In 1938, Leonard turned pro. He played almost exclusively, and very successfully, on the
Canadian Professional Golf Tour until 1954, while concurrently maintaining a club job at the Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver. He competed mainly in western Canada; money was tight, prize money was low, and travel costs to eastern Canada were high. In one of his early events on the
PGA Tour, Leonard challenged to win the 1946 Crosby Pro-Am in
California, before losing to
Lloyd Mangrum. Leonard won the
Canadian PGA Championship eight times from 1940–1961, and this is a record. He was the low Canadian in the
Canadian Open nine times from 1945–1961. He won the
British Columbia Open five times, the
Alberta Open nine times, and the
Saskatchewan Open twice. He won a total of six significant amateur and 40 professional tournaments in Canada over the course of his career – second only to
Moe Norman in Canadian golf history. Leonard won the individual title at the
Canada Cup in both 1954 and 1959. Leonard was one of the best ball strikers and longest hitters of his era, despite being a diminutive 5' 6" in height. Part of his powerful swing could be attributed to his massive forearms. The other players noticed this physical feature and gave him the nickname
Popeye. == Personal life ==