Herman W. Keiser (October 7, 1914 – December 24, 2003) was an American professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er on 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 ...

, best known for winning the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

, his only

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

title. Keiser was born and raised in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

. 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 Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

. He eventually became head professional at

Firestone Country Club Firestone Country Club is a private golf club in the United States, located in Akron, Ohio. It was a regular stop on the PGA Tour and has hosted the PGA Championship three times. It is the current home of the Bridgestone Senior Players Championshi ...

. Keiser's serious demeanor earned him the nickname, ''The Missouri Mortician'', among his fellow golfers. In 1942, Keiser interrupted his career to join the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

for three years during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He served as a storekeeper aboard . 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 Samuel Jackson Snead (pronounced English_phonology">sni:d.html" ;"title="English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d">English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an ...

at the

Greater Greensboro Open The Wyndham Championship is a professional golf tournament in North Carolina on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in Greensboro and was originally the Greater Greensboro Open. History Founded in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open, it was usua ...

, to Buck White at the Memphis Invitational, and twice to leading money winner

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory and ...

, at the Dallas Invitational and the

Phoenix Open The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in late January/early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona. The tournament was originally the Arizona ...

. 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." He won two more PGA Tour events that season. In 1947, Keiser was part of the American team that won 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 ...

. While the United States defeated Britain 11-1, Keiser's loss to Sam King (4 and 3) prevented the Americans from a clean sweep. 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 Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, where he purchased a driving range. He died in Akron in 2003 from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

at the age of 89.

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (5)

*1942 (1)

Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball The Miami International Four-Ball was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1924 to 1954. It was played primarily at what is now the Miami Springs Golf and Country Club in Miami, Florida. It was also played at the Miami Biltmore Golf Course in Co ...

(with

Chandler Harper John Chandler Harper (March 10, 1914 – November 8, 2004) was an American professional golfer, best known for winning the PGA Championship in 1950. He won seven times on the PGA Tour and played in the Ryder Cup in 1955. Harper was born, raised a ...

) *1946 (3)

Knoxville Invitational The Knoxville Invitational was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour that was held in Knoxville, Tennessee from 1944 to 1946. The 1944 event was held at Whittle Springs Golf Course while those in 1945 and 1946 were held at the Holston Hills Country Cl ...

, Richmond Open *1947 (1)

Esmeralda Open The Esmeralda Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour that was played in 1945 and 1947 in Spokane, Washington. It was held at Indian Canyon Golf Course, a municipal facility designed in 1930 by Chandler Egan on the west end of the city, and open ...

Major championship is shown in bold.

Other wins

''this list is probably incomplete'' *1939

Iowa Open The Iowa Open is the Iowa state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Iowa section of the PGA of America. It has been played annually since 1927 at a variety of courses around the state. Winners ...

*1949

Ohio Open The Ohio Open is the Ohio state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Northern Ohio section of the PGA of America. It was first played in 1924 and has been played annually (with minor disruptio ...

*1951

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

''Note: Keiser never played in

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

.''
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
DQ = disqualified
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keiser, Herman American male golfers PGA Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Winners of men's major golf championships Golfers from Missouri Golfers from Ohio United States Navy personnel of World War II Sportspeople from Springfield, Missouri Sportspeople from Akron, Ohio Neurological disease deaths in Ohio Deaths from Alzheimer's disease 1914 births 2003 deaths