TOP 10
BRITS
The British may have invented the game, but they've hardly been excelling at in recent times – particularly in the majors. Mak Lok-lin trawls through the archives to discover who really were the finest golfers from these windswept isles
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The British Are Coming!” screamed the headline in Archie Albatross’ Masters betting round up in the April issue of HK Golfer. Indeed, at the halfway stage Archie's picks of Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter were sitting at the top of the leaderboard and he was looking like a genius. Sadly, as so often in the recent past, the Brits faded when it mattered most, and the United Kingdom was left waiting for their first major champion since Paul Lawrie somehow managed to swipe the Claret Jug away from Jean Van de Velde at the 1999 Open. As I pondered this eleven year drought, my mind turned to those halcyon days when British players did indeed rule the golfing world.
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Young Tom Morris
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Sir Nick Faldo
There's no question that Faldo is the greatest British golfer of modern times, but was he the greatest in history? The jury's still out on that one (particularly when one considers the achievements of others on this list), but he peaked at a time when British golf was in the doldrums and his achievements undoubtedly inspired the current crop of young Englishmen – the likes of Poulter, Donald, Casey and Rose – into taking up the game. Born into middle class suburbia in Welwyn Garden City, a 14-year-old Faldo was himself inspired into picking up a club after watching Jack Nicklaus come close to winning the 1971 Masters. Just four years later Faldo had won the English Amateur and turned pro the season afterwards. Despite early success, he felt his swing needed to change in order to succeed at the highest level, a decision that baffled many at the time. Showing the steely determination that has defined his career, Faldo, in harness with coach David Leadbetter, spent a painful two years during the mid Eighties revamping his action – and the results were dramatic. In 1987, he silenced his critics by winning the first of his six majors – the Open Championship at Muirfield, after recording eighteen successive pars to hold off Paul Azinger. Back-to-back Masters titles
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Thomas Mitchell Morris was born in St Andrews in 1821 and was a pivotal character in the development of the modern game of golf. He lived to be 86-years-old and witnessed the evolution of the courses, equipment and players themselves into the new century. Morris was involved in the development of every aspect of the game. As a player he was a central figure in the creation of the Open Championship, and struck the first ball played in the competition in 1860. He subsequently won four Opens. As a club and ball maker, he helped develop the innovations of the day, including being fired by his employer Allan Roberston for playing with the new “guttie” ball, which he started manufacturing himself. As a greenkeeper, he developed techniques for course maintenance that transformed playing conditions. He also developed the concept of entirely separate tees and greens. He also became the first dedicated course architect, travelling extensively to lay out routings all over the British Isles. After leaving St Andrews to design and build Prestwick, he was then instrumental in bringing the Open Championship to his new club, where it was held for the next twelve years. Finally, for the richest salary in the game, he was enticed back to his hometown and brought the Open with him. It was Old Tom’s presence and influence that made St Andrews the “Home of Golf” and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club the game’s dominant force, over its older rival, the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.
followed in 1989 and 1990, and he added to his Open Championship tally with a win at St Andrews (1990) and a second at Murifield (1992). Faldo, who became only the second golfer to be knighted (Henry Cotton was the first, although his was awarded posthumously), was the top ranked player in the world for ninetyeight weeks, but his decline was almost as rapid as his ascendency. Few watching his magnificent 67 to reel in his fishing buddy Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters would believe that it was to be the second last win of his career. By 1997 it was all over. HKGOLFER.COM
Tom Morris Jr was born in St Andrews in 1851, the oldest son of Old Tom. Almost immediately, the Morris’ moved to Prestwick, where the recently sacked Old Tom had been snapped up by the newly created Prestwick Golf Club to build a new course for them. Young Tom grew up playing daily on the site of the first Open Championships, the first being held when he was only nine-years-old. By the time he was 13, Young Tom was being hailed as a prodigious talent, and had already won his first match against professionals. Unlike all other players at the time, Young Tom had not come through the caddying or clubmaking ranks, and, having had a private education, was a dramatic new phenomenon. He created completely new techniques that were rapidly imitated by his opponents, who never mastered them to the same extent. In 1868, aged 17, Morris won his first Open Championship, an age record that still stands. The following year he repeated his victory, scoring a hole in one – the first at the Open
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Morris was involved in the development of every aspect of the game. As a player he was a central figure in the creation of the Open Championship, and struck the first ball played in the competition in 1860. He subsequently won four Opens. – along the way. In 1869, he became the first player to win three times in succession, beating his father into second place, the only time this has happened. A year later, Young Tom won his fourth Open in succession, a record still unmatched. By this time, his renown was such that he was the first to arrange a series of dates where he would personally “tour” to various clubs to play money matches, as opposed to attending official events. He also commanded the first “appearance money”, also unheard of at the time. Sadly, Young Tom died of a heart attack on Christmas Day in 1875, aged only 24, having seen his wife and child die in childbirth earlier that year.
