One
of the top professional golfers of the 1930s and 1940s, Herman
Barron
won his first major tournament title,
the Philadelphia Open, in 1934, and
his last, the World Seniors Championship,
in 1963.
While among the Professional Golf
Association’s leading money winners
during his tournament career, his
hottest streak occurred in 1946, when
within three weeks he won the
Philadelphia Inquirer Open, finished
fourth in the U.S. Open, and captured
the rich All-America Championship at
Tam O’Shanter in Chicago.
His U.S.
Open finish was one stroke behind the
legendary Ben Hogan, the only PGA
golfer in 1946 to win more prize money
than Barron’s $23,000. During this
pre-television period, barely a dozen
pro golfers made their living on the
Tour.
The Port Chester native was on
America’s Ryder Cup team that defeated
England in 1947, but soon after,
failing health sent him into tournament
retirement. For the next 15 years
Baron was a PGA teaching pro.
Barron returned in the early
1960s to the PGA Senior Circuit, defeating
Paul Runyon for the 1963 Senior
Championship, while lowering
the tournament record by six strokes.
His last competitive headline came
in November 1964, when he registered
the eleventh hole-in-one of his
career.
Barron was a teaching pro until his
death and was very instrumental in
the development of Israel’s first golf
course, at Caesarea. |