British Open back in time: A look at key anniversaries from golf's oldest championship

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SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — A look at some of the anniversaries this year at the British Open:

Course: St. Andrews

Winner: Dave Martin

Runner-up: Davie Strath

Score: 86-90--176

Margin: Playoff

Prize: £10

Summary: In one of the most bizarre endings, Bob Martin and David Strath finished at 176. On the 17th, Strath’s third shot hit a player in the group ahead that was putting out, keeping the ball from going on the road. The committee decided there would be a playoff in two days, enough time to review whether Strath should be disqualified for hitting to the hole while players were still on the green. Strath refused to take part in a playoff under such conditions, and Martin was declared the winner.

The Times story: The golf championship was decided this forenoon in favour of Bob Martin, St. Andrews, who tied with Davie Strath, North Berwick, for the first place. Strath, however, it is said, had infringed one of the rules by playing up to one of the putting green before another competing couple had played out, and hitting a spectator, and the question was referred to the General Council of the Royal Ancient Golf Club. The tie was to have been played off today under protest, but Strath refused to play with this restriction until the question was decided, and Martin walked over the course. Besides the custody of the trophy for a year, Martin gets a small medal in memento of his victory and a small money prize of £10.

Course: Muirfield

Winner: James Braid

Runner-up: Harry Vardon

Score: 79-76-74-80--309

Margin: 3 shots

Prize: £50

Summary: Braid won the first of his five Open Championships. Tied with Vardon after the opening day, Braid pulled away with a 74 to build a five-shot lead over Vardon, and closed with an 80 for a three-shot win. J.H. Taylor was alone in third. No one else was within seven shots.

AP story: The concluding day’s play in the open championship started with ideal weather. Yesterday’s weeding out process practically left Harry Vardon and James Braid to fight for first place. Scotland’s prospects of winning the championship had not been so bright in many years as when Braid accomplished the remarkable feat of going round Muirfield links in 74 and completed the third round five strokes ahead of Vardon. The latter got bunkered several times and his play was generally weak. Finally Braid won with a total of 309. The features of Braid’s play were perfect driving and deadly putting. Nearly 1,000 spectators followed him, and their enthusiasm was great.

Course: Royal Lytham & St. Annes

Winner: Bobby Jones

Runner-up: Al Watrous

Score: 72-72-73-74--291

Margin: 2 shots

Prize: £75 for Watrous (Jones was an amateur)

Summary: Jones won the first of his three British Open titles. This was the first year the Open charged admission, and when Jones left his player’s badge in his hotel room, he had to pay seven shillings to get on the course for the final day because the man at the gate did not recognize him. Jones faced a two-shot deficit with five holes remaining, and he played them with four pars and a birdie to win by two.

AP story: Bobby Jones, American golfing marvel, today added the British open crown to his long list of trophies. He completed the 72 holes with an aggregate of 291 strokes. Jones’ final round was 74 for an aggregate of 291. Al Watrous, Grand Rapids professional, was second with 293, and Walter Hagen tied George von Elm for third with 295, in an All-American finish. The trophy goes to the United States for the fifth time.

Course: Royal Portrush

Winner: Max Faulkner

Runner-up: Antonio Cerda

Score: 71-70-70-74--285

Margin: 2 shots

Prize: £300

Summary: In the first British Open held outside Britain, Max Faulkner built a six-shot lead at Royal Portrush going into the final round and won his only claret jug while denying Bobby Locke’s bid for three in a row. Top American professionals stayed away because the PGA Championship ended on the final day of British Open qualifying.

AP story: Max Faulkner’s five-year plan reached a successful culmination when the 34-year-old Englishman won the British Open golf championship. The methodical British Ryder Cup star set his sights on the British Open five years ago. A stickler, he spent one winter milking cows to strengthen his golfing hands and he called on Henry Cotton, England’s foremost pro and leading golf instructor, to straighten out the kinks in his game. All of Faulkner’s planning paid off yesterday when he won the coveted title with a 72-hole score of 285. His score was the highest since 1937 but was good enough to beat his nearest rival — Antonio Cerda of Argentina — by two shots.

