Who's who: Dow Finsterwald

  • Torrey Pines - South course, host of the Farmers Insurance Open
  • Prince's GC, England
  • Torrey Pines - South course, host of the Farmers Insurance Open
  • Terras da Comporta, Dunas
  • Monte Rei G&CC
  • Marco Simone GC (Italy); host of the Ryder Cup 2023
  • Pebble Beach host of the US Open; US Women's Open; Pebble Beach Pro-Am
  • Marco Simone GC

Who's who: Dow Finsterwald

  • Name:

    Dow Henry Finsterwald Sr
  • Country:

    USA
  • Born:

    Sept 6, 1929 in Athens, Ohio.
  • Original/Home Club:

  • Occupation:

    Professional golfer
  • Turned Pro:

    1951

Roll of Honour

MAJORS (1): US PGA Championship (1958). Ryder Cup player (1957, 1969, 1961, 1963); Ryder Cup captain (1977). PGA Tour wins (11).

Did you know?

Former PGA Tour player.

Top tournaments won by Dow Finsterwald

Category

America

Winner (holder)

Finsterwald, Dow

Score

268 (-16)

Prize money

$10,000

Title sponsor

x

Played as the "500" Festival Open Invitational (May 31-Jun 3; held in conjunction with the Indy 500 race week). Second-placed Tommy Aaron (USA), Julius Boros (USA), Tony Lema (USA) and Bobby Nichols (USA) finished 2 shots behind Dow Finsterwald (USA), who recorded the last of his 11 PGA Tour wins. [Brickyard Crossing GC, at the time known as Speedway GC, Indianapolis, IN].

Category

America

Winner (holder)

Finsterwald, Dow

Score

280 (-4)

Prize money

$5,500

Title sponsor

x

Played as the Los Angeles Open (Jan 9-12; PGA Tour season opener). Second-placed Bill Collins (USA), Jay Hebert (USA) and Dave Ragan (USA) finished 3 shots behind Finsterwald (USA). [Rancho Park GC, Los Angeles, CA].

Category

America

Winner (holder)

Finsterwald, Dow

Score

270 (-18)

Prize money

$3,500

Title sponsor

x

Played as the Greater New Orleans Open Invitational (April 21-24). Second-placed Al Besselink (USA) finished 6 shots behind Dow Finsterwald (USA). [Bayou Oaks at City Park, New Orleans, LA. Played on what was known as City Park's No.1 (East) course; now part of the South course).

1959
America
Blue Hills CC, MO
275 (-13)
$2,800
KCGA

Category

America

Winner (holder)

Finsterwald, Dow

Venue

Blue Hills CC, MO

Score

275 (-13)

Prize money

$2,800

Title sponsor

KCGA

Played as the Kansas City Open (Sept 4-7). Finsterwald (USA) beat Don Fairfield (USA) at the first playoff hole. [Blue Hills CC, nr Kansas City, Missouri].

1959
America
Starmount Forest
278 (-6)
$2,000
x

Category

America

Winner (holder)

Finsterwald, Dow

Venue

Starmount Forest

Score

278 (-6)

Prize money

$2,000

Title sponsor

x

Played as the Greater Greensboro Open (April 9-12). Second-placed Art Wall Jr (USA) finished 2 shots behind Finsterwald (USA). [Starmount Forest CC, Greensboro, NC].

1958
Majors
Llanerch CC
276 (-4)
$5,500
PGA of America

Category

Majors

Winner (holder)

Finsterwald, Dow

Venue

Llanerch CC

Score

276 (-4)

Prize money

$5,500

Title sponsor

PGA of America

The US PGA Championship (40th) (July 17-20; first year in stroke-play rather than match play format). Second-placed Billy Casper (USA) finished 2 shots behind Finsterwald (USA), who recorded his first and only major championship win. [Llanerch CC, Havertown, nr Philadelphia, PA].

1958
Awards
x
n/a
PGA of America

Category

Awards

Winner (holder)

Finsterwald, Dow

Venue

Score

x

Prize money

n/a

Title sponsor

PGA of America

Finsterwald (USA) won the PGA of America Player of the Year Award (based on points allocated for PGA Tour wins, money-list position and scoring average).

1957
America
269 (-11)
$2,000
x

Category

America

Winner (holder)

Finsterwald, Dow

Score

269 (-11)

Prize money

$2,000

Title sponsor

x

Played as the Tucson Open Invitational (Feb 7-11). Dow Finsterwald (USA) beat Don Whitt (USA) by 4 shots in an 18-hole Monday playoff (Finsterwald 5-under-par 65, Whitt 69). [El Rio G&CC, Tucson, AZ. Now known as El Rio GC].

1957
Awards
70.30
n/a
PGA of America

Category

Awards

Winner (holder)

Finsterwald, Dow

Venue

Score

70.30

Prize money

n/a

Title sponsor

PGA of America

Finsterwald (USA) won the PGA of America Vardon Trophy, recording the season's lowest scoring average on the PGA Tour.

Find a course

Or

Tournaments

Ryder Cup: Rome plays host to the first ever Ryder Cup to be staged in Italy, with the USA defending golf’s greatest team trophy at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club (Sept 29-Oct 1).

Solheim Cup: also in September, also in southern Europe, the 18th Solheim Cup will be contested at Finca Cortesin on the Costa del Sol, with Europe defending after their surprise win in Toledo, Inverness Club (Ohio) in 2021 (Sept 22-24). 

Who's Who

Céline Boutier: with many successes as both an amateur and professional golfer, Boutier added a major championship title to her impressive résumé at this year’s Evian Championship.

Alex Cejka: buffeted by rain and high winds, especially on the high-scoring final day, Čejka prevailed over Pádraig Harrington in a playoff at Royal Porthcawl, to scoop the Senior Open Championship title.

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.

Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.

Prince's Golf Club, Kent (UK)

Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.

Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available

Popular videos

You can subscribe to the Where2Golf channel on YT if you like to see more video content. You'll find a "Subscribe" button on any of our YouTube videos. Or if you want a quick and direct access subscribe here. Once done, any new published videos will show up in your Subscriptions feed.

Hamburger GC - Falkenstein, Germany

WINSTONgolf - Links course

Littlestone Golf Club (Kent, UK)