FRISCO, Texas (Jan. 18, 2023) ー The PGA of America named Stephen Szurlej because the third recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in Photojournalism. Szurlej and his excellent profession shall be celebrated on Could 17 in the course of the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Nation Membership in Rochester, New York.
The PGA of America established the Lifetime Achievement Award in Photojournalism to acknowledge the important position that images performs in documenting the wealthy historical past of golf and to rejoice the people who’ve promoted the sport on the highest degree.
“Stephen Szurlej’s extraordinary potential to seize golf’s most memorable moments, athletes and programs by imagery has made an eternal influence on our sport,” stated PGA of America President John Lindert. “Stephen set the usual for golf images by his masterful inventive potential and relentless work ethic. On behalf of the PGA of America, I congratulate Stephen for over three a long time of excellence in photojournalism.”
Szurlej, 73, served as Senior Employees Photographer for Golf Digest and Tennis Journal for almost 30 years.
“It’s fairly an honor,” stated Szurlej. “By no means would I’ve thought that I’d be chosen for this. I’m actually appreciative of the PGA of America.”
Szurlej, who was born and raised in New Jersey and now splits his time between Danbury, Connecticut, and Port St. Lucie, Florida, honed his craft as a sports activities freelance photographer and spent 5 years at a weekly newspaper in Danbury. Whereas with the newspaper, which Szurlej estimates was the second newspaper within the nation to have full shade, he lined New York sports activities groups in addition to native golf and tennis occasions.
Szurlej joined Golf Digest in 1980 and lined golf’s largest stars. The vast majority of his match motion images appeared in Golf Digest’s sister weekly publication, Golf World. Szurlej additionally shot sequences and different instruction targeted content material for Golf Digest. It was at these one-on-one classes the place he constructed relationships with gamers.
Throughout this time, he additionally labored for Tennis Journal as each publications have been below the identical possession. He shot 15 consecutive U.S. Opens for Tennis Journal from 1981 to 1995.
For Szurlej, it’s tough to single out his favourite photographs from over 30 years of golf protection. Like many photojournalists, he tends to evaluate himself extra on the misses than the makes.
“It’s slightly bit just like the gamers,” stated Szurlej. “Everyone seems to be so good on the market. It’s so onerous to win week to week. The identical factor is with golf images. There are plenty of nice golf and sports activities photographers. Getting the perfect image, a successful second is absolutely plenty of onerous work, plenty of effort and typically some luck too.”
One picture that does stand out to Szurlej got here from the ultimate spherical of the 2005 Masters. After following Tiger Woods’ tee shot on the par-3 sixteenth gap, Szurlej positioned himself on the precise aspect of the inexperienced so Woods could be chipping in his path.
Szurlej acknowledged the break of the inexperienced and estimated the place Woods would want to intention his chip to ensure that it to have any likelihood of reaching the opening.
He determined to face behind the packed gallery and shoot over the patrons’ heads. It was of venture for Szurlej who knew that if something dramatic occurred not getting an image was a risk. Woods’ chip momentarily held on the sting of the cup earlier than falling in and sending the group right into a frenzy.
“Arms flew up in entrance of me as I struggled to string the needle and maintain my focus level on Tiger,” stated Szurlej. “His response lasted simply a few seconds, but it surely appeared longer. I selected the proper place, however was fortunate an outstretched arm was not in my direct line of sight on the time of Tiger’s peak expression. I had a number of frames ruined by raised arms, however solely wanted one.”
Szurlej’s gamble paid off and produced one in all golf’s most iconic photographs.
All through the second half of Szurlej’s tenure with Golf Digest, he began photographing golf programs all through the US and internationally together with visits to Tasmania, Korea, Eire, Canada, Scotland, England and Australia.
One in every of his favourite assignments was visiting the foremost championship venues a 12 months prematurely.
“I’d be there fully by myself,” stated Szurlej. “That magical time of day with the primary gentle within the morning and the final gentle on the finish of the day is once I labored.”
Szurlej’s spectacular tenure with Golf Digest concluded in 2010 following 446 tournaments, 104 main championships, 15 nations visited and numerous recollections, lots of that are centered round working carefully with the world’s greatest golfers.
“Golfers are in all probability the perfect guys to work with in any skilled sport,” stated Szurlej. “They have been actually good to work with. I believe that’s the character of the sport. It breeds a sure respect. That was a very wonderful thing about working in golf.”
Szurlej joins previous winners David Cannon (2022) and Leonard Kamsler (2020) as recipients of the PGA of America’s Lifetime Achievement in Photojournalism Award.
