Golf
Herman Barron
On February 8, 1942, at Phoenix Golf Club, Herman Barron won the Western Open by two strokes over Henry Picard and became the first Jewish golfer to win an official PGA Tour event. In an era when many American clubs would not accept Jewish members, the pro from Westchester County beat the tour's best on its biggest stages.
Birth and Death Dates:
b. Dec. 23, 1909 — d. June 11, 1978
Career Highlights:
Barron took his first professional title at the 1934 Philadelphia Open and spent the next three decades as one of the game's most respected professionals. His peak came in 1946: wins at the Philadelphia Inquirer Open and the All-American Open at Tam O'Shanter, a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open, and a place behind only Ben Hogan on the money list with roughly $23,000 in a season.
Birth and Death Dates:
b. Dec. 23, 1909 — d. June 11, 1978
Career Highlights:
Barron took his first professional title at the 1934 Philadelphia Open and spent the next three decades as one of the game's most respected professionals. His peak came in 1946: wins at the Philadelphia Inquirer Open and the All-American Open at Tam O'Shanter, a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open, and a place behind only Ben Hogan on the money list with roughly $23,000 in a season.
In 1947 he played on America's victorious Ryder Cup team. He remained competitive deep into middle age, winning the PGA Seniors' Championship in 1963, and spent some fifteen years as the teaching professional at the Fenway Golf Club in Westchester County, New York.
The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 1993, fifteen years after his death; the Metropolitan PGA had already placed him in its own Hall of Fame. When the class of 2026 brought Morgan Pressel into the Hall, she joined a line of Jewish golf champions that begins, on the professional side, with Barron's two strokes in Phoenix.
Origin:
Port Chester, New York