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1949 Open Championship

1949 in English sport1949 in golfGolf tournaments in EnglandJuly 1949 sports events in the United KingdomThe Open Championship
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The 1949 Open Championship was the 78th Open Championship, held 6–9 July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England. Bobby Locke of South Africa won the first of his four Open titles in a 36-hole playoff, twelve strokes ahead of runner-up Harry Bradshaw of Ireland. It was the first playoff at the Open since 1933.This edition was originally scheduled for Royal Cinque Ports, but it was flooded in early 1949 and the venue was switched to Royal St George's. Royal Cinque Ports was retained as a venue for one of the qualifying rounds.Qualifying took place on 4–5 July, Monday and Tuesday, with 18 holes at Royal St. George's and 18 holes at Royal Cinque Ports. The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100, and ties for 100th place did not qualify. Bradshaw led the qualifiers scoring 139 with Locke next at 140; the qualifying score was 154 and 96 players advanced. The total prize money was increased fifty percent, from £1,000 to £1,500. The winner received £300 with £200 for second, £100 for third, £75 for fourth, £50 for fifth and then £20 each for the next 35 players. The £1,500 was completed with a £15 prize for winning the qualification event and four £15 prizes for the lowest score in each round. For the first time a silver medal was awarded to the first amateur.In the opening round on Wednesday, Jimmy Adams led with 67. Locke entered as the favorite, but was in a tie for fourth place, despite taking seven at the 14th, cutting his tee shot out of bounds. After the second round on Thursday, Sam King had the lead on 140, Adams dropping back after a 77. At the 5th hole, Bradshaw's ball finished in a broken beer bottle; he decided to play it, getting the ball clear but dropping a shot on the hole. The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was again set at forty, and ties for 40th place did not make the cut. With eleven players tied for 32nd place at 148, the cut was 147 (+3) and a record low 31 players advanced to the final two rounds.After the morning round on Friday, there were three players tied for the lead on 213: Bradshaw, Locke, and Max Faulkner. Charlie Ward and King were just a stroke behind. Bradshaw was in one of the early groups and had a final round of 70 to take the lead on 283. Playing forty minutes later, Locke reached the turn in 32 but took five at the 10th, 14th, and 15th, and then three-putted the short 16th. However he then sank a ten-foot (3 m) birdie putt at 17 then from four feet (1.2 m) for par at the last to tie Bradshaw. None of the later players in contention could get close to Bradshaw and Locke. De Vicenzo had a good last round of 69 to take third place. His chances were spoilt by an inward half of 40 in the morning which had left his three strokes behind.In the playoff on Saturday, both players started well but Locke had a three-shot lead after thirteen holes. At the 520-yard 14th hole, Locke put his second shot stone dead for a three while Bradshaw found a bunker and eventually took six. Locke's lead was thus extended to six and then to seven at the end of the morning round. The lead quickly extended to 10 after two holes of the afternoon round as Bradshaw started 6-5. Bradshaw gained a shot at the 9th and 11th, but Locke went on to win the playoff by twelve strokes.

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1949 Open Championship

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1938 Open Championship

The 1938 Open Championship was the 73rd Open Championship, held 6–8 July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. In terrible weather conditions that caused scores to soar, Reg Whitcombe prevailed by two strokes over runner-up Jimmy Adams to win his only major title. The purse was £500 with a winner's share of £100.It was planned to play the Championship at Royal Cinque Ports in nearby Deal, but abnormally high tides that February caused severe flooding to the course, leaving it like "an inland sea several feet deep." The venue was switched to Royal St George's, and Prince's replaced Royal Cinque Ports as the venue for one of the qualifying rounds.Qualifying took place on 4–5 July, Monday and Tuesday, with 18 holes at St. George's and 18 holes at Prince's. The number of qualifiers was reduced this year to a maximum of 130, and ties for 130th place did not qualify. John Fallon led the qualifiers on 142; the qualifying score was 157 and 120 players advanced, with none from the United States.Dick Burton, Jack Busson, and Bill Cox shared the 36-hole lead at even par 140, with Whitcombe two strokes back after consecutive rounds of 71. A maximum of 40 players after 36 holes made the cut to play on the final day, and ties for 40th place did not make the cut. It was at 148 (+8) and 37 advanced.In the last two rounds on Friday, the weather turned from challenging to treacherous. Gale force winds ripped apart the large exhibition tent and scattered debris for a mile around. Alf Padgham drove the green on the 384-yard (351 m) 11th hole, while Cyril Tolley cleared the water on the 14th only to have the wind blow his ball back into the hazard. Only seven sub-80 scores were recorded in the final round. The leaders suffered terribly in the conditions: Burton finished 78-85, Busson shot 83-80, while Cox went 84-80. Whitcombe's scores of 75-78 were enough to post a 295 total, two ahead of Adams and three clear of defending champion Henry Cotton.

