Kermit Zarley

Kermit Millard Zarley, Jr. (born September 29, 1941) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. He is also an author of several books.

Kermit Zarley
Personal information
Full nameKermit Millard Zarley, Jr.
Born (1941-09-29) September 29, 1941
Seattle, Washington
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Nationality United States
ResidenceScottsdale, Arizona
Career
CollegeUniversity of Houston
Turned professional1963
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins6
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour3
PGA Tour Champions1
Other2
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT17: 1973
PGA ChampionshipT8: 1968
U.S. Open6th: 1972
The Open ChampionshipDNP

Biography

Zarley was born in Seattle, Washington. He graduated from the University of Houston and was a distinguished member of the golf team. He was the individual champion at the 1962 NCAA Division I Championships and also led his team to victory.

Zarley had three dozen top-10 finishes in PGA Tour events during his 18 years on Tour including three wins. Zarley had three top-10 finishes in major championships; his best was a solo 6th at the 1972 U.S. Open.[1] Zarley won once on the Senior/Champions Tour. On both Tours, he finished second or tied for second seventeen times.

Due to his unusual name, Zarley was often called "the Pro from the Moon" or "Moon Man." It is because comedian Bob Hope once interviewed him on national television and remarked, "Kermit Zarley, with a name like that he must be the pro from the moon."[2] In a Wayne and Shuster sketch about a golf tournament being held on the streets of Toronto, Johnny Wayne's character is named "Zarley Kermit, Jr."

In 1965, Zarley co-founded the PGA Tour Bible Study group with fellow PGA Tour players, Jim and Babe Hiskey.[3] It still flourishes today and has proliferated throughout the world of professional golf. In the period between his careers on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour, he authored three books on religion and world affairs. He received an honorary doctorate degree in 2001 from Chicago's North Park University, which has a lecture series named for him.[4] Zarley lived much of his adult life in the Houston metropolitan area, but now resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.[3]

Controversial religious writings

In The Third Day Bible Code (2006), Zarley examined the relatively frequent occurrence of "third day" in the Bible. Applying the words "with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day" (2 Peter 3:8), he offered the provocative interpretation that Jesus' expected second coming will occur during the early part of the third millennium following his departure, between the years 2070 and 2250.

The publication of his most recent book, The Restitution of Jesus Christ, was preceded by his usage of the pseudonym Servetus the Evangelical.[5] His stated reasons for doing so were: "if my fellow Evangelicals ever knew about my christological beliefs they would not accept me as a genuine Christian and ostracize me from the Evangelical community."[5] His book endorses a Unitarian[6] viewpoint of christology, similar to the quasi-Unitarian position of Michael Servetus himself.

Amateur wins

Professional wins (6)

PGA Tour wins (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 Jan 21, 1968 Kaiser International Open Invitational –15 (71-67-70-65=273) 1 stroke Dave Marr
2 Jul 5, 1970 Canadian Open –9 (69-73-70-67=279) 3 strokes Gibby Gilbert
3 Jul 30, 1972 National Team Championship
(with Babe Hiskey)		 –22 (67-63-66-66=262) 3 strokes Grier Jones and Johnny Miller

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 1976 Florida Citrus Open Hale Irwin Lost to par on sixth extra hole

Other wins (2)

Senior PGA Tour wins (1)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 Oct 9, 1994 The Transamerica –12 (70-68-66=204) Playoff Isao Aoki

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1994 Royal Caribbean Classic Lee Trevino Lost to par on fourth extra hole
2 1994 The Transamerica Isao Aoki Won with birdie on first extra hole
3 1996 Bruno's Memorial Classic John Bland, John Paul Cain Bland won with bogey on third extra hole
Zarley eliminated with par on second hole

Books
  • The Gospel (1987). Scripture Press. Out-of-print. German adaptation--Das Leben Jesu: Die authentische Biographie (1991). Hanssler.
  • The Gospels Interwoven (1987). Scripture Press. Reprinted by Wipf & Stock (2001). ISBN 1-57910-775-3.
  • Palestine Is Coming: The Revival of Ancient Philistia (1990). Hannibal Books. Re-issued by Wipf & Stock (2005). ISBN 1-55635-181-X.
  • The Third Day Bible Code (2006). Synergy Books. ISBN 1-933538-43-0.
  • Warrior from Heaven (2009). Synergy Books. ISBN 0-9815462-2-6.
  • The Restitution of Jesus Christ (2008) . Self-published. No ISBN.
  • The Solving the Samaritan Riddle: Peter's Keys Explain Early Spirit Baptism (2015). Wipf & Stock. ISBN 9781498225281.

References
  1. "Golf Major Championships".
  2. Connor, Floyd (June 1, 2001). Golf's most wanted: the top 10 book of the great game's outrageous duffers. Potomac Books Inc. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-57488-360-2.
  3. "Kermit Zarley - The PGA Tour's Christian Pioneer". BC Golf News. July 2009. Archived from the original on September 5, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
  4. "2011 Kermit Zarley Lectures". North Park University.
  5. "Pseudonym page from servetustheevangelical.com".
  6. "The Restitution of Jesus page from servetustheevangelical.com".
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