Course: Royal Birkdale

Winner: Johnny Miller

Runner-up: Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros

Score: 72-68-73-66--279

Margin: 6 shots

Prize: £7,500

Summary: Miller closed with a 66 and overcame a four-shot deficit and capture his second major. But as much as this showed Miller to be more than the “Desert Fox” for his victories in Arizona, Royal Birkdale is where the world first became aware of Ballesteros, who showed a magical imagination in getting through the sand dunes. The 19-year-old Spaniard closed with a 74, threading a pitch shot through bunkers onto the 18th green.

AP Story: Johnny Miller finally put the British Open title in his bag Saturday by crushing Jack Nicklaus and 19-year-old Spaniard Severiano Ballesteros by six strokes for the most convincing victory in this tournament in more than 40 years. Miller had said when he arrived in Britain only two days before the championship began he would win it this time. Last year, he shared third with Nicklaus and three years ago was second to Tom Weiskopf.

Course: Royal Lytham & St. Annes

Winner: David Duval

Runner-up: Niclas Fasth

Score: 69-73-65-67--274

Margin: 3 shots

Prize: £600,000

Summary: Duval was among four players tied for the lead Saturday, with 13 players separated by only one shot going into the final round. One of them was Ian Woosnam, who tapped in for birdie on the opening hole, only to discover on the next tee box he had an extra driver in his bag and was assessed a two-shot penalty. Duval established himself quickly with three birdies on the outward nine, and a collection of good par saves as his challengers faded.

AP story: The massive crowd that swallowed up David Duval walking up the 18th fairway in the British Open didn’t faze him. He had seen it all before — only it was always someone else’s party. Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh at the last two Masters. Woods at St. Andrews last year, when the closest Duval got to the silver claret jug was on the flight home. On Sunday, a celebration long overdue was all his. Duval refused to let the British Open turn into the 18-hole shootout everyone expected, seizing control with a rock-solid game that carried him to a 4-under 67 and gave him the prize that had eluded him the past four years.

Course: Royal Liverpool

Winner: Tiger Woods

Runner-up: Chris DiMarco

Score: 67-65-71-67--270

Margin: 2 shots

Prize: £720,000

Summary: One month after missing the cut in a major for the first time, Woods won his third British Open title by seizing control with a 65 in the second round and closing with a 67. He hit only one driver all week on the brown, baked turf, and that went on the adjacent fairway. Woods won his 11th major, tied with Walter Hagen. It was his first major victory since the death of his father.

AP story: The emotions had been trapped in Tiger Woods since he stood at his father’s grave two months ago, set loose only after he tapped in his final putt Sunday to win the British Open. It was his 11th major championship, but the first one they couldn’t share. Woods buried his head in the shoulder of caddie Steve Williams, sobbing uncontrollably, his chest heaving. Then he found his wife, Elin, and hugged her for the longest minute, tears still streaming down his face. Woods was ruthless as ever on the brown, baked links of Royal Liverpool, relying more on brains than brawn. He hit driver only one time the entire week — the 16th hole of the first round — and relied on iron play that was so impeccable his caddie kept a sheet of paper of all the shots Woods missed. There were only three of them. It carried Woods to a 5-under 67 and a two-shot victory over Chris DiMarco, making him the first player since Tom Watson in 1982-83 to win golf’s oldest championship in consecutive years.

Course: Royal Troon

Winner: Henrik Stenson

Runner-up: Phil Mickelson

Score: 68-65-68-63--264

Margin: 2 shots

Prize: £1,175,000

Summary: In one of the great duels in British Open history, Henrik Stenson outlasted Phil Mickelson to win his only major championship with a record score. Stenson closed with a 20-foot birdie putt for 63 to join Johnny Miller in the 1973 U.S. Open has the lowest final round by a major champion. He won by three shots and his 264 was the lowest for a major. Stenson and Mickelson were never separated by more than two shots over 40 straight holes until the Swede’s final birdie. The next closest to them was J.B. Holmes, who was 11 shots behind Mickelson.

AP Story: Henrik Stenson kept hitting the best shots of his life, one after another, because there was no other way to beat Phil Mickelson in a British Open duel that ranked among the best in golf. Stenson only cared about that silver claret jug. He wound up with so much more Sunday. His final stroke of this major masterpiece was a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at Royal Troon that tumbled into the cup on the last turn. His 10th birdie of the round gave him an 8-under 63 to match Johnny Miller for the lowest closing round by a major champion. Stenson finished at 20-under 264, the lowest 72-hole score ever in a major.

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