1922 Open Championship

The 1922 Open Championship was the 57th Open Championship, played 22–23 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Walter Hagen became the first American-born winner of the Open Championship, one stroke ahead of runners-up Jim Barnes and George Duncan. It was the first of Hagen's four Open Championships and the fourth of his eleven major titles. Qualifying took place on 19–20 June, Monday and Tuesday, with 18 holes at St. George's and 18 holes at Prince's; the top eighty and ties qualified. Hagen and Joe Kirkwood led the field on 147; the qualifying score was 161 and exactly 80 players advanced. Wednesday was an idle day, which included a driving contest.Hagen, the winner over Barnes in the PGA Championship finals in 1921, was the 36-hole leader at 149, two strokes ahead of Duncan, Barnes, and five-time champion J.H. Taylor. In the two-day format, there was not a cut after 36 holes. In the third round on Friday morning, defending champion Jock Hutchison shot 73 and moved to the lead, one shot ahead of Taylor and Jean Gassiat, and two shots over Hagen and Barnes. Despite a seven on the fourth hole, Hutchison carded a 36 on the front nine of the final round, but a 40 on the final nine led to a 76 and a fourth-place finish in his second and last Open.Hagen and Barnes battled for the championship, but Barnes' 73 was one off Hagen's 72, his lowest round of the championship. Duncan, the 1920 champion, shot an 81 in the third round and fell six strokes back into a tie for tenth, then rebounded with a 69 in the afternoon to climb the leaderboard and tie Barnes for second. Taylor and Gassiat shot high scores in the final round and dropped to sixth and seventh, respectively. For the final time, two members of the Great Triumvirate finished in the top-10 at the Open Championship; Taylor, age 51, finished sixth and six-time champion Harry Vardon, age 52, tied for eighth. The third member, James Braid, missed qualifying on Tuesday by a stroke.

1911 Open Championship

The 1911 Open Championship was the 51st Open Championship, held 26–30 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Harry Vardon won the Championship for the fifth time in a playoff over Arnaud Massy, the 1907 champion. There was no qualifying event and with 226 entries it was not possible for all the players to play 18 holes on the same day. The players were therefore divided into three "sections," with the first 36 holes played over three days. Sections A and B played their first rounds on Monday, while section C played on Tuesday morning. Section A played their second rounds that afternoon, while sections B and C played their second rounds on Wednesday. By the start of the first round, the number of participants had been reduced to 222, with four withdrawals. On Monday, Michael Moran of Section B had the best round at 72. On Tuesday morning, the players in Section C discovered that a number of the holes had been moved since the first day. Later in the day a letter of protest was drawn up by a group of professionals and presented to the authorities: "To the Committee of the Championship, 1911 - Gentlemen, we the undersigned competitors at this Championship meeting respectfully protest against the alteration of the course during the qualifying (sic) rounds." Play was somewhat easier on the second morning and amateur Edward Blackwell led at 71, with by J.H. Taylor. joining Moran with 72. At the end of Tuesday, only Section A had completed 36 holes, and Ted Ray led at 148. The Committee replied to the professionals, "The Green Committee consider that in deciding to cut fresh holes each day they had adopted the best course possible under the terms of the competition, which were exceptional owing to the large entry, and though they regret that there was any dissatisfaction amongst the players, they decided that the protest could not be upheld." New holes were again cut on the third morning, so that Sections B and C played their second round to different holes to Section A. The second round was completed on Wednesday evening, and George Duncan led the field at 144, four ahead of Ray, Taylor, and Vardon. The leading sixty players and ties advanced for the final 36 holes on Thursday; the cut was at 162 and 73 players advanced, with fifteen players on the number.Duncan had a poor third round of 83 in the morning, which left Vardon with a three-shot lead over Sandy Herd, Taylor, and Massy. Vardon was among the early starters in the afternoon and scored 80 for 303. Amateur Harold Hilton reached the turn in 33, but took 43 for the last nine and finished a shot behind. Massy needed a four at the difficult final hole to tie; he reached the green with two woods and two-putted to force a 36-hole playoff with Vardon on Friday.Massy led the playoff after ten holes, but a six at the 14th and a disastrous seven at 17 put Vardon ahead by five after the first round. The lead extended to seven after 27 holes and ten after 34 holes. After Vardon reached the green in two at the 35th and Massy was in thick rough after two shots, Massy picked up his ball and conceded.

