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Ron Sirak receives 2015 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism

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Ron Sirak receives 2015 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Ron Sirak of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, who was instrumental in the transformation of national coverage of women’s golf, has been named the recipient of the 2015 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism.

Sirak, 64, a senior writer for Golf Digest and past executive editor for Golf World, will be honored April 8, at the ISPS HANDA 43rd Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA) Annual Awards Dinner at Savannah Rapids Pavilion in Augusta, Georgia.

Sirak is the 26th recipient of the PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism, which honors members of the media for their steadfast promotion of golf, both locally and nationally.

“Ron Sirak has brought readers to the heart of a story, connecting us with many of the amazing personalities in our game while also delivering balanced reporting on issues affecting our industry,” said PGA of America President Derek Sprague. “Ron is one of the most trusted voices in golf and a friend to all who play the game. It is with great pleasure that we recognize him with the 2015 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism.”

At age 45, Sirak began covering golf full-time. Over the next two decades he reported on 140 combined men’s and women’s major championships, along with 10 Ryder Cups and seven Solheim Cups. In 2005, he became the first journalist to cover four men’s and four women’s majors in a season. When the LPGA added a fifth major, Sirak covered nine total major championships in 2013.

“Of all the great honors that I have had in my career, this is for me the Pulitzer Prize,” said Sirak. “It is the highest honor to be linked to those who have received this award. I am absolutely humbled. I thank the PGA of America for recognizing the contributions of journalists to the game. We are all stakeholders in the future of golf.”

After attending Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Sirak joined the Associated Press (AP) in 1980, where he would work for the next 18 years. He eventually became the AP’s golf writer, and in 1996, Sirak and Sports Editor Terry Taylor expanded AP’s golf coverage to include the women’s game, amateur golf and the business of the sport. In 1998, he joined Golf Digest and Golf World, where his award-winning stories included a visit with women professional golfers to crisis-torn Rwanda in 2007.

Sirak is the author of three books with acclaimed golf instructors Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott. He is a past President of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association and is the President of the GWAA.

Sirak, who lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, has a daughter, Rachel; and a grandson, Declan.

PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism Recipients

  • 1991 Dick Taylor
  • 1992 Herbert Warren Wind
  • 1993 Jim Murray
  • 1994 Frank Chirkinian/Bob Green
  • 1995 Dan Jenkins
  • 1996 Furman Bisher
  • 1997 Jack Whitaker
  • 1998 Dave Anderson
  • 1999 Ken Venturi
  • 2000 Jim McKay
  • 2001 Kaye Kessler
  • 2002 Nick Seitz
  • 2003 Renton Laidlaw
  • 2004 Bob Verdi
  • 2005 Al Barkow
  • 2006 Ron Green Sr.
  • 2007 Jack Berry
  • 2008 Marino Parascenzo
  • 2009 Art Spander
  • 2010 Dave Kindred
  • 2011 Jerry Tarde
  • 2012 Jaime Diaz
  • 2013 John Hopkins
  • 2014 Tim Rosaforte
  • 2015 Ron Sirak