Deane Beman

Deane R. Beman (born April 22, 1938) is an American professional golfer and golf administrator. He was the second commissioner of the PGA Tour, serving from 1974 to 1994.

Early life Beman was born in Washington, D.C.. He attended the University of Maryland in nearby College Park where he was a two-time All-American on the Terrapins golf team.

Amateur career Following graduation, Beman had a career in the insurance field. During his playing career, he qualified for the U.S. Open at age 17 in 1955. He qualified for the Masters Tournament fourteen times, won the U.S. Amateur twice (1960, 1963), and the British Amateur (1959). He also lost a playoff to Gary Cowan for the 1966 U.S. Amateur.

Professional career In 1967, Beman turned professional at age 29 and won four times on the PGA Tour between 1969 and 1973. He led for two rounds at the 1969 U.S. Open and finished one shot out of a playoff. Beman was considered short off the tee but complemented it with his short game. Injuries curtailed his playing career. He retired as a player and closed his business practice to become PGA Tour Commissioner.

A book chronicling his 20-year tenure as Commissioner was published in 2011, entitled Deane Beman: Golf's Driving Force, by Adam Schupak.

Awards and honors

In 2000, Beman was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame In 2007, he was awarded the seventh PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award

Amateur wins 1959 British Amateur 1960 U.S. Amateur, Eastern Amateur, Trans-Mississippi Amateur 1961 Eastern Amateur 1963 U.S. Amateur, Eastern Amateur 1964 Eastern Amateur, Porter Cup

Professional wins (6) PGA Tour wins (4)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

Other wins (2) 1966 Maryland Open (as an amateur) 1971 Quad Cities Open (not an official PGA Tour event)

Major championships Amateur wins (3) YearChampionshipWinning scoreRunner-up 1959 The Amateur Championship 3 & 2 Bill Hyndman 1960 U.S. Amateur 6 & 4 Robert W. Gardner 1963 U.S. Amateur 2 & 1 R. H. Sikes

Results timeline Amateur

Professional Note: Beman turned professional between the 1967 Masters and U.S. Open.

LA = Low amateur "T" indicates a tie for a place R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play

Source for The Masters: www.masters.com

Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur: USGA Championship Database

Source for British Open: www.opengolf.com

U.S. national team appearances Amateur Walker Cup: 1959 (winners), 1961 (winners), 1963 (winners), 1965 (tied, cup retained) Eisenhower Trophy: 1960 (winners), 1962 (winners), 1964, 1966 Americas Cup: 1960 (winners), 1961 (winners), 1963 (winners)