It’s the weekend of the 145th edition of the Open Championship at Royal Troon along Scotland’s western coast. It’s links golf at its finest. Because of the magnitude of winning one of golf’s four major championships, there is a lot at stake here. The winner’s share is $1.8 million and that’s just the easy part. Endorsement money will roll in, big-money events will provide invites, and a career-defining moment could be experienced. Imagine how everything changes if, for instance, someone such as Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed or Brandt Snedeker were to hold the claret jug on Sunday evening. It’s what happened to Masters’ winner Danny Willett.
Yet as important as it will be to one’s career to win the 2016 British Open, that wasn’t always the case. At the turn of the century, the British Open had been contested 40 times, had always been won by a resident of the British Empire, and had a host of multiple champions starting with four victories by Old Tom Morris, Willie Park Sr. and Young Tom Morris. And then there were three-time winners Bob Ferguson, Harry Vardon and J.H. Taylor. By 1900, the United States Open was just seven years old. All of its champs were from the British Isles and there were some familiar names such as Vardon on the perpetual trophy.
The Open Championship and the United States Open weren’t considered majors in the eyes of the professionals and the sporting press when World War I caused the cancellation of the two tournaments from 1915-1919. These tourneys were national championships and they carried heavy bragging rights as well as prestige. However, the two Opens were no more important in the eyes of the golfers as the Canadian, Western and Texas opens.
Golf returned full force in the 1920s and the greats of the game were primarily from the American side of the Atlantic Ocean. From 1921-1933, Americans captured all but two British Opens, with Walter Hagen winning four times, Bobby Jones hoisting three Claret Jugs, and a host of others such as Jock Hutchinson, Gene Sarazen, Denny Shute nd Big Jim Barnes winning the Open. However, once the Depression and World World II impacted professional golf, the return of the British Open was a largely ignored event from the perspective of this side of the pond. Sam Snead won the 1946 Open at St. Andrews, complained about the slight winner’s purse ($500 in winnings compared to $2,000 in expenses), and didn’t return to defend his title. Ben Hogan won in 1953 at Carnoustie. It was the first time he played in the Open. He would never return. Meanwhile from 1946-1960, British Open champions had a decidedly international flair with Australian Peter Thomson and South African Bobby Locke winning four times, Englishman Henry Cotton collecting three wins, and South African Gary Player starting his Hall of Fame career with a win in the 1959 Open at Muirfield as a 23-year-old.
The PGA Championship held its inaugural tournament in 1916, was canceled for two years because of the war, and returned to the tour calendar 1919. It was contested at match play until 1958, and like today its field is made up exclusively of professionals. Its gargantuan trophy featured the names of the game’s greats, including Hagen, Sarazen, Armour, Nelson, Snead and Hogan. It too was a big tourney, but there was never any talk of majors or the like. The Masters commenced in 1934, had the impetus of tournament host Bobby Jones as well as a great test a golf, and it too was a biggie on golf’s center stage. Nonetheless, there was never any talk of major championships or grand slams. Golf’s only grand slam, the winning of the British Amateur, U.S. Amateur, British Open and U.S. Open, was accomplished by Bobby Jones in 1930 and was too profound a feat to ever be repeated.
Then came Arnold Palmer and television. He won the 1960 Masters and 1960 U.S. Open and declared that he was going to add the British Open at St. Andrews to his schedule. He had never competed in the Open. He stressed that he was going to try to win the British and then the PGA to achieve the professional grand slam. Palmer ended up one stroke back at St. Andrews and finished tied for seventh in the PGA. Although Palmer’s quest came up short, he redefined the game’s top echelon events by empowering the British Open as an international event and adding the concept of the professional major to the golfing vocabulary.
Nonetheless, some 10 years later during the Sunday morning rain delay at the 1970 Western Open, I found myself sitting quietly in the corner of the locker room as Palmer held court. He was encouraging his fellow pros to play in the Open Championship the following month at St. Andrews. There were a number of top-20 and top-30 pros who had never entered the Open and Palmer was promoting the tourney’s merits. I remember that Miller Barber had negative thoughts, even though he had a top-10 finish the previous year. He didn’t like the courses, the weather, the hotel rooms and the food. Bert Yancey took in Arnie’s presentation and ultimately ended up going over and finishing 13th. So did Tom Weiskopf, who finished 22nd and would end up taking home the Claret Jug three years later. However, Frank Beard, who was the PGA Tour player of the year in 1969, had no intention of going to Scotland. Neither did Larry Hinson. I was caddying for Bob Lunn and while he had been quiet during the discussion, he told me he wasn’t going to cross the Atlantic as we left the locker room. A top-20 player for about six years, he never competed in the British Open.
Of course, it was a memorable Open back in 1970 with Jack Nicklaus beating Doug Sanders by one in an 18-hole playoff. However, another reason many pros skipped the Open back then was because of the purse. Nicklaus collected $12,500 from a $96,000 purse. Tony Jacklin’s 1970 U.S. Open win was worth $30,000 and Bruce Crampton’s triumph in the Westchester Classic paid out $50,000. If you finished outside the top 10 and had to fly to the Open from America, you probably lost money for the week. Plus Miller Barber wasn’t the only one complaining about the courses, the weather and other issues of survival. For some it was a good week off.
In the end, Palmer prevailed and the British Open was an esteemed member of golf’s four major championships with a purse to match. This year’s winner will pocket just under $2 million. He’ll be in the Open field until he’s 65 years old, he’ll be exempt into golf’s other majors for five years, he’ll have a five-year tour exemption, and a boatload of money will start rolling in. The 145th edition of the Open Championship is a really big deal in the world of golf and come this Sunday someone will have a career-defining moment.