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Harry Vardon
Not many know that Harry Vardon was actually a “Bean”, the slang term for a local on the Channel Island of Jersey where he was born in 1870. The population of Jersey at that time
AFP (Faldo); www.historicalgolfpictures.com (Morris)
top 10 feature
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Old Tom Morris
Major players: Arise, Sir Nick! Faldo at Buckingham Palace (left); Old and Young Tom Morris, golf’s first superstars HK Golfer・Jun/Jul 2010
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was under 60,000, barely that of a small town today. To find a multiple major winner born there would be a minor miracle, to discover that a second – the beefy Ted Ray – was a contemporary defies belief. Vardon is still remembered today for the “Vardon Grip”, the most popular grip in golf. He was revered by fellow pros for his effortless power, rhythm and balance, largely due to the lightness of his grip. Pedantic Scots may argue that it should be called the “Lindlay Grip”, as top Scottish amateur John Ernest Lindlay is actually credited with having invented it. Regardless, Vardon is unique in winning the Open Championship an amazing six times. The only other major of the era was the US Open, which, despite the travel difficulties involved, he entered three times with a stunning record of a win and two second places. This included losing to Francis Ouimet in the historic playoff in 1913, alongside fellow “Bean” Ray, and then losing to Ray by a stroke in 1920. Vardon was 50-yearsold by that time and would have been the oldest major winner of all time had he prevailed. His name also graces the annual PGA of America Vardon Trophy awarded for the lowest average round over the season which Tiger Woods has won a record eight times. The trophy was first awarded in the year of Vardon’s death in 1937.
Braid decided to turn pro and went on the finest run of major form ever seen. From 1896 to 1912 he finished in the top ten of every single championship, winning five times and earning three runner-up places.
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James Braid
Based on his golf course design work alone, James Braid would be a legendary figure. Born in Earlsferry, Fife in 1870 (the same year as Vardon), he was responsible for new courses or redesigns the length and breadth of the British Isles, including Blairgowrie, Carnoustie, Dalmahoy, Gleneagles, Lundin, Nairn and Royal Musselburgh. His legacy was either breathtaking new creations, such as the King and Queen courses at Gleneagles, or remarkably sympathetic reworkings, such as the weaving of MacKenzie’s original holes into his designs at Blairgowrie and his handling of Carnoustie. Only someone of his reputation and temperament would have been offered or indeed taken such responsibilities. However, it was his dominance of the Open Championship that gets him on to this particular list. At the 1894 edition, while still an amateur, he finished tied for tenth. He didn’t play in 1895, decided to turn pro and went on the finest run of major form ever seen. From 1896 to 1912 he finished in the top ten of every single championship, winning five times and earning three runner-up places, putting him one behind his arch rival Vardon on the all-time list. Renowned as a very long driver, his savage action enthralled spectators in much the same way Arnold Palmer did sixty years later.
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JH Taylor
John Henry Taylor rounded out the “Great Triumvirate” and is unfairly seen as the weakest link. Born a year after his rivals in 1871 in Westwood Ho! Devon, he had perhaps the toughest route to the top of all, born into a working class family and orphaned at the age of eight. He came through the caddie ranks and worked as a junior greenkeeper at Royal North Devon Golf Club, turning pro in 1890. Grow i ng up i n t he w i ld weat her of southwest England set him up to become renowned for his ability to handle adverse conditions better than most. He was like a golfing Michael Schumacher when it rained and his five Open wins came with an average winning margin of over six strokes. In a twenty-two year period from his first Open in 1893 until 1914 he won five times, came second a heartbreaking six times (including 4 years in a row from 1904-1907) and was out of the top ten on only two occasions. Where Braid had power and Vardon had rhythm, Taylor was renowned for his accuracy and the tale is told of him having “directional posts removed from the blind holes out of fear that his drives would hit them and carom into bunkers”! HKGOLFER.COM
In all, he came second to Vardon three times, and to Braid twice. His reputation as a course designer is little remarked upon, unfairly perhaps as he was the man behind Royal Birkdale.
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Tony Jacklin
Despite a relative dearth of tournament wins, Tony Jacklin won very high quality events, including two majors, and was undoubtedly the best British player of his era. In addition, he established himself as the most successful Ryder Cup captain of all time. Born in 1944 in working-class Scunthorpe, Anthony Jacklin originally trained as an apprentice steel worker before his passion for golf won through. Having won a junior event at 13, he gave up the steelworks to turn pro in 1962 aged 17. By 1964 he had won his first event and in 1968 he broke through on a global level, winning the Greater Jacksonville Open to become the first Briton to win on the PGA tour. The following year he became the first Englishman to win the Open Championship since 1951. In 1970, he won the US Open at a very tough Hazeltine by a staggering seven shots and was on top of the golfing world. He had top five finishes in the next three Open Championships, but in 1972 he could only watch in disbelief as Lee Trevino made the most of a ridiculously hot wedge to hole five chip shots –including one on the seventyfirst hole – to snatch the title from his grasp. The episode destroyed Jacklin mentally. He never recovered. In 2002 he admitted, “What Trevino did not only ruined me for that day, it ruined me forever.” However, his heroics had inspired a new generation of young Europeans and it was fitting that Jacklin himself would lead the Ryder Cup renaissance and captain those players to a series of wins against the previously unbeatable Americans.
