Edward Harvie Ward, Jr. (December 8, 1925 – September 4, 2004) was an American golfer best known for his amateur career. He is best known for winning both the U.S. Amateur (twice) and the British Amateur.
Early life Born in Tarboro, North Carolina, Ward attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. As a North Carolina Tar Heel, he won the NCAA individual championship in 1949, and graduated with a degree in economics.
Amateur career Ward's win in the British Amateur came in 1952 (he finished runner-up in 1953), and his consecutive U.S. Amateur wins came in 1955 and 1956. He also won several other significant amateur events including the Canadian Amateur, making him one of two golfers to win the U.S., British, and Canadian Amateurs (the other is Dick Chapman). Ward is the only player in history to have won those three titles along with the NCAA Championship. He finished runner-up in the 1952 Western Amateur.
Ward played on three winning Walker Cup teams (1953, 1955, 1959), winning all six of his matches.
In 1957, Ward lost his amateur status, in a controversial ruling by the United States Golf Association, for accepting expense money from sponsors for golf tournaments. The ruling was reversed in 1958. His primary sponsor, Eddie Lowery, who was serving at the time on the USGA's Executive Committee, had incorrectly claimed income tax deductions for the money he was spending to sponsor Ward, one of his car dealership employees in the San Francisco area. Ward was unaware of this situation, and was not personally at fault. Following the ruling, Ward's life went into a tailspin, and he took several years to recover.
Ward played in 19 professional majors. In 11 Masters Tournament appearances, he finished in the top 10 twice (4th in 1957 and tied for 8th in 1955), in the top 25 five times, and only missed two cuts. In the U.S. Open, he made the cut in five of eight appearances, including a tie for 7th in 1955.
Professional career In 1974, Ward turned professional. He became a club professional and golf instructor. His best-known student was three-time major winner Payne Stewart. He worked at Foxfire Country Club (Jackson Springs, North Carolina), Grand Cypress Golf Club (Orlando, Florida), Interlachen Golf Club (Winter Park, Florida), and Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club (Southern Pines, North Carolina). He also won the 1977 North Carolina Open as a professional.
He played occasionally on the Senior PGA Tour from 1980 to 1990.
Awards and honors
In 1965, Ward was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame In 1981, Ward was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Reporters Association - Carolinas Golf Hall of FameCarolinas Golf Hall of Fame members list In 1996, Ward was inducted into the Carolinas PGA Hall of FameCarolinas Hall of Fame to Honor Two Professionals
Amateur wins 1948 North and South Amateur 1949 NCAA Championship, Carolinas Amateur, Tournament of Golf Champions 1952 British Amateur, Dogwood Invitational 1953 Dogwood Invitational 1954 Canadian Amateur 1955 U.S. Amateur, San Francisco City Championship 1956 U.S. Amateur
Professional wins 1977 North Carolina Open
Major championships Amateur wins (3) YearChampionshipWinning scoreRunner-up 1952 British Amateur 6 & 5 Frank Stranahan 1955 U.S. Amateur 9 & 8 Bill Hyndman 1956 U.S. Amateur 5 & 4 Chuck Kocsis
Results timeline Tournament19471948194919501951195219531954195519561957195819591960196119621963196419651966Masters TournamentT51T35T35T21T14 LAT20T8 LAT344 LACUTCUTU.S. OpenT39CUTCUTT7 LA47T26T37CUTU.S. AmateurQFR128R16R128R32R32R32R6411R16R16R16R64R32British Amateur12 Note: Ward never played in The Open Championship or the PGA Championship.
LA = low amateur CUT = missed the half-way cut R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in match play "T" indicates a tie for a place
Sources: Masters,www.masters.com U.S. Open and U.S. AmateurUSGA Championship Database
U.S. national team appearances Amateur Walker Cup: 1953 (winners), 1955 (winners), 1959 (winners) Americas Cup: 1952 (winners), 1954 (winners), 1956 (winners), 1958 (winners)
References
External links Obituary