American golf pro, best known for his unmatched record in 1977 of shooting a 59, under par by 13, earning him the nickname “Mr. 59.” At age 15, his family settled in Santa Barbara, CA, where he graduated the University of Southern California with a BS in Business Administration in 1959. Impassioned with golf, he turned pro a year later at age 23, winning three tournaments in his first five years on the circuit. After winning the PGA in 1966, he maintained a solid record but claimed no victories over the next three years. In 1969, he encountered the first of several medical setbacks with an inflamed intestine that nearly ended his career. Success returned with the winning of the Sahara Invitational in 1974, followed by the Memphis Open in 1977 where he was catapulted into legend as “Mr. 59.”
Further intestinal surgery followed in 1978, then Geiberger continued his winning streak
at the Colonial in Ft. Worth, Florida one year later, the $54,000 purse his biggest purse ever. Knee surgery followed, then another medical setback in 1980 when his entire colon had to be removed. Two more operations followed to remove a growth the size of a football.
Geiberger’s marriage to Lynn Butler ended in divorce; they had five children. He made a second marriage to Carolyn Spring in 1985. The birth of their two sons helped him put his problems behind him, then tragedy struck. In the early ’90s his two year old son Matthew slipped past his half brother who was babysitting him and drowned in a community pool. Counseling and building a new home in Solvang, CA helped the couple recover from their loss. “Life isn’t just the good things, it’s also a series of problems…but you have to go on. There’s not a hell of a lot else you can do.”
Link to Wikipedia biography