"PGA Champion" Dow Finsterwald Hand Signed 3X5 Card Todd Mueller COA

Description

Up for auction the
"PGA Champion" Dow Finsterwald Hand Signed 3X5 Card.
This item is certified authentic by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES-1969
Dow Henry Finsterwald, Sr.
(born September 6, 1929) is an American retired
professional golfer
who is best known for winning the
1958
PGA Championship
. He won 11 Tour titles between 1955 and 1963, played on four
Ryder Cup
teams, and served as non-playing captain for the 1977 U.S. Ryder Cup team. Finsterwald was born and raised in
Athens, Ohio
. He attended
Ohio University
in his hometown, where he played on the golf team and graduated in the Class of 1952. In 1969, he was inducted into the Ohio University Athletics Hall of Fame joining his father,
Russ Finsterwald
, who was in the first class of inductees as a football player, and later basketball and football head coach.
The younger Finsterwald turned professional in 1951 and won 11 times on the
PGA Tour
during his career. He finished fifth or better more than 50 times in his career. He played on four
Ryder Cup
Teams (1957, 1959, 1961, 1963) and was the non-playing captain of the 1977 team. He won the
Vardon Trophy
in 1957, which is awarded to the tour professional with the lowest scoring average. In 1958, he was honored as
PGA Player of the Year
.
Finsterwald finished in the money in 72 consecutive tournaments – second only to
Byron Nelson
's 113 consecutive cuts. This record stood for many years until eclipsed by
Jack Nicklaus
,
Hale Irwin
and
Tiger Woods
; however, he is still fifth on the list as of 2019. The 1958 PGA Championship was held at
Llanerch Country Club
in
Havertown, Pennsylvania
. This was the first PGA Championship held after the format was switched from match play to stroke play. Finsterwald finished the tournament with a two-stroke victory over
Billy Casper
. Four years later, Finsterwald and
Gary Player
lost the
1962 Masters
in a playoff to
Arnold Palmer
. Finsterwald was once involved in
litigation
in which a
plaintiff
claimed she lost the sight in her right eye as a result of an errant tee shot he hit at the 18th hole at the 1973
Western Open
. A jury found Finsterwald not liable; however, Midlothian (Illinois) Country Club's insurers had to pay the woman about 0,000.
Finsterwald served as director of golf at
The Broadmoor
in
Colorado Springs, Colorado
for 28 years. He simultaneously served as
PGA of America
vice-president from 1976–1978; and on the
USGA
Rules of Golf committee from 1979-1981. He is also the Pro Emeritus of the Pikewood National Golf Club, based in
Morgantown, West Virginia
. Finsterwald was honored by fellow Ohio native
Jack Nicklaus
at the 2007
Memorial Tournament
in
Dublin, Ohio
. In 2008, he was inducted into the
Colorado Sports Hall of Fame
.
Finsterwald lives in
Orlando, Florida
during the winter and Colorado Springs during the summer.