Sandy Herd


Alexander Herd was a Scottish professional golfer from St Andrews. He won The [Open Championship] in 1902 at Hoylake.

Career

Born in St Andrews, Scotland, on 24 April 1868, to a golfing family, Herd had brothers who were also golf professionals. His brother Fred won the 1898 U.S. Open.
Herd was the club professional at Huddersfield Golf Club from 1892 to 1911. He won The Open Championship in 1902 at Hoylake. Herd had a three-shot lead after 54 holes, but nearly let the title slip out of his hands by scoring an 81 in the final round. Harry Vardon and James Braid both had medium length putts at the final hole to force a playoff, but they missed and Herd took the Championship.
Herd was the first Open Champion to use the Haskell rubber-cored ball. In 1920, he became the oldest runner-up in The Open at age 52, which stood for 89 years, until Tom Watson in 2009. Herd's appearances in the championship spanned fifty years, the last at age 71 at St Andrews in 1939, but failed to advance from qualifying. He last played in The Open six years earlier in 1933, but twisted an ankle during the first round and had to withdraw; he last made the cut in 1927 and tied for tenth.
Herd also got involved in golf course architect and worked with Alister MacKenzie to create Wakefield Golf Clubs 18-hole course.

Death

Following an operation, Herd died of pneumonia at age 75 in London in 1944.

Professional wins

Major championships are shown in bold.

Major championships

Results timeline

Tournament1890189118921893189418951896189718981899
The Open Championship13T238255T17T16

Tournament1910191119121913191419151916191719181919
The Open Championship2T36T11T29NTNTNTNTNT

Tournament1930193119321933
The Open ChampionshipWD

Note: Herd only played in The Open Championship
NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances