Armour, son, father of pro golfers, dies

Monday, March 3, 2003 | 11:31 a.m.

Prominent Las Vegas surgeon Dr. Thomas Armour, the son of legendary golfer Tommy "The Silver Scot" Armour and father of veteran Professional Golfers Association competitor Tommy Armour III, died Sunday. He was 81.

Henderson Police say they are investigating Armour's death at his home in the 200 block of Deer Crossing Way. Police arrived at his home around 3:30 p.m. and found his body, Officer Shane Lewis, a department spokesman, said. No further details were immediately available.

The Clark County coroner's office said an autopsy was scheduled for today.

Services were pending for Armour, a prominent high school and college sports booster, who long served on the board of trustees for Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

"He was a very gentle, kind and wonderful doctor," said Ann Lynch, longtime spokeswoman at Sunrise and a friend. "He was a pioneering general surgeon who brought a number of medical techniques and surgical procedures to Nevada."

Armour was appointed to the Sunrise Hospital Board in the early 1980s and had served on the medical staff there since 1964.

Armour's father was a Scotland-born golfer who was the first to represent both the United States and Britain in international play. The elder Armour turned pro in 1924 and won the 1927 U.S. Open and in 1930 Armour won the PGA Championship. A year later he won the British Open. He was elected to Golf's Hall of Fame in 1942. He died Sept. 12, 1968, 12 days shy of his 72nd birthday.

Dr. Armour's son is Tommy Armour III, 43, who won the Phoenix Open in 1990. At one point in the 1998 season, he led both the PGA and Nike tours in scoring average.