Dick Mayer

Mayer was born in Stamford, Connecticut. He apprenticed with renowned player and teacher Claude Harmon at the Winged Foot Golf Club in suburban New York City.^[1]

Mayer won seven times on the PGA Tour, between 1953 and 1965. Mayer almost won the 1954 U.S. Open, but a triple bogey on the final hole left him tied for third, two shots back, as Ed Furgol won.

Mayer's career year was 1957, when he finished the regulation 72 holes of the U.S. Open at Inverness Club tied with defending champion Cary Middlecoff. He won the 18-hole playoff 72 to 79, and his prize was $7,200. He later won $50,000 at the World Championship of Golf, topped the PGA Tour money list with winnings of $65,835, and won the PGA Player of the Year award. He also played on the 1957 Ryder Cup team.

Mayer battled alcoholism, which kept him from winning more often on the Tour.^[2] Mayer died at age 64 in Palm Springs, California.

In 2008, Mayer was inducted into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame.

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Sep 13, 1953	Eastern Open	−9 (69-70-70-70=279)	4 strokes	Charlie Bassler, Doug Ford, Chandler Harper
2	Mar 21, 1954	Miami Beach International Four-Ball (with Tommy Bolt)	−30 (67-61-65-65=258)	Playoff	Julius Boros and Dutch Harrison
3	May 22, 1955	Kansas City Open	−17 (69-67-68-67=271)	6 strokes	Chandler Harper, Billy Maxwell
4	Jun 24, 1956	Philadelphia Daily News Open	−3 (70-65-63-71=269)	Playoff	Bud Holscher
5	Jun 16, 1957	U.S. Open	+2 (70-68-74-70=282)	Playoff	Cary Middlecoff
6	Aug 11, 1957	World Championship of Golf	−9 (72-69-70-68=279)	1 stroke	Al Balding, Sam Snead
7	May 16, 1965	Greater New Orleans Open Invitational	−15 (72-67-66-68=273)	1 stroke	Bruce Devlin, Billy Martindale

PGA Tour playoff record (3–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1952	Miami Open	Jack Burke Jr.	Lost to birdie on fifth extra hole
2	1954	Miami Beach International Four-Ball (with Tommy Bolt)	Julius Boros and Dutch Harrison	Won with birdie on first extra hole
3	1956	Philadelphia Daily News Open	Bud Holscher	Won with par on second extra hole
4	1957	U.S. Open	Cary Middlecoff	Won 18-hole playoff; Mayer: +2 (72), Middlecoff: +9 (79)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1957	U.S. Open	1 shot deficit	+2 (70-68-74-70=282)	Playoff 1	Cary Middlecoff

¹ Defeated Middlecoff in an 18-hole playoff: Mayer 72 (+2), Middlecoff 79 (+9).

Note: Mayer never played in The Open Championship.

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1959 PGA Championship)
DQ = disqualified
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" = tied

• Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (twice)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1957 U.S. Open – 1957 PGA)

• Ryder Cup: 1957

• Dick Mayer at the PGA Tour official site