Unsung heroes

Their finest hour

The names inscribed on the Claret Jug include most of golf’s greatest-ever practitioners, but there are also some on there who tore up the form-book to produce the performance of a lifetime at The Open

Words: Alistair Tait

Hugh Kirkaldy, St Andrews, 1891

Hugh Kirkaldy spent his golfing life in the shadow of his older brother. Andrew Kirkaldy was five years his senior and widely recognised as the better player. Yet it was Hugh who got his name on the old Claret Jug, bettering his sibling in the process.

The 1891 championship over the Old Course at St Andrews was the last to be contested over 36 holes, both rounds played on the same day, with the following year’s tournament at Muirfield the first 72-hole Open.

Hugh returned a pair of 83s on a cold day when heavy rain hindered scoring. His second round was distinctive: it was the first Open round at the Old Course not to include a six on the scorecard. His 166 total set a new scoring record in Opens at St Andrews, improving on the previous best by three shots. It gave him a two-shot victory over 1883 champion Willie Fernie and brother Andrew (who finished runner-up at The Open on three occasions).

Not considered a stylist: Alfred Perry (above), champion at Muirfield in 1935. Bill Rogers (right) came within a whisker of missing his tee time at Royal St George’s in 1981, but ended up taking home the Claret Jug

Hugh put up a stout defence of his title the following year, finishing joint second along with John Ball and Sandy Herd to amateur Harold Hilton. He also finished third three times.

Hugh Kirkaldy didn’t see the new century. He died of tuberculosis in 1897, aged 28. He left another legacy: the putter he used to win The Open became the first President’s Putter, the trophy presented to the winning team in the varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge.

Alfred Perry, Muirfield, 1935

Perry’s entry in the 1975 Shell International Encyclopaedia of Golf sums up why he is included in this list. It reads: “Chiefly remembered for his somewhat surprising victory in the British Open at Muirfield in 1935.”

“Somewhat” is perfectly adequate since the man born in Coulsdon, Surrey, in 1904 played David to the Goliath that was Sir Henry Cotton to get his name on the old Claret Jug.

Cotton was defending champion, the pre-eminent golfer of his era. He did not just win the 1934 Open at Royal St George’s, he set records that would stand for decades.

Cotton began his title defence with an opening 68 to signal he meant to retain the trophy. With all the attention on Cotton, Perry quietly went about his business with an opening 69 before adding a 75 to lie five shots behind Charles Whitcombe. Then Perry really kicked into high gear.

The Englishman went eight shots better in round three. His 67 equalled Walter Hagen’s course record around Muirfield, giving him a one-shot lead over Whitcombe. A closing 72 despite starting with a six saw him run out a four-shot winner over Alf Padgham on 283 to equal the best 72-hole total. Cotton finished seventh. Unlike Cotton, Perry was not considered a stylist. He had a strong right hand grip and flat swing.

Aside from that Open triumph, Perry appeared in three Ryder Cups, won the 1938 Dunlop Metropolitan and third in the 1939 Open (behind another possible contender for this list, Dick Burton).

Bill Rogers, Royal St George’s, 1981

Rogers was not one of the fancied runners in 1981 at Royal St George’s. This was the age of Tom Watson, winner of three of the previous seven Championships, when the world’s best arrived on the Kent coast.

Jack Nicklaus had won two Majors the year before and was gunning for his fourth Open. Throw in Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ray Floyd, Lee Trevino, Ben Crenshaw and a host of other strong contenders and it is easy to see why Rogers flew under the radar. The Texan only turned up because Crenshaw persuaded him to make the trip.

Rogers might not have won if not for journalist John Whitbread. Then writing for the Westminster Press, Whitbread noticed Rogers on the practice putting green on day one when he should have been on the tee. Rogers thought his tee time was in 20 minutes.

“There’s no doubt that if John hadn’t told me I would have been disqualified. Instead I won.”

He did so by four shots over Langer in just his second start in the oldest Major. He would play just five more in his career.

Rogers won three other PGA Tour wins that year and was voted the circuit’s player of the year. His Open triumph earned him appearance fees around the world and he took advantage. That led to burn out. In 1988 he quit tournament golf to become director of golf at San Antonio Country Club and settled down to a quieter life.

John Daly, St Andrews, 1995

Although Daly had won the 1991 PGA Championship and two other PGA Tour titles, most did not rate the long hitter’s chances at St Andrews. “Wild Thing” did not seem suited for links golf. He generally played the game through the air, not along the ground.

However, Daly opened with 67 to share the lead with fivetime winner Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw and Mark McNulty. Further rounds of 71 and 73 put Daly four shots off Michael Campbell’s lead. The New Zealander slumped to a 76 and third place, one shot out of a play-off with Daly and Italy’s Costantino Rocca.

Daly returned a 71 in the windy conditions of the final round and only found himself in a play-off thanks to Rocca’s magic on the 72nd hole.

Needing a birdie to tie, Rocca felt his chance had gone when he duffed his second shot into the “Valley of Sin”. The Italian then holed a 65ft putt. The four-hole play-off became anticlimactic when Rocca took three in the Road Hole bunker. Daly went on to win by five shots.

Great lag putting and hitting the ball long and left to avoid the St Andrews bunkers was the main reason Daly was crowned Champion Golfer of the Year.

He has never finished higher than tied 15th in 19 subsequent appearances and remains a popular figure because of his less than traditional approach to the game.

Ben Curtis, Royal St George’s, 2003

Ben Curtis was ranked 396th in the world when he arrived in Kent for The Open Championship in 2003. A fresh-faced 26-year-old, he had gained entry to the event courtesy of a tied-13th finish at the Western Open the previous week and was rated as a 500-1 shot by the bookmakers. A sun-baked course suited the man from Ohio and he entered the final round two shots off the lead, although with the likes of Tiger Woods, Thomas Bjørn and Vijay Singh in the mix he was still seen by the vast majority of spectators as a likely also-ran.

Six birdies on the first 11 holes changed those perceptions, though, and when Bjørn and Singh both found a bunker on the 16th, the engraver was getting to work.

Curtis rocketed 300 places up the world rankings overnight and enjoyed a brief burst of publicity. He finished in the top-10 at The Open twice more, in 2007 and 2008 – the year he also tied for second at the US PGA. Curtis retired from professional golf in 2017 to focus on other interests, notably children’s charity the Ben Curtis Family Foundation.

Out of nowhere: Ben Curtis lines up his putt on the 10th green during the final round of the Open Championship at Royal St George’s in 2003

A sun-baked course suited the man from Ohio and he entered the final round two shots off the lead, although he was still seen by most as a likely also-ran