Harvie Ward | |
---|---|
— Golfer — | |
Personal information | |
Full name | Edward Harvie Ward, Jr. |
Born |
Tarboro, North Carolina |
December 8, 1925
Died | September 4, 2004 Pinehurst, North Carolina |
(aged 78)
Nationality | United States |
Career | |
College | North Carolina |
Turned professional | 1974 |
Former tour(s) | Champions Tour |
Best results in major championships (wins: 3) |
|
Masters Tournament | 4th: 1957 |
U.S. Open | T7: 1955 |
The Open Championship | DNP |
PGA Championship | DNP |
U.S. Amateur | Won: 1955, 1956 |
British Amateur | Won: 1952 |
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.
Born in Tarboro, North Carolina, Ward attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. As a Tar Heel, he won the NCAA Division I individual title in 1949, and graduated with a degree in economics.
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. He also won the 1977 North Carolina Open as a professional.
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.