Jerry Heard

Jerry Heard
Personal information
Full nameJerry Michael Heard
Born (1947-05-01) May 1, 1947 (age 77)
Visalia, California
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)
Sporting nationality United States
Career
CollegeFresno State
Turned professional1968
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
European Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins8
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour5
European Tour1
Other2
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT5: 1972
PGA ChampionshipT7: 1972
U.S. OpenT7: 1973
The Open ChampionshipT28: 1972

Jerry Michael Heard (born May 1, 1947) is an American professional golfer who won several PGA Tour events in the 1970s.

Early life

Heard was born in Visalia, California. He attended Fresno State College (now Fresno State University) for a short while.

Professional career

Heard turned professional in 1968 and joined the PGA Tour in 1969. His first professional win came in the American Golf Classic at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio in 1971. He finished with a four-day total of 275, three strokes better than runner-up Dale Douglass. In 1972, he won the Florida Citrus Open and the Colonial National Invitation. Heard had nearly 60 top-10 finishes in PGA Tour events in his career including four top-10 finishes in major championships — his best finish in a major was T-5 at the 1972 Masters Tournament.[1] Heard was struck by lightning at the 1975 Western Open, along with playing partner Lee Trevino. Three others were also struck: Bobby Nichols, Jim Ahern, and Tony Jacklin.[2][3]

Heard left the Tour in 1980, and today owns and operates a golf school, the Jerry Heard Golf Academy located at the Silverthorn Country Club in Spring Hill, Florida. His school had been located for many years in southwest Florida – in the Fort Myers area where he now lives.

Professional wins (8)

PGA Tour wins (5)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Aug 8, 1971 American Golf Classic 67-66-68-74=275 −5 3 strokes United States Dale Douglass
2 Mar 12, 1972 Florida Citrus Open 70-67-70-69=276 −12 2 strokes United States Bobby Mitchell
3 May 14, 1972 Colonial National Invitation 69-66-67-73=275 −5 2 strokes United States Fred Marti
4 Mar 3, 1974 Florida Citrus Open (2) 67-68-69-69=273 −15 3 strokes United States Homero Blancas, United States Jim Jamieson
5 May 28, 1978 Atlanta Classic 67-67-68-67=269 −19 2 strokes United States Lou Graham, United States Bob Murphy
United States Tom Watson

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1974 Kemper Open United States Bob Menne Lost to birdie on first extra hole

European Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Apr 20, 1974 Spanish Open 72-67-70-70=279 −9 6 strokes South Africa Gary Player

New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 Nov 21, 1971 Garden City Classic 67-70-68-64=269 −23 5 strokes New Zealand Bob Charles

Source:[4]

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

Tournament 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Masters Tournament 48 T5 56 T11 T26 CUT
U.S. Open CUT CUT T13 T29 T7 T45 T29 CUT
The Open Championship T28 CUT
PGA Championship T9 T7 T66 T48 T25 T22 T64
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 1 1 2 6 5
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 1 2 8 5
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 2 4 7 7
Totals 0 0 0 1 4 8 23 18
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 12 (1971 PGA – 1974 U.S. Open)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (four times)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Golf Major Championships". Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  2. ^ "Lightning hits Trevino, 4 other golfers". Milwaukee Journal. June 28, 1975. p. 11. Archived from the original on April 30, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  3. ^ "Lightning is a big shocker for 3 golfers". Miami News. Chicago Daily News Service. June 28, 1975. p. 3B.
  4. ^ "Heard has five-stroke win in NZ". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. November 22, 1971. p. 20. Retrieved December 1, 2023 – via Google News Archive.