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Doug Ford

United States · born , West Haven, Connecticut, USA · died

2major championships

Summary

  • First major 1955 PGA Championship
  • Last major 1957 The Masters
  • Ryder Cup 4 Cups · 4-4-1 · 4.5 points (50.0%)
  • Runner-up in majors 1 time

Wins

  1. 1955 PGA Championship Meadowbrook Country Club · won the final 4 & 3 against Cary Middlecoff
  2. 1957 The Masters Augusta National Golf Club · 283 (-5) · by 3 strokes from Sam Snead

Near misses

  1. 1958 The Masters Augusta National Golf Club · runner-up to Arnold Palmer · 285

Ryder Cup

4 Cups, 9 matches: 4 won, 4 lost, 1 halved, 4.5 points. Foursomes 2-2-0, four-ball 0-0-0, singles 2-2-1.

  1. 1955 Thunderbird Ranch & Country Club USA · USA won 8–4 · 2-0-0, 2 points
  2. 1957 Lindrick Golf Club USA · GB won 7.5–4.5 · 1-1-0, 1 point · automatic
  3. 1959 Eldorado Country Club USA · USA won 8.5–3.5 · 0-1-1, 0.5 points
  4. 1961 Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club USA · USA won 14.5–9.5 · 1-2-0, 1 point

Rivals

Beat him

Beaten in finals and playoffs

Ryder Cup partners

Ryder Cup opponents

Next in the chain: Arnold Palmer's rivals →

Moments

  1. 1955 PGA Championship In a nine-hour, 40-hole quarterfinal, Middlecoff holed a roughly 25-foot putt on the 36th to square with Jack Burke Jr., then won on the 40th after Burke missed from a greenside bunker.
  2. 1955 PGA Championship Ford squared the final on the 26th hole, won three of the next six, and closed out Middlecoff on the 33rd.
  3. 1957 Masters This was the first Masters with a 36-hole cut, and two-time champion Ben Hogan missed it by one stroke, his only missed cut at Augusta.
  4. 1957 Masters Ford came from three strokes back with a bogey-free final-round 66, finishing by holing a bunker shot for birdie on the 18th.

Records and firsts

  1. — PGA Championship medalists who went on to win · 4 players (Walter Hagen (1926, 1927), Olin Dutra (1932), Byron Nelson (1945, shared medal) and Doug Ford (1955); Golf Compendium calls Ford "one of four medalists" to win)

Results by championship

    Best day

    1957 Masters

    Augusta National Golf Club · 283 (-5) · by 3 strokes from Sam Snead

    This was the first Masters with a 36-hole cut, and two-time champion Ben Hogan missed it by one stroke, his only missed cut at Augusta.

    Ford came from three strokes back with a bogey-free final-round 66, finishing by holing a bunker shot for birdie on the 18th.

    Chosen by rule: his widest winning margin in a major. Year page: 1957.

    Career line, 1955–1961

    Masters
    1957 Masters: won1958 Masters: runner-up to Arnold Palmer
    PGA Championship
    1955 PGA Championship: won
    Ryder Cup
    1955 Ryder Cup (USA): 2-0-01957 Ryder Cup (USA): 1-1-01959 Ryder Cup (USA): 0-1-11961 Ryder Cup (USA): 1-2-0
    1956195819601962

    7 results. Hover or tap a mark; click it for the year.

    • Major win
    • Runner-up
    • Ryder Cup, USA

    Doug Ford was born on August 6, 1922, in West Haven, Connecticut, USA. Ford won 2 major championships: 1 Masters (1957) and 1 PGA Championship (1955). Ford played in 4 Ryder Cups for USA (1955, 1957, 1959, 1961), winning 4, losing 4 and halving 1 of 9 matches for 4.5 points.

    See Doug Ford in our rooms: The Masters, Greatest Golfer by State and Every Ground.

    Cards you pull this visit stack here. Tap one to go back to it.

    The record

    Wins in the majors (2)

    1. 1955 PGA Championship Meadowbrook Country Club, Northville Township, Michigan · won the final 4 & 3 against Cary Middlecoff
    2. 1957 The Masters Augusta National Golf Club · 283 (-5) · by 3 strokes from Sam Snead

    Near misses

    1. 1958 The Masters Augusta National Golf Club · runner-up to Arnold Palmer · 285

    Ryder Cup

    Ford played 4 Ryder Cups for USA: 9 matches, 4 won, 4 lost, 1 halved, 4.5 points (50.0% of those available). By format: foursomes 2-2-0, four-ball 0-0-0, singles 2-2-1 (won-lost-halved).

