Dick Mayer


Alvin Richard Mayer was an American professional golfer.
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.
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. Mayer died at age 64 in Palm Springs, California.

PGA Tour wins (7)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-upRef
1Sep 13, 1953Eastern Open−9 4 strokes Charlie Bassler, Doug Ford,
Chandler Harper
2Mar 21, 1954Miami Beach International Four-Ball
−30 Playoff Julius Boros and Dutch Harrison
3May 22, 1955Kansas City Open−17 6 strokes Chandler Harper, Billy Maxwell
4Jun 24, 1956Philadelphia Daily News Open−3 Playoff Bud Holscher
5Jun 16, 1957U.S. Open+2 Playoff Cary Middlecoff
6Aug 11, 1957World Championship of Golf−9 1 stroke Al Balding, Sam Snead
7May 16, 1965Greater New Orleans Open Invitational−15 1 stroke Bruce Devlin, Billy Martindale

Major championships

Wins (1)

1 Defeated Middlecoff in an 18-hole playoff: Mayer 72, Middlecoff 79.

Results timeline

Note: Mayer never played in The Open Championship.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DQ = disqualified
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" = tied

Summary