Herman Keiser

Herman Keiser
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name	Herman W. Keiser
Born	(1914-10-07)October 7, 1914 Springfield, Missouri
Died	December 24, 2003(2003-12-24) (aged 89) Akron, Ohio
Nationality	United States
Career
Status	Professional
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	8
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	5
Best results in major championships (wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	Won: 1946
U.S. Open	T14: 1948
The Open Championship	DNP
PGA Championship	T17: 1940, 1957

Herman W. Keiser (October 7, 1914 – December 24, 2003) was an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour, best known for winning the Masters Tournament in 1946, his only major title.

Keiser was born and raised in Springfield, Missouri. Like most professional golfers of his generation, he earned a living primarily as a club professional. His first job was as the assistant golf professional at Portage Country Club in Akron, Ohio. He eventually became head professional at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.^[1] Keiser's serious demeanor earned him the nickname, The Missouri Mortician, among his fellow golfers.^[2]

In 1942, Keiser interrupted his career to join the U.S. Navy for three years during World War II.^[3] He served as a storekeeper aboard the USS Cincinnati. Keiser was discharged in 1945 and returned to play on the PGA Tour. Despite the long layoff, he earned second-place finishes to Sam Snead at the Greater Greensboro Open, to Buck White at the Memphis Invitational, and twice to leading money winner Ben Hogan, at the Dallas Invitational and the Phoenix Open. However, he achieved golfing immortality at the 1946 Masters Tournament when he took the lead on the third hole and never looked back, defeating Hogan by one stroke to earn $2,500 in first prize money. Keiser described his Masters win as "the greatest thing that ever happened to me." ^[1] He won two more PGA Tour events that season.

In 1947, Keiser was part of the American team that won the Ryder Cup.^[1] While the United States defeated Britain 11-1, Keiser's loss to Sam King (4 and 3) prevented the Americans from a clean sweep.^[3]

Keiser retired in the 1950s, having won five tournaments during his PGA career. His only top ten in a major was his victory at Augusta in 1946. He returned to live in Ohio, where he purchased a driving range. He died in Akron in 2003 from complications of Alzheimer's disease at the age of 89.^[1]

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (5)

1942 (1) Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball (with Chandler Harper)
1946 (3) Masters Tournament, Knoxville Invitational, Richmond Open
1947 (1) Esmeralda Open

Major championship is shown in bold.

Other wins

this list is probably incomplete

1939 Iowa Open
1949 Ohio Open
1951 Ohio Open

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1946	Masters Tournament	5 shot lead	−6 (69-68-71-74=282)	1 stroke	Ben Hogan

Results timeline

Tournament	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	T23	NT	NT	NT	1	T24	T10	T11
U.S. Open	DQ	T26	NT	NT	NT	NT	T38	DNP	T14	CUT
PGA Championship	R32	R64	DNP	NT	DNP	DNP	R64	R64	R64	R64

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
Masters Tournament	T14	T39	DNP	DNP	DNP	T56	DNP	CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	R64	DNP	DNP	R64	DNP	DNP	R32	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
Masters Tournament	CUT	CUT	WD	45	CUT	WD	CUT	CUT	CUT	WD
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP

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

Tournament	1980	1981	1982
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	WD
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP

Note: Keiser never played in The Open Championship.
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
DQ = Disqualified
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF, F = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament	Wins	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	1	2	6	26	9
U.S. Open	0	0	1	6	3
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0
PGA Championship	0	0	2	9	9
Totals	1	2	9	41	21

Most consecutive cuts made – 14 (1940 PGA – 1949 PGA)
Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

References

1 2 3 4 Blunt, Roy (February 26, 2004). "Golf legend Herman Keiser is remembered". Joplin Independent. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
↑ Goldstein, Richard (December 29, 2003). "Herman Keiser, 89, Golfer Who Staged a Major Upset". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
1 2 "Herman Keiser, 89; Beat Ben Hogan to Win 1946 Masters". Los Angeles Times. December 26, 2003. Retrieved May 5, 2010.

External links

Herman Keiser at Find a Grave

Masters Tournament champions

1934 Horton Smith 1935 Gene Sarazen† 1936 Horton Smith 1937 Byron Nelson 1938 Henry Picard 1939 Ralph Guldahl 1940 Jimmy Demaret 1941‡ Craig Wood 1942 Byron Nelson† 1943–45 cancelled due to World War II 1946 Herman Keiser 1947 Jimmy Demaret 1948 Claude Harmon 1949 Sam Snead 1950 Jimmy Demaret 1951 Ben Hogan 1952 Sam Snead 1953 Ben Hogan 1954 Sam Snead† 1955 Cary Middlecoff 1956 Jack Burke Jr. 1957 Doug Ford 1958 Arnold Palmer 1959 Art Wall Jr. 1960‡ Arnold Palmer 1961 Gary Player 1962 Arnold Palmer† 1963 Jack Nicklaus 1964 Arnold Palmer 1965 Jack Nicklaus 1966 Jack Nicklaus† 1967 Gay Brewer 1968 Bob Goalby 1969 George Archer 1970 Billy Casper† 1971 Charles Coody 1972‡ Jack Nicklaus 1973 Tommy Aaron 1974 Gary Player 1975 Jack Nicklaus 1976‡ Raymond Floyd 1977 Tom Watson 1978 Gary Player 1979 Fuzzy Zoeller† 1980 Seve Ballesteros 1981 Tom Watson 1982 Craig Stadler† 1983 Seve Ballesteros 1984 Ben Crenshaw 1985 Bernhard Langer 1986 Jack Nicklaus 1987 Larry Mize† 1988 Sandy Lyle 1989 Nick Faldo† 1990 Nick Faldo† 1991 Ian Woosnam 1992 Fred Couples 1993 Bernhard Langer 1994 José María Olazábal 1995 Ben Crenshaw 1996 Nick Faldo 1997 Tiger Woods 1998 Mark O'Meara 1999 José María Olazábal 2000 Vijay Singh 2001 Tiger Woods 2002 Tiger Woods 2003 Mike Weir† 2004 Phil Mickelson 2005 Tiger Woods† 2006 Phil Mickelson 2007 Zach Johnson 2008 Trevor Immelman 2009 Ángel Cabrera† 2010 Phil Mickelson 2011 Charl Schwartzel 2012 Bubba Watson† 2013 Adam Scott† 2014 Bubba Watson 2015‡ Jordan Spieth 2016 Danny Willett

† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire

United States Ryder Cup team – 1947

Herman Barron Jimmy Demaret E. J. Harrison Herman Keiser Lloyd Mangrum Byron Nelson Ed Oliver Sam Snead Lew Worsham Ben Hogan (playing captain)

Won: 11 – 1

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