Doug Ford (golfer)

Douglas Michael Ford Sr. (born Douglas Michael Fortunato; August 6, 1922 – May 14, 2018) was an American professional golfer and two-time major golf champion. Ford turned professional in 1949, later going on to win the 1955 PGA Championship and the 1957 Masters Tournament. He was also a member of four Ryder Cup teams (1955, 1957, 1959, and 1961) and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.

Doug Ford
Personal information
Full name	Douglas Michael Ford Sr.
Born	August 6, 1922 West Haven, Connecticut
Died	May 14, 2018 (aged 95) Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Nationality	United States
Career
Turned professional	1949
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour Champions Tour
Professional wins	34
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	19
Other	12 (regular) 3 (senior)
Best results in major championships (wins: 2)
Masters Tournament	Won: 1957
PGA Championship	Won: 1955
U.S. Open	T5: 1959
The Open Championship	T24: 1964
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 2011 (member page) PGA Player of the Year 1955

Biography

Ford was born in West Haven, Connecticut on August 6, 1922.[1][2][3] During World War II, he served in the Coast Guard Air Division.[4] He turned professional in 1949 and won for the first time in 1952 at the Jacksonville Open.[5]

The win in Jacksonville was an unusual one. At the end of regulation play, Ford and Sam Snead were tied for the lead. An 18-hole playoff was scheduled for the next day but rather than play, Snead forfeited.[6] The forfeit stemmed from a ruling Snead received during the tournament's second round of play. On the 10th hole, Snead's drive landed behind an out-of-bounds stake. While Chick Harbert, who was playing with Snead, thought the ball was out-of-bounds,[7] a rules official ruled differently due to the starter not telling players the stakes had been moved since the previous day's play had ended. Afterwards, Snead explained why he forfeited even though Ford suggested they play sudden-death for the title. "I want to be fair about it. I don't want anyone to think I took advantage of the ruling."[8]

Ford's first major title was the PGA Championship in 1955, which was contested at match play. He defeated Cary Middlecoff in the 36-hole final, 4 and 3. Ford was that season's PGA Player of the Year.[1] In 1957, he holed out from a plugged lie in the bunker, on the final hole, to come from behind and beat Sam Snead by three strokes at the Masters Tournament. The last of his 19 PGA Tour wins came in 1963.[5]

Ford played in 49 Masters Tournaments, a record that stood until Arnold Palmer played in his 50th tournament three years later. His final Masters was in 2001 at age 78; he withdrew after an opening-hole double-bogey and was asked not to participate in future tournaments.[9][10]

Ford played on four Ryder Cup teams: 1955, 1957, 1959, and 1961. He was inducted into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame in 1972. He was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. Ford was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.[11]

During the induction ceremony, Ford recalled that he showed enough promise as a baseball player that he received a contract offer from the New York Yankees. While he was considering the offer, his father asked how long he might expect to play baseball. When Doug said that he might expect to play professional baseball for about 10 years, his father responded, "Why don't you stay with the golf. You'll last forever." At the time of the ceremony, the 88-year-old Ford still regularly played casual golf.[12]

Ford died in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on May 14, 2018 at the age of 95.[13][14]

Professional wins (34)

PGA Tour wins (19)

Legend

Major championships (2)

Other PGA Tour (17)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Mar 24, 1952	Jacksonville Open	−8 (69-68-70-73=280)	Playoff	Sam Snead
2	Apr 19, 1953	Virginia Beach Open	−14 (63-65-67-67=262)	2 strokes	Ansel Snow
3	Aug 23, 1953	Labatt Open	−15 (67-69-64-65=265)	5 strokes	Walter Burkemo
4	Dec 13, 1953	Miami Open	−8 (68-67-70-67=272)	4 strokes	Sam Snead
5	Apr 5, 1954	Greater Greensboro Open	−1 (71-69-73-70=283)	Playoff	Marty Furgol
6	Aug 22, 1954	Fort Wayne Open	−18 (70-69-66-65=270)	3 strokes	Mike Souchak
7	Jul 26, 1955	PGA Championship	4 & 3		Cary Middlecoff
8	Aug 7, 1955	All American Open	−11 (69-69-69-70=277)	3 strokes	Leo Biagetti
9	Sep 26, 1955	Carling Golf Classic	−12 (70-69-68-69=276)	1 stroke	Art Wall Jr.
10	Jan 7, 1957	Los Angeles Open	−4 (69-71-71-69=280)	1 stroke	Jay Hebert
11	Apr 7, 1957	Masters Tournament	−5 (72-73-72-66=283)	3 strokes	Sam Snead
12	Jun 30, 1957	Western Open	−5 (69-71-67-72=279)	Playoff	George Bayer, Gene Littler, Billy Maxwell
13	Mar 16, 1958	Pensacola Open Invitational	−10 (70-65-70-73=278)	2 strokes	Ken Venturi, Art Wall Jr.
14	Jun 20, 1959	Canadian Open	−12 (68-69-69-70=276)	2 strokes	Dow Finsterwald, Art Wall Jr., Bo Wininger
15	May 29, 1960	500 Festival Open Invitation	−14 (66-68-68-68=270)	2 strokes	Jerry Barber
16	May 28, 1961	500 Festival Open Invitation (2)	−11 (69-69-67-68=273)	Playoff	Arnold Palmer
17	Jan 22, 1962	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	−2 (70-73-69-74=286)	Playoff	Joe Campbell
18	Jun 24, 1962	Eastern Open Invitational	−9 (69-65-73-72=279)	1 stroke	Bob Goalby
19	Jul 6, 1963	Canadian Open (2)	−4 (69-67-74-70=280)	1 stroke	Al Geiberger