    1. 1955 Thunderbird Ranch & Country Club USA · USA won 8–4 · 2-0-0, 2 points
    2. 1957 Lindrick Golf Club USA · GB won 7.5–4.5 · 1-1-0, 1 point · automatic
    3. 1959 Eldorado Country Club USA · USA won 8.5–3.5 · 0-1-1, 0.5 points
    4. 1961 Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club USA · USA won 14.5–9.5 · 1-2-0, 1 point

    Partners, with matches played together: Ted Kroll (1), Dow Finsterwald (1), Art Wall Jr. (1), Gene Littler (1).

    PGA Championship match play

    Every recorded match in our bracket file, 1916–1957: 8 won, 2 lost, including 1 of 1 finals.

    1. 1955 Round of 64 beat George Fazio 2 & 1
    2. 1955 Round of 32 beat Ted Kroll 2 & 1
    3. 1955 Round of 16 beat Wally Ulrich 12 & 10
    4. 1955 Quarterfinal beat Fred Hawkins 5 & 4
    5. 1955 Semifinal beat Shelley Mayfield 4 & 3
    6. 1955 Final beat Cary Middlecoff 4 & 3
    7. 1956 Round of 64 beat Mike Dietz won on 23rd hole
    8. 1956 Round of 32 lost to Walter Burkemo unknown
    9. 1957 Round of 32 beat Bob Gajda 4 & 2
    10. 1957 Round of 16 lost to Jay Hebert 3 & 2

    Masters Champions Dinner

    No menu has been recorded for the 1958 (as the 1957 champion) dinner. Until about 1986 champions did not design the meal: the club served its standard menu.

    Records and firsts

    Rows from our record tables that name this player, worded as the tables word them.

    1. — PGA Championship medalists who went on to win · 4 players (Walter Hagen (1926, 1927), Olin Dutra (1932), Byron Nelson (1945, shared medal) and Doug Ford (1955); Golf Compendium calls Ford "one of four medalists" to win)

    Sources

    Every fact on this page comes from Golf Network News data sets compiled in October 2026 (Masters, PGA Championship, The Open, U.S. Women's Open, Ryder Cup, PGA Tour 2024–2026, major host sites, Champions Dinner menus, and the U.S. Open and state rooms). These are the sources those rows cite.

    1. where2golf.com: doug ford
    2. Wikipedia: Doug Ford (golfer)
    3. golfcompendium.com: masters winners
    4. golfcompendium.com: us open winners
    5. golfcompendium.com: british open winners
    6. golfcompendium.com: pga championship winners
    7. golfcompendium.com: pga tour career wins
    8. golfcompendium.com: 1958 masters tournament
    9. Wikipedia: Masters Tournament
    10. pga.com: list masters champions
    11. WP: List of American Ryder Cup golfers
    12. PGA of America winners & venues
    13. Golf Compendium 1955
    14. The Golf News Net history table (2026)
    15. Today's Golfer purse history
    16. Michigan Daily, 22 July 1955 (AP)
    17. New England Golf, match-play history
    18. PGA of America 2013 media guide, p. 77
    19. Wikipedia: 1957 Masters Tournament
    20. golfcompendium.com: 1957 masters
    21. topendsports.com: winners
    22. nbcsports.com: by the numbers jumpsuit numbers for every masters champions caddie
    23. todays-golfer.com: how the masters prize money has changed over the years
    24. golf.com: masters purse masters winners payouts alltime
    25. pgatour.com: what is the cut at the masters tournament augusta national (archived copy; the original link no longer works)
    26. cmg-cmg-tv-10090-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com: YO2L4AP7VIP7MMSJMRTJS5BT3M
    27. liveabout.com: what are the yardages at augusta national during the masters 1564592
    28. Golf Compendium 1956
    29. Golf Compendium 1957
    30. GC: 1955 ryder cup
    31. Wikipedia: 1955 Ryder Cup
    32. GC: 1957 ryder cup
    33. Wikipedia: 1957 Ryder Cup
    34. GC: 1959 ryder cup
    35. Wikipedia: 1959 Ryder Cup
    36. GC: 1961 ryder cup
    37. WP 1961
    38. Golf Compendium 1932
    39. PGA of America, Nelson 1945
    40. Trenham, Philadelphia PGA history 1921–1929