Ford, former Masters and PGA champion, dies at 95
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Doug Ford, the oldest surviving Masters champion who won 19 times on the PGA Tour and was the player of the year in 1957, has died. He was 95.
The PGA Tour said Ford’s family notified the tour that he died Monday night. Details of his death were not immediately available.
Ford was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011 for a career when prize money was so small that he earned most of his cash gambling during practice rounds. His best year was 1957, when his three victories included the Masters. He was runner-up twice, had 22 top 10s and earned $45,379.
“You could win $300 or $400 every day, which would get you to the next town,” Ford said on the day he was inducted. “You know, a guy they’d show you on TV has got about a 4-footer to win $800,000. If he misses he’s going to get $500,000. I said, ‘You should have played when I played, when you’d have that length of putt for $100 to get to the next town.’ That’s pressure.”
Ford won the 1955 PGA Championship by beating Cary Middlecoff, and then won the Masters in 1957 with a stirring comeback.
He trailed Sam Snead by three shots going into the final round and closed with a 66 for a three-shot victory. Ford holed out from a plugged lie in the bunker on the 18th, though he always thought the par-5 15th was the key moment.
Leading Snead by one shot, Ford went for the green with a 3-wood, even though he hit the same shot in the water the previous round. His caddie insisted he lay up with a 4-iron. This time it stayed on the green for a crucial birdie.