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“I have not played golf with anyone, man or woman, amateur or professional, who made me feel so utterly outclassed. She is the finest golfer I have ever seen." - Bobby Jones on Joyce Wethered
AFP (Jacklin); www.historicalgolfpictures.com (The Great Triumvirate + Wethered)
Four’s a crowd: The Great Triumvirate – Vardon, Braid and Taylor – seen here with 1902 Open champion Sandy Herd
Joyce Wethered
To the uninitiated this will seem like an unusual choice, but the future Lady HeathcoatAmory was considered the finest female player of her generation and the best female British golfer of all time. I n t he ea rly 1920’s she was close to unbeatable, winning the English Ladies Amateur Championship five years in a row, and winning three of four British Amateur Championships she entered during the same period. She then retired at the ripe old age of 23. She was lured out of retirement in 1929 to play in the British Amateur being held at St
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Andrews as the American, Glenna Colette, the only female player with a remotely similar reputation, had entered. Wethered beat Colette 3 and 1 in the final to take her fourth British title. She then retired from competition for good. Throughout her life she regularly played with the top male professionals of her day, and it is their feedback that is perhaps the most telling. She drew gushing praise from greats
Open winners all: Ballesteros, Player, Tony Jacklin and his nemesis Trevino at St Andrews (top); Joyce Wethered at Worplesdon with her brother Roger (second from left) HK Golfer・Jun/Jul 2010
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Chalk and cheese: Henry Cotton and Laura Davies approached the game from entirely different angles, but both achieved wonderful success in their respective arenas.
such as Walter Hagen, Francis Ouimet, Gene Sarazen and many more. The highest praise of all came from her biggest fan, the world’s greatest player, Bobby Jones. Jones played many times with Joyce, including a round at St Andrews where she joined the men from the back tees and defeated them all. Jones later made the following comments: “I have not played golf with anyone, man or woman, amateur or professional, who made me feel so utterly outclassed. She is the finest golfer I have ever seen.”
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Henry Cotton
Born in 1907, Henry Cotton’s first love was cricket, and it was a suspension from his team that led him to take up golf. He turned pro at the age of 17 and finished ninth in his first Open Championship just three years later. In an unbelievable stretch of consistency from 1930 to 1948, Henry Cotton finished in the top ten of every Open Championship except one, recording three wins. This stretch included six years when the Open wasn’t held, due to the war, and it’s tempting to imagine that Vardon’s record may have gone had the event been held. Henry was mentored by the great Tommy Armour, and inherited a liking for the high life from the Scot. As a side note, Armour took American citizenship and thus missed out making it on to this list. Many tales are told of Cotton and his liking for caviar, Champagne and a Rolls Royce lifestyle. Less remarked upon was his relentless dedication to his golf game, often practicing until his hands bled, or his nurturing of young professionals. In his autobiography, Life Swings, Nick Faldo writes fondly of the support Cotton gave him when he first joined the pro ranks.
EXPERIENCE
VISION
10 Laura Davies
Perhaps the best “traveller” in the history of the game, in 1994 Davies set a unique record winning on five different tours – US, Europe, Japan, Asia and Australia. 38
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Luxe Hills, China Hole 2 Par 3
WORLD CLASS RESULTS AFP (Davies); www.historicalgolfpictures.com (Cotton)
Lovely Laura has graced these pages before and is without question the preeminent British female player since Joyce Wethered. Born in Coventry in 1963, Laura represented Britain in the Curtis Cup in 1984, before turning pro the following year. She was an immediate success, winning both Rookie of the Year and the Order of Merit titles in 1985. In 1986 she won the British Women’s Open, but at that time it lacked major status. Her international breakthrough came in 1987, when she won the US Open in a playoff. In 1990 she played on the first Solheim Cup team, and has played in all eleven events held to date. Perhaps the best “traveller” in the history of the game, in 1994 she set a unique record winning on five different tours – US, Europe, Japan, Asia and Australia. In all, Davies has won four majors, and nearly 80 events worldwide, a magnificent tally.
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Mark E. Hollinger ASGCA
Address: 1513 Folger Drive, Belmont, California 94002 USA Tel: 1-650-620-9670 Fax: 1-650-620-9707 China: (86)136-6018-6366
www.jmpgolf.com