PGA Tour playoff record (5–7)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1951	Texas Open	Dutch Harrison	Lost 18-hole playoff; Harrison: −4 (67), Ford: −3 (68)
2	1951	Kansas City Open	Dave Douglas, Cary Middlecoff	Middlecoff won 18-hole playoff: Middlecoff: −4 (68), Douglas: E (72), Ford: E (72)
3	1952	Jacksonville Open	Sam Snead	Won after concession before playoff
4	1953	Greater Greensboro Open	Sam Snead, Earl Stewart, Art Wall Jr.	Stewart won with par on first extra hole after 18-hole playoff; Stewart: −2 (68), Snead: −2 (68), Ford: E (70), Wall: +2 (72)
5	1954	Greater Greensboro Open	Marty Furgol	Won 18-hole playoff; Ford: +1 (72), Furgol: +4 (75)
6	1955	Rubber City Open	Jackson Bradley, Jack Burke Jr., Henry Ransom	Ransom won with birdie on first extra hole
7	1955	Philadelphia Daily News Open	Ted Kroll	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
8	1956	Western Open	Mike Fetchick, Jay Hebert, Don January	Fetchick won 18-hole playoff; Fetchick: −6 (66), Hebert: −1 (71), Ford: E (72), January: +3 (75)
9	1957	Rubber City Open Invitational	Arnold Palmer	Lost to birdie on sixth extra hole
10	1957	Western Open	George Bayer, Gene Littler, Billy Maxwell	Won with par on third extra hole Littler and Maxwell eliminated with par on first hole
11	1961	500 Festival Open Invitation	Arnold Palmer	Won with birdie on second extra hole
12	1962	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	Joe Campbell	Won with par on first extra hole

Other wins (12)

• 1956 Metropolitan Open
• 1957 Panama Open, Metropolitan PGA Championship, Westchester PGA Championship
• 1958 Metropolitan PGA Championship
• 1959 Eldorado Professional (tied with Sam Snead)
• 1960 Metropolitan PGA Championship
• 1961 Westchester Open, Westchester PGA Championship
• 1963 Westchester Open, Metropolitan PGA Championship, Westchester PGA Championship

Other senior wins (3)

• 1981 Merrill Lynch/Golf Digest Commemorative Pro-Am
• 1987 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Legendary Division (with Jerry Barber)
• 1996 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Art Wall)

Sources:[1][5][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]

Playoff record

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1981	Michelob-Egypt Temple Senior Classic	Don January	Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Major championships

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1955	PGA Championship	n/a	4 & 3		Cary Middlecoff
1957	Masters Tournament	3 shot deficit	−5 (72-73-72-66=283)	3 strokes	Sam Snead

Results timeline

Tournament	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
Masters Tournament				T21	T21	T33		T6	1	T2	T25
U.S. Open	CUT	CUT	41	T19	T21	T35	T7	T9	T17	34	T5
The Open Championship
PGA Championship							1	R32	R16	T11	T11

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
Masters Tournament	T25	T32	T44	T11	T46	T31	T17	T31	T48	CUT
U.S. Open	T33	T6	T8	CUT	CUT		CUT
The Open Championship					T24
PGA Championship	T7	T5	5	T27	CUT	T20	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
Masters Tournament	CUT	T46	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	WD
U.S. Open				CUT	CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship	CUT	CUT	CUT	T56	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Masters Tournament	CUT	CUT	CUT	WD	CUT	WD	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Championship	CUT	WD

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament	CUT	WD	CUT	CUT	WD	WD	CUT	CUT	WD	WD
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Championship

Tournament	2000	2001
Masters Tournament	WD	WD
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Championship

  Win

  Top 10

  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Source:[35]

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	1	1	0	2	3	9	49	17
U.S. Open	0	0	0	1	5	8	19	12
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1
PGA Championship	1	0	0	3	5	9	26	11
Totals	2	1	0	6	13	27	95	41

