Alexander Herd (24 April 1868 – 18 February 1944) was a Scottish professional golfer from St Andrews. He won The Open Championship in 1902 at Hoylake.

Early life

Born in St Andrews, Scotland, on 24 April 1868, to a golfing family, Herd had brothers who were also golf professionals.

Golf career

Herd was the club professional at Huddersfield Golf Club from 1892 to 1911. He won The Open Championship in 1902 at Hoylake. Herd had a three-shot lead after 54 holes, but nearly let the title slip out of his hands by scoring an 81 in the final round. Harry Vardon and James Braid both had medium length putts at the final hole to force a playoff, but they missed and Herd took the Championship. Herd was the first Open Champion to use the Haskell rubber-cored ball. In 1920, he became the oldest runner-up in The Open at age 52, which stood for 89 years, until Tom Watson (age 59) in 2009. Herd's appearances in the championship spanned fifty years, the last at age 71 at St Andrews in 1939, but failed to advance from qualifying. He last played in The Open six years earlier in 1933, but twisted an ankle during the first round and had to withdraw; he last made the cut in 1927 and tied for tenth. Herd's brother Fred won the U.S. Open in 1898. Herd also got involved in golf course architect and worked with Alister MacKenzie to create Wakefield Golf Clubs 18-hole course.

Death

Following an operation, Herd died of pneumonia at age 75 in London in 1944.

Tournament wins

Major championships are shown in bold.

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

Note: Herd only played in The Open Championship {{legend|lime|Win}} {{legend|yellow|Top 10}} {{legend|#eeeeee|Did not play}} NT = No tournament CUT = missed the half-way cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances