Dow Finsterwald

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dow Henry Finsterwald, Sr. (born September 6, 1929) is an American professional golfer who is best known for winning the 1958 PGA Championship.

Finsterwald was born and raised in Athens, Ohio. He attended Ohio University in his hometown, graduating in the Class of 1952. In 1969, he was inducted into the Ohio University Athletics Hall of Fame joining his father, Russ Finsterwald, who was in the first class of inductees as a football player, basketball and football head coach.^[1] He turned professional in 1951.^[2]

Finsterwald won 11 times on the PGA Tour during his career. He was known for his superb short game. He was one of the most consistent players on the Tour in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He finished fifth or better more than 50 times in his career. Finsterwald was a close friend of Arnold Palmer, who was also one of the dominant players on the Tour during this same time period.

Finsterwald played on four Ryder Cup Teams (1957, 1959, 1961, 1963) and was the non-playing captain of the 1977 team. He won the Vardon Trophy in 1957 — awarded to the tour professional with the lowest scoring average. In 1958, he was honored with PGA Golfer of the Year. Finsterwald finished in the money in 72 consecutive tournaments – second only to Byron Nelson's 113 consecutive cuts. This record stood for many years until eclipsed by Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin and Tiger Woods; however, he is still 5th on the list today.

The 1958 PGA Championship was held at Llanerch Country Club in Havertown, Pennsylvania. This was the first PGA Championship held after the format was switched from matchplay to strokeplay. Finsterwald finished the tournament with a two-stroke victory over Billy Casper.^[3] Three and one-half years later, Finsterwald and Gary Player lost one of the most epic battles in golf history — The 1962 Masters — in a playoff to Arnold Palmer.

Finsterwald was once involved in litigation in which a Plaintiff claimed she lost the sight in her right eye as a result of an errant tee shot he hit at the 18th hole at the 1973 Western Open. A jury fournd Finsterwald not liable; however, Midlothian (Illinois) Country Club's insurers had to pay the woman about $450,000.^[4]

Finsterwald served as director of golf at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs for 28 years. He simultaneously served as PGA vice-president from 1976-1978; and on the USGA Rules of Golf committee from 1979-1981.

He was honored by fellow Ohioan Jack Nicklaus at the 2007 Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio.

Today he lives in Orlando during the winter and Colorado Springs during the summer with his wife, Linda. They have three sons and a daughter. His middle son, Dow Jr., is head pro at the Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth, Texas, site of the Bank of America Colonial.

[edit] PGA Tour wins (11)

• 1955 (1) Fort Wayne Invitational
• 1956 (1) Carling Open Invitational
• 1957 (1) Tucson Open Invitational
• 1958 (2) PGA Championship, Utah Open
• 1959 (3) Greater Greensboro Open, Carling Open Invitational, Kansas City Open Invitational
• 1960 (2) Los Angeles Open, Greater New Orleans Open Invitational
• 1963 (1) 500 Festival Open Invitation

Major championship is shown in bold.

[edit] Other wins

this list may be incomplete

• 1954 Carolinas Open

[edit] Major Championships

[edit] Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Margin	Runner Up
1958	PGA Championship	-4 (67-72-70-67=276)	2 strokes	Billy Casper

[edit] Results timeline

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
F = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

[edit] See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Stats and results on the PGA Tour's official site