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The Daily Online Sports Magazine

British Open Timeline
Scott Juengel
SportsJones Magazine
July 20, 2000

The most memorable moments at the Open

1888: Oops
A playoff is about to begin after Jack Burns, Ben Sayers, and Davie Anderson tie at 172 when authorities discover that Burns's scores were added incorrectly, and he is declared winner by a stroke.

1921: Wethered's Misstep
In the third round, English amateur Roger Wethered becomes so intent on reading his line on the fourteenth green that he inadvertently steps on his own ball and incurs a penalty. Wethered ends up tied with Jock Hutchison at the end of regulation, and loses a 36-hole playoff the following day.

1925: Crowded Out
MacDonald Smith leads the Open at Prestwick by six shots with 16 holes to play when the crowd gets out of hand. Smith, a naturalized American born and raised in Carnoustie, Scotland, is a favorite of the locals and the leader is so mobbed by spectators that at times it becomes hard to swing. Without adequate marshalling, the hounded Smith shoots an 82 to finish three shots behind winner Jim Barnes.

1926: Price of a Ticket
Having finished his morning round two strokes out of the lead, Bobby Jones stops for lunch. Upon returning to the course, Jones realizes that he has misplaced his competitor's badge and the security guard refuses to let him enter the grounds. Jones solves the problem by buying a gallery admission ticket, and finishes the day winning the first of his three British Open titles.

1933: Before Titanium
In the final round, Craig Wood hits a 430-yard drive on hard, dry fifth at St. Andrews. Unfortunately, the massive tee shot rolls into a deep bunker near the front of the green and costs him dearly.

1946: Not a Country Club
As he approaches St. Andrews by train on his first trip to the Open, Sam Snead asks a fellow passenger, "What abandoned golf course is this?" The aghast commuter replies, "Sir, I will have you know it is St. Andrews." The unimpressed Snead goes on to win his first and only British Open.

1949: Hitting the Bottle
In the second round at Royal St. Georges, Irishman Harry Bradshaw hits his drive into a broken bottle in the rough. Unsure what to do and unwilling to wait for a tournament official to rule on the matter, Bradshaw plays it as it lies, smashing the bottle and sending the ball a mere 30 feet. Bradshaw will later finish tied for the lead, but loses the subsequent 36-hole playoff by 12 shots to Bobby Locke. As a result of Bradshaw's debacle, officials will later clarify the rule allowing a free lift and drop in such conditions.

1950: Licked
German amateur Herman Tissies makes a 15 at Troon's famous 8th, a 126-yard par three known as "The Postage Stamp" for its diminutive green. Local legend has it that the hole was used for hand grenade practice during WWII, which could explain the deep bunkers that swallow at least ten of Tissies's shots.

1954: Mellow Pete
Needing only a ten-inch putt to win the Open at Royal Birkdale, Peter Thomson casually taps in with the back of his putter, horrifying the announcers and the gallery with his seeming carelessness. He would win three of the next four Opens.

1961: No Longer in Kansas
The wind blows so hard during the first round at Royal Birkdale that it uproots most of the tented village housing the concessions. Eventual champion Arnold Palmer calls a penalty on himself when a gust moves his ball while he is addressing it in a bunker.

SportsJones special section on The British Open
The Imagination of Nicklaus  |  British Open Timeline  |   A guide to Nicklaus and the British Open on the Web

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