"PGA Champion" Deane Beman Hand Signed 3X5 Card Todd Mueller COA

Description

Up for auction
"PGA Champion" Deane Beman Hand Signed 3X5 Card.
This item is authenticated by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their certificate of authenticity.
ES-2017
Deane R. Beman
(born April 22, 1938) is an American
professional golfer
, golf administrator, golf writer, and golf course architect. He was the second commissioner of the
PGA Tour
, serving from 1974 to 1994. Born in
Washington, D.C.
, Beman attended the
University of Maryland
in nearby
College Park
, where he was a two-time
All-American
on the
Terrapins
golf team.
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, and the
British Amateur
once. He also lost a playoff to
Gary Cowan
for the 1966 U.S. Amateur. Beman turned professional in 1967 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 a short hitter by top-class standards, with an outstanding short game, and was renowned as one of the best putters in the world. Injuries curtailed his playing career. He retired as a player and closed his business practice to become PGA Tour Commissioner because he believed he could contribute more to the sport as a commissioner than he ever could as a player.
Beman was the second
commissioner
of the
PGA Tour
, succeeding
Joe Dey
in
1974
, and served for twenty years. He introduced
The Players Championship
concept during this time, and developed the
Tournament Players Club
network of courses around the United States, along with Tour-branded clothing, expanding the Tour's financial clout. Beman converted the Tour into a 501-c6 organization, one of several moves that would transform the Tour's financial fortunes and introduced pension plans for Tour players. Under his watch, the Tour's board passed a policy requiring all tournaments to support a charitable initiative. Tour charitable contributions grew from less than million a year in 1974 to more than million in 1994. He is the architect of the Tour's successful television model, which still exists today. He formed the Senior PGA Tour, now the
PGA Tour Champions
, for players 50 and older in
1980
and the Ben Hogan Tour (now
Web.com Tour
) as golf's developmental circuit in
1990
. In 1983, the Tour expanded the number of exempt players from the top-60 on the season money list to the top-125. At a meeting on February 28, 1994, the tour's board approved the capstone of his legacy,
The Presidents Cup
, an international competition. Beman also announced his plan to retire; it was the twentieth anniversary of his appointment as Tour commissioner. During his tenure, the PGA Tour's assets grew from 0,000 in 1974 to a reported 0 million in 1994.
He was succeeded as commissioner by
Tim Finchem
, who served for over 22 years.