• Most consecutive cuts made – 31 (1951 U.S. Open – 1963 Masters)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (1955 U.S. Open – 1956 U.S. Open)

U.S. national team appearances

• Ryder Cup: 1955 (winners), 1957, 1959 (winners), 1961 (winners)
• Hopkins Trophy: 1952 (winners), 1953 (winners), 1956 (winners)

See also

• List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins

References

1. "Doug Ford". World Golf Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
2. Barkow, Al (November 1989). The History of the PGA TOUR. Copyright PGA Tour. Doubleday. p. 269. ISBN 0-385-26145-4.
3. Elliott, Len; Barbara Kelly (1976). Who's Who in Golf. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House. p. 66. ISBN 0-87000-225-2.
4. "For two-time major golf champion Doug Ford, the Hall of Fame finally calls". Palm Beach Post. October 9, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
5. "Doug Ford – Profile". PGA Tour. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
6. "Sam Snead Forfeits First in Jacksonville Open". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. March 25, 1952. p. 12 – via Google News.
7. "Ford Gets First Major Golf Win". Reading Eagle. Reading, Pennsylvania. UP. March 25, 1952. p. 17.
8. "Snead Forfeits First in Jacksonville Open". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. AP. March 25, 1952. p. 12.
9. Johnson, Martin (April 9, 2002). "The Masters: Augusta bows to change with a pompous flourish". The Telegraph. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
10. "Doug Ford, Masters Champion in Golf Hall of Fame, Dies at 95". Bloomberg Quint. May 15, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
11. "2011 Hall of Fame class: Els, Ford, Bush, Hutchison". PGA Tour. September 22, 2010. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
12. "Ernie Els, 41, inducted into Hall of Fame". ESPN. Associated Press. May 10, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
13. McCabe, Jim (May 15, 2018). "World Golf Hall of Fame member Ford dies at 95". PGA Tour.
14. Goldstein, Richard (May 15, 2018). "Doug Ford, Oldest Masters Champion, Dies at 95". The New York Times. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
15. "Sam Snead Forfeits First in Jacksonville Open". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. March 25, 1952. p. 12 – via Google News.
16. Moore, Robert (April 20, 1953). "Ford's 262 Captures Virginia Beach". St. Petersburg Times. Associated Press. p. 17.
17. Mcauley, Ed. (August 24, 1953). "Doug Ford Wins Labatt Open With 15-under-par 265". The Montreal Gazette. p. 18.
18. "Ford's Fancy Finish Beats Snead at Miami". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. December 14, 1953. p. 8 – via Google News.
19. "Ford; Furgol In Playoff For Top Greensboro Open Money". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. AP. April 5, 1954. p. 17.
20. "Ford Notes Anniversary With $2,000 Playoff Win". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. AP. April 6, 1954. p. 10.
21. "Ford Is first at Fort Worth; Souchak Second". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. August 23, 1954. p. 9 – via Google News.
22. "Doug Ford Wins PGA Title in His First Try". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. July 27, 1955. p. 15.
23. "Doug Ford Wins All-American golf With 11-Under-Par 277; Biagetti 2d". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. August 8, 1955. p. 8 – via Google News.
24. "Doug Ford Fires Subpar golf to Win Sponsors". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. September 27, 1955. p. 8 – via Google News.
25. "Ford Wins LA Open". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Associated Press. January 8, 1957. p. 9.
26. "Doug Ford's 283 captures Masters golf". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 8, 1957. p. 1.
27. "Doug Ford Wins Golf Playoff". Youngstown Vindicator. UP. July 1, 1955. p. 29 – via Google News.
28. "Veteran Doug Ford 1st in Pensacola Open". The Spokesman-Review. AP. March 17, 1958. p. 29 – via Google News.
29. "Ford Grabs Canuck Open on 276 Total". The Spokesman-Review. AP. June 22, 1959. p. 11 – via Google News.
30. "Ford Grabs "500" Open on 68 Finish". The Spokesman-Review. AP. May 30, 1960. p. 9 – via Google News.
31. "Ford Snares Playoff Win in 500 Win". The Spokesman-Review. AP. May 29, 1961. p. 10 – via Google News.
32. "Fast Playing Doug Ford Triumphs Over Campbell in Playoff for Crosby Title". Youngstown Vindicator. UPI. January 23, 1962. p. 10 – via Google News.
33. "Doug Ford Golf Winner". Youngstown Vindicator. UPI. June 25, 1962. p. 10 – via Google News.
34. "Ignoring Pressure, Ford Wins Canadian". The Spokesman-Review. AP. July 7, 1963. p. 24 – via Google News.
35. "Doug Ford". Golf Major Championships. Retrieved May 16, 2018.

External links

• Doug Ford at the PGA Tour official site