One of golf’s greatest short game and fastest players – Doug Ford
It was the 1955 PGA Championship in 1955 at the steamy Meadowbrook Country Club near Detroit and the tournament was still held at match play. The finals featured the hottest player of the year, Cary Middlecoff. Then at the peak of a magnificent career he was coming off a victory in the Masters and the Western Open then considered “the fifth major.” He was facing the feisty 33-year old Doug Ford, the hottest player in the field.
Cary Middlecoff was among the best and longest, but also slowest players in golf.
Ford was the hottest player in the tournament having been 33-under par for only 161 holes compared to Middlecoff’s 22-under through 172 holes. Add to that the interesting match up that long-hitting Middlecoff was “the Father of Slow Play” and Ford was known as an accurate player with an uncanny short game, and the quickest player in professional golf. Ford would often hit his own shot while his playing partner’s shot was still in the air. How would you handicap them?
All the stars were in place to make it a memorable week for Doug Ford. A 36-hole qualifying round to get into match play was conducted the Wednesday and Thursday before the Championship. Doug Ford was low qualifier with a 135.
During the Finals, Ford knew that he was in for a slow round so he had his son, Doug Jr., then ten years old, carry a folding chair with him. Ford would then open up that chair, sit down and rest his legs while Middlecoff would deliberate – part good physical strategy and a bit of gamemanship. That said, it was great golf that enable Ford to defeat Cary Middlecoff 4 and 3 in the final that was tightly contested through the first 27 holes.
Even though Ford had a 66 in the morning round, Middlecoff held a one-hole advantage. Ford rallied to square the match for the fourth time, knocking home a birdie putt on the 26th hole. He then added birdies on the 29th, 30th and 32nd holes, and sealed the decision with a par 4 on the 33rd hole.
It was a Cinderella week for Ford, playing in his first PGA Championship and becoming the first player to win under that scenario since Tom Creavy in 1931. He was also the fourth player in PGA match-play history to win the Championship after winning medalist honors. Other players to achieve that feat were Walter Hagen (in 1926), Olin Dutra (in 1932), and Byron Nelson (in 1945). It was a nice touch for Ford to win after being the medalist , because the PGA eliminated the 36-hole qualifier in 1956, doubling the field to 128 participants who went straight into match play.
The 1955 season was a brilliant one for Ford as he won three times and collected 20 top-10 finishes. He was named the Player of the Year for his efforts.
Two years later Ford added to his resume with a three-stroke victory over Sam Snead in the Masters. In his youth, Ford spent a lot of time in pool rooms around New York and became as sharp with a pool cue as he was with a golf club. Ford said he used his knowledge of both in executing a brilliant bunker shot on the final hole, sinking a near impossible shot from a plugged lie. It earned him a green jacket and a lifetime exemption into the event. He put that exemption to good use, becoming a fixture at Augusta. He played in the Masters a then-record 49 times before Arnold Palmer eventually eclipsed the mark.
Ford nearly repeated as Masters champion in 1958, finishing just a single stroke behind Palmer. That stroke was all that prevented Ford from becoming the first player in Masters history to win back-to-back titles.
Though he didn’t turn professional until twenty-seven because his Mother felt you couldn’t make a living, Ford’s father and three uncles were golf professionals. Ford made money playing matches wherever he could find them around the New York area and once he did turn professional, he was considered one of the most consistent money-winners of his era never finishing out of the Top Twenty in his first dozen years on tour.
Ford’s 1957 season was perhaps even better than his 1955 campaign – he again won three times, but this time collected a whopping 24 top-10 finishes. Ford continued to win on an annual basis through the 1963 season, including such prestigious events as the Los Angeles Open, the Western Open, the Canadian Open and the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. Along the way, Ford competed in four Ryder Cup competitions, using his legendary short game to help the U.S. side to three victories. While a powerful man, it was his skill from 125 yards and in that made him one of the top players of his time.
Always looking for a chance to compete, Ford was a leader in the early Champions Tour winning twice at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, winning in 1987 with Jerry Barber as his partner and again in 1996 with Art Wall. Ford is still an active player, competing in the 2011 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf for a record 34th time, where he teamed with Billy Maxwell in the Demaret Division.
Ford’s greatness was further affirmed when the PGA TOUR commissioned a study in 1989 to rank the greatest players of all-time. Ford finished 18th.
I got to enjoy playing some money matches with Mr. Ford during my college days at Rollins as he and his TOUR buddies would winter in Orlando. My memories of him are of a very competitive, but also exceedingly honest and kind man, and pretty adept at reading people. He was full of good stories and very supportive. While Doug Ford, Jr. did play for a limited time on the PGA TOUR, Mr. Ford’s younger son, Mike was likely the more talented. A very skilled basketball shooting guard and golfer earning 4-time Division Two All-American golf honors, Mike ranked as the 9th best amateur in America. I asked Mr. Ford about his son’s prospects. Out of Mike’s earshot, he quietly, but firmly said his son wasn’t good enough for the Tour, “Talent-wise he’s fine, but no – Mike’s too nice a kid, not mean or tough enough – you’ve got to have that killer instinct – be a mean son of a bitch!” It had been a tough way to scratch out a living then, not like it is today.
Equally as renown for his success in money matches, Doug Ford was the ultimate competitor and I can only believe he would have excelled in any era. Interestingly, Ford indicated that Sam Snead and not Hogan or Nicklaus was the best player he ever went up against. Also an outstanding pool player, recommended playing pool as a good way to improve your short game, particularly your putting stroke.
The son of a golf professional, Ford, whose original name was Fortunato, has been inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame and Connecticut Sports Hall of Fame; and in 2011, Doug Ford was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He has been one of the game’s most fierce competitors.
In his late 80s, Doug Ford whose record easily exceeds many in the “Hall of Fame,” can now rest easy with that honor.
