Jerry Heard

{{Short description|American professional golfer (born 1947)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}

{{Infobox golfer

| name = Jerry Heard

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| fullname = Jerry Michael Heard

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1947|5|1}}

| birth_place = Visalia, California

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{height|ft=6|in=0}}

| weight = {{convert|190|lb|kg st|abbr=on}}

| nationality = {{USA}}

| residence =

| spouse =

| partner =

| children =

| college = Fresno State

| yearpro = 1968

| retired =

| tour =

| extour = PGA Tour
European Tour
Champions Tour

| prowins = 8

| pgawins = 5

| eurowins = 1

| champwins =

| seneurowins =

| otherwins = 2

| majorwins =

| masters = T5: 1972

| usopen = T7: 1973

| open = T28: 1972

| pga = T7: 1972

| wghofid =

| wghofyear =

| award1 =

| year1 =

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| awardssection =

}}

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.{{cite web |title=Golf Major Championships |url=http://golfmajorchampionships.com/players?player=522 |accessdate=January 31, 2008}} 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.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kEkoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CykEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6990,3486979 |newspaper=Milwaukee Journal |title=Lightning hits Trevino, 4 other golfers |date=June 28, 1975 |page=11 |access-date=September 21, 2016 |archive-date=April 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430160433/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kEkoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CykEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6990,3486979 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lAk0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=sOsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1135%2C3148163 |newspaper=Miami News |agency=Chicago Daily News Service |title=Lightning is a big shocker for 3 golfers |date=June 28, 1975 |page=3B }}

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)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning score!!To par!!Margin of
victory!!Runner(s)-up

align=center|1

|align=right|Aug 8, 1971

|American Golf Classic

|align=right|67-66-68-74=275

|align=center|−5

|3 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Dale Douglass

align=center|2

|align=right|Mar 12, 1972

|Florida Citrus Open

|align=right|70-67-70-69=276

|align=center|−12

|2 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Bobby Mitchell

align=center|3

|align=right|May 14, 1972

|Colonial National Invitation

|align=right|69-66-67-73=275

|align=center|−5

|2 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Fred Marti

align=center|4

|align=right|Mar 3, 1974

|Florida Citrus Open (2)

|align=right|67-68-69-69=273

|align=center|−15

|3 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Homero Blancas, {{flagicon|USA}} Jim Jamieson

align=center|5

|align=right|May 28, 1978

|Atlanta Classic

|align=right|67-67-68-67=269

|align=center|−19

|2 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Lou Graham, {{flagicon|USA}} Bob Murphy
{{flagicon|USA}} Tom Watson

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent!!Result

style="background:#F2C1D1;"

|align=center|1

|1974

|Kemper Open

|{{flagicon|USA}} Bob Menne

|Lost to birdie on first extra hole

=European Tour wins (1)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning score!!To par!!Margin of
victory!!Runner-up

align=center|1

|align=right|Apr 20, 1974

|Spanish Open

|align=right|72-67-70-70=279

|align=center|−9

|6 strokes

|{{flagicon|ZAF|1928}} Gary Player

=New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (1)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.

!Date

!Tournament

!Winning score

!To par

!Margin of
victory

!Runner-up

align=center|1

|align=right|Nov 21, 1971

|Garden City Classic

|align=right|67-70-68-64=269

|align=center|−23

|5 strokes

|{{flagicon|NZ}} Bob Charles

Source:{{cite news |date=22 November 1971 |title=Heard has five-stroke win in NZ |page=20 |work=The Age |location=Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EMNUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vZADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5184%2C4583704 |via=Google News Archive |access-date=1 December 2023}}

= Other wins (1) =

Results in major championships

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1966

!1967

!1968

!1969

!1970

!1971

!1972

!1973

!1974

!1975

!1976

!1977

!1978

!1979

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|48

|style="background:yellow;"|T5

|56

|T11

|T26

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

align=left|U.S. Open

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|T13

|T29

|style="background:yellow;"|T7

|T45

|T29

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T28

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:yellow;"|T9

|style="background:yellow;"|T7

|T66

|T48

|T25

|T22

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T64

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

{{legend|yellow|Top 10}}

{{legend|#eeeeee|Did not play}}

CUT = missed the half-way cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

=Summary=

class=wikitable style=text-align:center

!Tournament !! Wins !! 2nd !! 3rd !! Top-5 !! Top-10 !! Top-25 !! Events !! Cuts made

align=left|Masters Tournament00011265
align=left|U.S. Open00001285
align=left|The Open Championship00000021
align=left|PGA Championship00002477
Totals0001482318

  • Most consecutive cuts made – 12 (1971 PGA – 1974 U.S. Open)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (four times)

See also

References

{{Reflist}}