Joseph Franklin Beard (born May 1, 1939) is an American former

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who was a member of the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

and

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many years ...

. Beard won eleven PGA Tour events.

Early years

Beard was born in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. He attended Saint Xavier High School in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, and won the Kentucky state high school golf championship as a senior in 1957.

College career

He attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Conrad Rehling's

Florida Gators men's golf The Florida Gators men's golf team represents the University of Florida in the sport of golf. The Gators compete in Division I (NCAA), Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Th ...

team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) competition from 1958 to 1961. He was recognized as an All-American in 1960 and 1961. He graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1961, and was later inducted into the

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence ...

as a "Gator Great."

Professional career

Beard turned professional in 1962. He topped the

money list in 1969 with earnings of $175,223. He has eleven wins on the tour including victories in the Tournament of Champions in 1967 and 1970. He was a member of the U.S. team in the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

in 1969 and 1971 and had a 2–3–3 win–loss–half record. His best finishes in a major tournament were a third-place finish and a tie for third in the 1965 and 1975 U.S. Opens. After turning 50 years old, he played on the Senior PGA Tour (now the

), where he won the 1990

Murata Reunion Pro-Am The Dallas Reunion Pro-Am was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour from 1985 to 1995. It was played at a number of locations in the greater Dallas, Texas area: Bent Tree Country Club (1985–1988), Stonebriar Country Club (1989–1993) in Frisco ...

. Beard has also worked as a golf commentator on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. He was inducted as a member of the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986.

Professional wins (14)

PGA Tour wins (11)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–3)

Other wins (2)

*1964 Kentucky Open *1967

Waterloo Open Golf Classic The Waterloo Jaycees Greater Waterloo Open Golf Classic is the oldest and largest golf tournament in the state of Iowa. It has been played annually since 1934, and celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2008. It is traditionally played over the course ...

Senior PGA Tour wins (1)

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 20 (1964 PGA – 1971 Masters) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (three times)

U.S. national team appearances

;Professional *

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

(winners),

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

(winners)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Frank American male golfers Florida Gators men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Dallas Golfers from Kentucky St. Xavier High School (Louisville) alumni Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky 1939 births Living people