S. Open: Golf's Ultimate Challenge |edition=2nd |first=Robert |last=Sommers |year=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195100495}}</ref>

He appeared in two motion pictures as himself (''[[Follow the Sun (film)|Follow the Sun]]'' (1951, about the life and career of [[Ben Hogan]]) and ''[[The Bellboy]]'' (1960)). He wrote a newspaper column, "The Golf Doctor." He also appeared in a short biographical sports documentary ''Golf Doctor'' (1947).

Middlecoff later developed a reputation as one of the best of the early [[golf]] [[television]] commentators. After retiring from the tour, he spent 18 years as a golf analyst for television.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/03/sports/cary-middlecoff-77-dentist-who-became-top-pro-golfer.html |title=Cary Middlecoff, 77, Dentist Who Became Top Pro Golfer |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Frank |last=Litsky |date=September 3, 1998}}</ref>