Jim Herman

Herman earned his first PGA Tour victory at the 2016 Shell Houston Open, where he edged Henrik Stenson by one shot. With the title, Herman earned his first trip to the Masters. Before Houston, Herman was 191st in the world ranking. He had worked for two years in the golf shop at Donald Trump's New Jersey course and Trump played with him and encouraged him to try the PGA Tour. Trump also helped support him financially. Herman still wears the logo of a Trump golf club on his shirt every now and then. He played with Trump the Saturday before he won at Houston, shooting 8 under par at Trump International Palm Beach.
Herman got his start in golf at age 9 when he would tag along and play with his father.
Herman earned his 2008 Korn Ferry Tour eligibility with a T-74th finish at the 2007 PGA Tour Qualifying School in his first appearance at the final stage. Member of the Golden Bear Tour (2001-04). Member of the New Jersey PGA Section (2006-07). Winner of the 2006 and '07 New Jersey Assistants' Championship. Finished runner-up at the 2005 and '07 National Assistants' Championship. Served as an assistant pro from 2004-06 at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and as an assistant pro from 2006-07 at Trump National Bedminster, the New Jersey course that hosted the 2017 U.S. Women's Open.
Earned his 2011 PGA Tour card after finishing 19th on the money list on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2010. Struggled on the PGA Tour in 2011 and didn't retain his card.
2008 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 28; In Money - 11; Top-10 Finishes - 0; Scoring Average 71.59 (rank 96th); Money - $67,532 (rank 92nd); Best Finish T-11th Miccosukee Championship.
2009 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 26; In Money - 10; Top-10 Finishes - 2; Scoring Average - 71.36 (rank 106th); Money - $93,904 (rank 65th); Best Finish - 3rd, Michael Hill New Zealand.
2010 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 25; In Money - 15; Top-10 Finishes - 3; Scoring Average - 70.20 (rank 40th); Money - $238,847 (rank 19th); Best Finish 1st, Moonah Classic.
2011 Notes: Claimed a pair of top-25 finishes in 22 starts in his rookie year on the PGA Tour (best finish T-22nd, Puerto Rico Open), and missed the cut in both of his Korn Ferry Tour starts. Finished 189th on the money list, and was forced back to Q-School, where he finished T-30th, one shot short of regaining his PGA Tour card.
2012 Notes: Spent the year on the Korn Ferry Tour and posted three top-10s in 26 starts. Best finish was T-2nd at the Preferred Wichita Open. Finished 25th on the Korn Ferry Tour money list to earn his 2013 PGA tour card. Edged the No. 26 player, Camilo Benedetti, by $940.
2012 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 26; In Money - 17; Top-10 Finishes - 3; Scoring Average - 70.06 (rank 18th); Money - $182,001 (rank 25th); Best Finish, T-2nd Preferred Wichita Open.
2013 Notes: Played at 19 PGA Tour events, had two top-10s that came back-to-back, finishing T-10th at the John Deere Classic and T-9th the next week at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Ended the year 139th on the FedExCup list. Played in all four Korn Ferry Tour Finals events, his top showing a T-7th at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship. Finished 28th on the Korn Ferry Tour priority rankings to secure his 2014 PGA Tour card.
2014 Notes: Made 11 cuts in 21 starts, with his best finish a T-26th in the season-opening Frys.com Open. Concluded the year 182nd in the FedExCup standings. Returned to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, was T-4th at the Chiquita Classic, a week later was T-14th at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship, and then T-4th at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, which got him his Tour card for 2015.
2015 Notes: Turned the corner, in 25 starts had two top-10s, T-7th at the Honda Classic and T-4th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Finished 74th in the FedExCup standings and 80th on the money list.
2016 Notes: Played in 29 PGA Tour events making the cut in 18 with two top-tens. Earned his first career PGA Tour title at the Shell Houston Open in his 106th Tour start at the age of 38 years, 4 months, 29 days. Won by a shot over Henrik Stenson. With the win, claimed the last spot in the following week's Masters, becoming the first player since Matt Jones in 2014 to play his way into the Masters via a win at the Shell Houston Open. With rounds of 69-69-67-68=273 (-15) in Houston, posted four rounds in the 60s for just the fourth time in his career. Became the 16th player in tournament history to make the Shell Houston Open his maiden PGA Tour victory. His win in Houston was only his second top-10 of the year, his first was T-10th at the CIMB Classic. After that recorded just two top-25 finishes, both in the FedExCup playoffs (T-22nd, Barclays and T-24th at the BMW Championship). Went on to finish 42nd in the FedExCup playoff race.
2017 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour events making 13 cuts with two top-ten finishes. Was 91st in the FedExCup standings. Finished 10th at the Sony Open in Hawaii, his first top-ten since winning the Shell Houston Open. Was T-3rd at the Valspar Championship, two shots back of winner Adam Hadwin. In the FedExCup Playoffs, missed the cut at the Northern Trust and T-69th at the Dell Technologies.
2018 Notes: Played in nine PGA Tour events making three cuts. At the end of 2017, he injured his foot while in Korea and his foot got worse during the west coast swing. After missing four straight cuts and shooting 77 in the first round of the Genesis he withdrew. On March 7th had surgery on his toes and between recuperating from that and also having plantar fasciitis, didn't play for the rest of the year.
2019 Notes: Played in 21 events making five cuts with one top-ten finish, winning the Barbasol Championship. Was able to make his first start at the Safeway Open but in his first 19 starts only made two cuts, T-43rd at the Sony Open at Hawaii and T-71st at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Just after the Rocket Mortgage, Herman played golf with President Trump who gave him a putting tip and Herman changed to a conventional grip and conventional putter head. Something worked because at the Barbasol Championship Herman shot 65-65-62-70 to beat Kelly Kraft by a shot to win. The victory gave Herman a two-year PGA Tour exemption, among other benefits, and ended his long slump that began with the foot injury.
2020 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour events making nine cuts with one top-ten finish. Was 64th in the FedExCup standings. Won the Wyndham Championship by a shot over Billy Horschel, his third PGA Tour title in his 195th career start at age 42 years, 9 months, 11 days. Closing 36-hole score of 124 (61-63) was the second such score of 124 or better by a winner in PGA Tour history. Moved from 192nd to 54th in the FedExCup standings, becoming the first player to jump at least 138 spots in the Regular Season finale during the FedExCup era. His next best finish was T-27th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and his next best finish in a full-field event was T-35th in the RSM Classic. In the FedExCup playoffs missed the cut at the Northern Trust and T-40th at the BMW Championship.
2021 Notes: Best finish T-30th in the RSM Classic.