Journalism Award

Doug Ferguson

La Jolla, California (April 5, 1963)

Introduced to golf at an early age, Doug Ferguson seemed destined for a career immersed in the game. But the road to becoming one of the most widely read golf writers in the world took a few turns first.

A native of Southern California, Ferguson’s breakthrough into golf journalism began in Oklahoma. After earning a degree in Spanish at Abilene Christian University in Texas and pondering his career path, he moved with his family to Norman, Oklahoma, and enrolled at Oklahoma University. Soon thereafter, he volunteered at the school newspaper, the Oklahoma Daily. His first assignment was a women’s volleyball game, “and it just went from there,” he said.

An internship with the Associated Press in Oklahoma City in 1987 became a crucial next step. Eventually, he was hired for its Tulsa bureau covering general news. Among his assignments was the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995. The year prior, Ferguson had gotten his introduction to golf coverage at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, won by Nick Price. The following year, he was on the scene at Southern Hills again for the PGA TOUR’s season finale, the TOUR Championship. 

After being reassigned to Jacksonville, Florida, as the bureau’s sportswriter, Ferguson became the full-time AP national golf writer in 1998. He has covered every major championship, important tournament and significant news story in the game ever since. His love of golf has fueled his excellence in covering it.

“It’s the best sport to cover,” he said. “There’s so much personality, so much nuance about it. If you didn’t really like golf, there’s no way you could do it.”

In 2009, Ferguson was one of two recipients of the Associated Press’ highest honor, the Gramling Journalism Award. A decade later, he was awarded the PGA of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism.

Ferguson lives in Jacksonville, Florida, with his wife Tiffany. Together they have two daughters, Tess and Brooke, and two grandchildren, Riley and Rudy.