Royal St George's Golf Club
Royal St George's Golf Club

The Royal St George's Golf Club located in Sandwich, Kent, England, is a golf club in the United Kingdom and one of the courses on The Open Championship rotation and is the only Open rota golf course to be located in South East England. It has hosted 15 Open championships, the first in 1894 when it became the first club outside Scotland to host the championship. Past champions include Collin Morikawa, Darren Clarke, Ben Curtis, Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle, Bill Rogers, Bobby Locke, Reg Whitcombe, Henry Cotton, Walter Hagen (on two occasions), Harry Vardon (on two occasions), Jack White and John Henry Taylor. It has also hosted The Amateur Championship on 14 occasions. The club was founded by the surgeon Laidlaw Purves in 1887 in a setting of wild duneland. Many holes feature blind or partially blind shots, although the unfairness element has been reduced somewhat, after several 20th century modifications. The course also possesses the deepest bunker in championship golf, located on its fourth hole.The club's Challenge Cup dates from 1888 and is one of the oldest amateur events in golf. It has been contested annually over 36 holes except during the war years. A 19-year-old Jack Nicklaus won the tournament in 1959 shortly before going on to win the first of his two U.S. Amateur titles.Author Ian Fleming used the Royal St George's course under the name "Royal St. Marks" in his 1959 novel Goldfinger. When he died, Fleming was the Captain-elect of the club.

1904 Open Championship

The 1904 Open Championship was the 44th Open Championship, held 8–10 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Jack White won his only major title, one stroke ahead of runners-up James Braid and J.H. Taylor, both former champions.For the first time, the Open was scheduled for three days; the final day remained at 36 holes, but the first two rounds were now over two days. Those within nineteen strokes of the leader made the 36-hole cut, with the additional provision that the final day's field had to contain at least 32 professionals. The opening round on Wednesday was cold and windy, which led to some high scoring. Robert Thomson led with 75 after reaching the turn in 34. He was a shot ahead of amateur John Graham Jr. and Harry Vardon. It was less windy on Thursday for the second round, and Vardon led on 149, followed by Thomson on 151 and Graham on 152. James Sherlock set a new record for the Open with 71, while Willie Park Jr. scored 72; 52 players were within nineteen strokes of Vardon and made the cut at 168 or better.Overnight rain and light winds made for some low scoring on Friday. Braid set a new Championship record with a 69 in the third round, reaching the turn in 31. White has the second best score with a 72. After the morning round, Braid led on 226 with White on 227; Vardon was at 228 after a disappointing 79.White, one of the early starters in the afternoon, scored 69 for 296. Braid also played well but his 71 left him a shot behind. He holed a long putt at the 15th but a four at the short 16th left him too much to do. Taylor was the last player with a chance to catch White but needed a 67 to do so. Starting 3-3-2, he reached the turn in 32. However, like Braid, he took four at the 16th and also ended up a shot behind. His 68 was another new Open record. White's total of 296 was yet another, the first total under 300.

1899 Open Championship

The 1899 Open Championship was the 39th Open Championship, held 7–8 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Defending champion Harry Vardon won the Championship for the 3rd time, by five strokes from runner-up Jack White. A meeting was held immediately before the tournament is response to a request from a majority of the professionals asking for an increase in prize money from £90 to £200, since the professionals felt "that the money offered as prizes was scarcely in keeping with the importance of the event". In response a small increase in prize money to £115 was announced to start in 1900.All entries played 36 holes on the first day with all those within 19 strokes of the leader making the cut and playing 36 holes on the final day, with the additional provision that the final day's field had to contain at least 32 professionals. There was some good scoring in the first round with a number of low scores. James Kinnell, Vardon and Tom Williamson led on 76 with a further nine players under 80. A stronger wind in the afternoon led to some higher scores but Vardon and J.H. Taylor both returned a score of 76 while James Braid scored 78. Vardon reached the turn in 33 and had a three at the 10th but then took 28 to cover the next five holes. He eventually came home in 43. Taylor was out in 36 and back in 40. After the first day, Vardon led on 152 with Taylor on 153 and Braid and Willie Park Jr. on 156. Many of the other players found conditions difficult and the cut was extended to 175 to include the requisite number of professionals. Scoring was higher on the second morning with only the amateur Freddie Tait and Albert Tingey breaking 80. Vardon's 81 was good enough to extend his lead to three shots from Taylor and seven strokes from the rest of the field. In the afternoon, Vardon reached the turn in 34 and, with Taylor reaching the turn in 42, he had built up a large lead. Despite playing badly and taking 35 for the last seven holes, he won comfortably. White had the best round of the tournament with a final round 75 after matching Vardon's first nine of 34. Park faded with a final round of 89. Tait was the leading amateur in his last Open Championship before his death in February 1900.