For whatever reason, golf”s golden eras seem most easily described from the perspectives of the top three players of that time. In the 1960s, the decade was defined by the exploits of the Big Three, namely Jack Nicklaus. Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. In the 1940s and 1950s, the game was dominated by another threesome of note: Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, and Byron Nelson.
These trios made for great press and increased fan interest, and their legend was enhanced not only by their great accomplishments on the links, but also because of the uniqueness of their games and personalities.
Today”s top threesome is obviously Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson. In the 1980s and 1990s, the game seemed to be dominated by Tom Watson, Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros. In the 1920s and 1930s, the game turned on the exploits of Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen and Bobby Jones. Do the math, count the years and add up the major titles, and it seems like a valid point can be made about great eras of golf and threesomes of note.
With the British Open being contested this weekend at Royal Liverpool, my thoughts drift back to the origins of the game as it was first played on the competitive stage some 100 years ago. It was a time of “spoons and mashie niblicks, hickory shafts and the gutta percha golf ball. It was also a time when professional golf was ruled by the game”s first super trio, the Great Triumvirate of Harry Vardon, James Braid and J.H. Taylor.
Vardon is the best known of the threesome for a number of reasons. To modern American movie fans, he was one of the playoff losers in The Greatest Game Ever Played when unknown American caddie Francis Ouimet captured the 1913 United States Open. He also was given credit for popularizing the overlap golf grip which nowadays is commonly called the Vardon grip.
A stylish dresser, he introduced knickers (plus fours) as golf attire and played in a buttoned suitcoat. He was the Jack Nicklaus and the Tiger Woods of his time. More correctly, they became the Harry Vardons of their time.
Vardon was considered a great improvisational golfer. Perhaps only Seve Ballesteros of the modern era can best be compared to Vardon with regard to talent and exploits. The top golf journalist at the turn of the century, Bernard Darwin, once wrote, “I do not think anyone who saw him (Vardon) play in his prime will disagree as to this, that a greater genius is inconceivable.”
An extremely calm player in a temperamental era, Vardon won the British Open a record six times, first in 1896 and finally in 1914 at the age of 44. He was the runner-up four other times. Vardon won the 1900 U.S. Open at Chicago Golf Club, lost to Ouimet in that 1913 playoff, and as a 50-year-old came in second at the 1920 U.S. Open at Inverness.
During his prime, from 1904 to 1910, Vardon didn”t compete as he suffered from recurring bouts of tuberculosis. He was hospitalized for extended periods and even spent time in a sanitarium.
Vardon was the game”s first international star. Today, his memory is recalled on both the American PGA Tour and the European Tour. At the conclusion of the season, the golfer with the lowest stroke average receives the Vardon Trophy.
Born three months before Vardon, James Braid was a late bloomer who was the putting phenom of the Great Triumvirate. He won five British Open titles over a short period of time, winning his first Open in 1901 and adding four more titles before the end of the decade.
Although he didn”t win the 1904 Open at St. George, he was the first player to record a score below 70 in a major championship, carding a 69 in third-round play.
Braid was also a prolific golf course designer. He was afraid to travel on the seas, so almost all of his golf course architecture occurred in the British Isles. Among his best known works are Carnoustie, site of Jean Van de Velde”s collapse at the 1999 Open; the Kings and Queens course at Gleneagles, and North Berwick. At age 51, he played in the inaugural Ryder Cup Matches, and at age 57, he made it to the finals of the British PGA Match Play. He was the Ryder Cup captain in 1933.
J.H. Taylor, the third member of this impressive threesome, was born nine months after Vardon. He was noteworthy for the accuracy of his game and when he was on, he was really on. A good number of his Open triumphs were by large margins. He won the 1894 Open at Sandwich by five shots, the 1895 Open at St. Andrews by four, and the 1900 Open at St. Andrews by eight strokes. He won his fifth and final Open in 1913 at Hoylake, site of this year”s championship.
Taylor was the Renaissance man of the Great Triumvirate. Although he had only four years of formal education, dropping out of school at age 10 to become a caddie, Taylor was a vociferous reader who often quoted Dickens. He wrote his autobiography without a ghost writer and penned a number of instructional books.
Taylor was also the guiding light in the formation of the British Professional Golfers Association.
