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Ben Arda

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Ben Arda
Personal information
NicknameBantam Ben, Toy Tiger, Mighty Mouse[1]
Born(1929-06-13)13 June 1929
Cebu, Philippine Islands
Died20 December 2006(2006-12-20) (aged 77)
Height1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Sporting nationality Philippines
Career
StatusProfessional
Former tour(s)PGA of Japan Tour
Asia Golf Circuit
Professional wins15
Number of wins by tour
Japan Golf Tour4
Asian Tour8 (Asia Golf Circuit)
Other5
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 1962
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 1972
Achievements and awards
Asia Golf Circuit
Order of Merit winner
1970

Ben Arda (13 June 1929 – 20 December 2006) was a Filipino professional golfer.

Arda, known as Bantam Ben and the Toy Tiger[2] because of his small stature, was one of Asia's leading golfers during the 1960s and 1970s. He was the first Filipino to qualify for the Masters Tournament and The Open Championship.[3] He won nine tournaments on the Asia Golf Circuit, including the Philippine Open three times, and headed the points list in 1970.[4] He also won four times on the Japan Golf Tour and played in the World Cup 16 times,[5] recording a best finish of 2nd place in 1977 with playing partner Rudy Lavares.

Professional wins (15)

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PGA of Japan Tour wins (4)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 27 May 1973 Dunlop Tournament −8 (71-69-70-70=280) 4 strokes Japan Masashi Ozaki
2 30 Sep 1973 Japan Open Golf Championship −11 (68-74-69-66=277) 2 strokes Japan Isao Aoki
3 25 Apr 1976 Sobu International Open1 −11 (69-68-70-70=277) 4 strokes Taiwan Chen Chien-chung
4 24 Apr 1977 Dunlop International Open1 (2) −6 (72-71-67-72=282) 2 strokes New Zealand Terry Kendall, Japan Tsuneyuki Nakajima

1Co-sanctioned by the Asia Golf Circuit

Asia Golf Circuit wins (8)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 17 Feb 1963 Philippine Open +1 (71-74-74-70=289) 3 strokes Japan Teruo Sugihara
2 5 Mar 1967 Singapore Open −2 (70-69-71-72=282) Playoff Japan Hideyo Sugimoto
3 8 Mar 1970 Malaysian Open −15 (69-68-68-68=273) 1 stroke Australia Tim Woolbank
4 11 Mar 1973 Singapore Open (2) E (71-68-72-73=284) Playoff Scotland Norman Wood
5 17 Mar 1974 Indonesia Open −5 (73-71-70-69=283) Playoff Taiwan Hsu Chi-san, Australia Graham Marsh
6 7 Mar 1976 Thailand Open −18 (66-70-65-69=270) 4 strokes Thailand Sukree Onsham
7 25 Apr 1976 Sobu International Open1 −11 (69-68-70-70=277) 4 strokes Taiwan Chen Chien-chung
8 24 Apr 1977 Dunlop International Open1 (2) −6 (72-71-67-72=282) 2 strokes New Zealand Terry Kendall, Japan Tsuneyuki Nakajima

1Co-sanctioned by the PGA of Japan Tour

Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (3–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1967 Singapore Open Japan Hideyo Sugimoto Won with par on second extra hole
2 1973 Singapore Open Scotland Norman Wood Won with par on third extra hole
3 1974 Indonesia Open Taiwan Hsu Chi-san, Australia Graham Marsh Won with par on sixth extra hole
Hsu eliminated by par on first hole
4 1975 Taiwan Open Taiwan Hsieh Min-Nan, Taiwan Kuo Chie-Hsiung Kuo won with birdie on fourth extra hole

Other wins (5)

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This list may be incomplete

Results in major championships

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Tournament 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
Masters Tournament CUT
The Open Championship CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1972 Open Championship)
Note: Arda never played in the U.S. Open or the PGA Championship.

Team appearances

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This list is incomplete

References

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  1. ^ "Arda wins Singapore Open". The Straits Times. 6 March 1967. p. 20. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  2. ^ Alliss, Peter (1983). The Who's Who of Golf. Orbis Publishing. p. 360. ISBN 0-85613-520-8.
  3. ^ Castillo, Musong R. (21 December 2006). "Golf great Bantam Ben Arda dies, 77". Philippine Daily Inquirer. p. A23. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
  4. ^ "Arda tops circuit". The Straits Times. Singapore. 20 April 1970. p. 21. Retrieved 19 February 2020 – via National Library Board.
  5. ^ "Most appearances in World Cup history". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on 2009-11-28. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
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