George Lyon (golfer)

George Lyon (golfer)

George Seymour Lyon (July 27, 1858 – May 11, 1938) was a Canadian golfer, an Olympic gold medallist, an eight-time Canadian Amateur Championship winner, and a member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

Lyon was born in Richmond, Ontario, near Ottawa. His early sporting career was in cricket, where, as a batsman he represented Canada eight times, averaging 14.07 and scoring 238 not out in a club game, at that time the highest score ever made in Canada.

Although he began playing golf at the age of 38, he won the gold medal in golf in the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri. He won the Canadian Amateur Championship a record eight times between 1898 and 1914, and won the Canadian Seniors' Golf Association Championship ten times between 1918 and 1930. Lyon lost in the finals of the 1906 U.S. Amateur Championship, and in the semi-finals of the 1908 British Amateur Championship, when in his 50th year. He traveled to London in 1908 to defend his Olympic title, but plans to stage a golf tournament there were cancelled at the last minute, since representatives from England and Scotland were unable to agree on the format, and golf has not been held in the Olympics since.

In 1955, Lyon was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. In 1971, he was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

Lyon died in Toronto, Ontario and was buried in Toronto's Mount Pleasant Cemetery.