Born in
St Andrews,
Scotland, on 24 April 1868, to a golfing family, Herd had brothers who were also golf professionals. His brother
Fred won the
1898 U.S. Open. 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 also got involved in golf course architect and worked with
Alister MacKenzie to create Wakefield Golf Clubs 18-hole course. ==Death==