Ben Arda

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

Ben Arda
Personal information
Nickname	Bantam Ben, Toy Tiger, Mighty Mouse[1]
Born	(1929-06-13)13 June 1929 Cebu, Philippine Islands
Died	20 December 2006(2006-12-20) (aged 77)
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Sporting nationality	Philippines
Career
Status	Professional
Former tour(s)	PGA of Japan Tour Asia Golf Circuit
Professional wins	15
Number of wins by tour
Japan Golf Tour	4
Asian Tour	8 (Asia Golf Circuit)
Other	5
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	CUT: 1962
PGA Championship	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT: 1972
Achievements and awards
Asia Golf Circuit Order of Merit winner 1970

Professional career

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)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (4)

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	Masashi Ozaki
2	30 Sep 1973	Japan Open Golf Championship	−11 (68-74-69-66=277)	2 strokes	Isao Aoki
3	25 Apr 1976	Sobu International Open1	−11 (69-68-70-70=277)	4 strokes	Chen Chien-chung
4	24 Apr 1977	Dunlop International Open1 (2)	−6 (72-71-67-72=282)	2 strokes	Terry Kendall, Tsuneyuki Nakajima

¹Co-sanctioned by the Asia Golf Circuit

Asia Golf Circuit wins (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	17 Feb 1963	Philippine Open	[phone]=289)	3 strokes	Teruo Sugihara
2	5 Mar 1967	Singapore Open	−2 (70-69-71-72=282)	Playoff	Hideyo Sugimoto
3	8 Mar 1970	Malaysian Open	−15 (69-68-68-68=273)	1 stroke	Tim Woolbank
4	11 Mar 1973	Singapore Open (2)	E (71-68-72-73=284)	Playoff	Norman Wood
5	17 Mar 1974	Indonesia Open	−5 (73-71-70-69=283)	Playoff	Hsu Chi-san, Graham Marsh
6	7 Mar 1976	Thailand Open	−18 (66-70-65-69=270)	4 strokes	Sukree Onsham
7	25 Apr 1976	Sobu International Open1	−11 (69-68-70-70=277)	4 strokes	Chen Chien-chung
8	24 Apr 1977	Dunlop International Open1 (2)	−6 (72-71-67-72=282)	2 strokes	Terry Kendall, 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	Hideyo Sugimoto	Won with par on second extra hole
2	1973	Singapore Open	Norman Wood	Won with par on third extra hole
3	1974	Indonesia Open	Hsu Chi-san, Graham Marsh	Won with par on sixth extra hole Hsu eliminated by par on first hole
4	1975	Taiwan Open	Hsieh Min-Nan, Kuo Chie-Hsiung	Kuo won with birdie on fourth extra hole

Other wins (5)

This list may be incomplete

• 1961 Philippine Open
• 1969 Indian Open
• 1976 Philippine Masters
• 1977 Philippine Masters
• 1979 Philippine Open

Results in major championships

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

This list is incomplete

• World Cup (representing the Philippines): 1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977