It’s the midpoint at the Open Championship being contested at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. The British Open is the game’s oldest major championship, having first been contested in 1860 at Prestwick in western Scotland. To contrast, the United States Open wouldn’t hold its inaugural tournament until 35 years later in 1895.
The British Open has had its golden periods as well as its times of despair over the course of its 159 year history and its 148th playing. Two world wars, a worldwide economic depression, transportations, and limited prize funds had a major impact upon those hard times.
The first 50 years of Open Championship golf featured ever improving playing standards, advances in equipment, and a handful of Hall of Fame golfers who dominated the proceedings. All were citizens of the British Empire as golf in the United States was nowhere close to the stage of development that was being experienced in the United Kingdom.
Old Tom Morris and his son, Young Tom, won eight of the first 12 Opens that were contested, all at the 12 hole Prestwick course. Those earliest Opens were 36 holes in length. In the years leading up to World War I, the Great Triumverate of Harry Vardon, James Braid, and J.H. Taylor won a combined 16 Open Championships between 1894 and 1914. The First World War knocked the Open off the calendar for the next five years and when it finally resumed in 1920, a whole new generation of world class golfers rose to the top of leader boards led by a colorful threesome of American golfers.
America’s top linkster, Walter Hagen, made it part of his schedule to go to the British Isles for a 15 year period of time. So too did Hagen’s chief rival, Gene Sarazen, as well as amateur great Bobby Jones. The only safe and secure way to get to England or Scotland from the United States was to take a cruise ship which took close to one week to cross the Atlantic. As an inducement, the British tournament organizers scheduled noteworthy events around the time of the Open so that America’s big three and others would make the trip. Usually the British Amateur, the Ryder Cup, and the Walker Cup were scheduled near the Open Championship. As an aside, Walter Hagen was the playing captain on some of those earliest Ryder Cup teams.
From 1922 through 1932, Hagen captured four claret jugs, Jones took home three, and Sarazen was victorious once. Yet that golden age came to an abrupt halt with the onset of the Depression. After Sarazen’s win in 1932, Americans stayed home and the ultimate champions were one hit wonders such as Alfred Perry, Alfred Padgham, and R.A Whitcombe. The onset of World War II meant the cancellation of the Open Championship from 1940 through 1945.
When professional golf resumed on both sides of the pond in 1946, America was benefitting from a robust post-war economy while Europe was still decimated structurally and in serious debt. It was quite evident when one compares the U.S. Open to the British Open back then.
In 1951, the Open Championship visited Royal Portrush for the first time. Only four American golfers were in the field led by amateur Frank Stranahan. Part of the problem was money. The other problem was scheduling. The PGA Championship that year at Oakmont had a total purse of $17,700. The British Open purse was $4,700. The winner at Portrush, Max Faulkner, won the equivalent of $835. PGA champ Sam Snead won $3,500. By the way, Faulkner took home an additional $550 by betting on himself with the local bookmaker. As for the calendar, the PGA concluded on July 3rd. The Open ran from July 4-6. There was no chance of playing in both.
Competing in the Open was a crapshoot. No one was exempt, not even the defending champion. On Monday and Tuesday of Open week, there was a 36 hole qualifier. The low 100 advanced to the Open proper, playing 18 holes on Wednesday and Thursday, and then 36 holes on Friday. Even in 1960, when Arnold Palmer made his first trip to the British Open following earlier victories in the Masters and the U.S. Open, there was 36 hole qualifying for everyone.
It was Palmer who helped rejuvenate the Open Championship following that initial appearance in 1960. Arnie won the next two Opens in 1961 and 1962 in dramatic fashion and became a crowd favorite. The Royal & Ancient eliminated mandatory 36 hole qualifying in 1962 and started giving exempt spots to those who won or placed high in the Masters, the U.S. Open, and the PGA as well as Ryder Cup members. Palmer’s pied piper effect would result in American dominance in the British Open with Jack Nicklaus winning three times, Tom Watson taking home five claret jugs, and memorable victories by colorful Americans such as Tony Lema, back to back wins by Lee Trevino in 1971 and 1972, Tom Weiskopf, and Johnny Miller. By 1980, the Open Championship was on close to equal footing with the other major championships when it came to caliber of field, size of purse, and the memorability of the moment. Memorable? Yes, there are many memorable moments such as John Daly’s playoff win over Constantino Rocca in 1995. Or how about overtime with Harrington and Sergio Garcia?
This year’s British Open at Royal Portrush is being played under the backdrop of the modern era with an international flair. Multiple champions over that time include Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, and Padraig Harrington, representing six countries and four continents. Golfers of note playing this week include Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and the rest of the 20-something dynamos. Since Arnold Palmer slashed his way to a second place finish in 1960 through this weekend’s Open in Northern Ireland, the golden era has been a very real part of the Open Championship.
Now just throw in a little bit of seaside links weather and this weekend should be a most entertaining display of Open Championship golf.
