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Vardon, Harry


Harry Vardon
HarryVardon.jpg
Personal information
Full name Harry Vardon
Born 9 May 1870(1870-05-09)
Grouville, Jersey,
Channel Islands
Died 20 March 1937(1937-03-20) (aged 66)
Totteridge, Hertfordshire,
England
Nationality Jersey Jersey
Career
Status Professional
Best results in Major Championships
(Wins: 7)
U.S. Open Won: 1900
The Open Championship Won: 1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 1974 (member page)

Harry Vardon (9 May 1870 – 20 March 1937) was a Jersey professional golfer and member of the fabled Great Triumvirate of the sport in his day, along with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. He won The Open Championship a record six times and also won the U.S. Open.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Vardon was born in Grouville, Jersey, Channel Islands. As a child growing up on the island of Jersey, he did not play much golf. Inspired by his older brother, Tom, he eventually took up the game in his teens and by age 20 he was so good that he turned professional. He was the first professional golfer to play in Knickerbockers -- the "proper" Englishman dressed in an uncomfortable shirt and tie with a buttoned jacket.[1] Nonetheless, within a few years he became golf's first superstar since the days of Young Tom Morris.

In 1896, Vardon won the first of his record six Open Championships (a record that still stands today). In 1900, he became golf's first international celebrity when he toured the United States, playing in more than 80 matches and capping it off with a victory in the U.S. Open. He was the joint runner-up of the 1913 U.S. Open, an event portrayed in the film The Greatest Game Ever Played. At the age of 50, Vardon was the runner-up at the 1920 U.S. Open.

During his career, Vardon won 62 golf tournaments, including one run of 14 in a row, still a record to this day. He won the German Open in 1911 and the British PGA Matchplay Championship in 1912. He popularized the grip that bears his name, one still used by over 90 percent of golfers. In his later years, he became a golf course architect [1], designing several courses in Britain. Following a bout with tuberculosis, he struggled with health problems for years, but turned to coaching and writing golf instruction and inspirational books.

During his peak years, Vardon was known for his exceptional accuracy and control with all clubs, the greatest ever seen to that stage. However, after his comeback to the game following a prelonged absence during which he suffered from tuberculosis, he suffered serious problems with his short-range putting, and several commentators claim that he could have added to his list of majors had this disability not afflicted him.[1]

Vardon died in 1937 in Totteridge, Hertfordshire, England. After his death, the PGA of America created the Vardon Trophy. It is awarded annually to the player on the PGA Tour with the year's lowest adjusted scoring average.

In 1974, Vardon was chosen as one of the initial group of inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame. His most prestigious medals, including those from his six British Open Championships, are on display in a tribute to him at the Jersey Museum. In the annals of golf, he is considered one of the greats of the game. In 2000, Vardon was ranked as the 13th best golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine.[2]

Vardon is often called "Mr. Golf" and "The Icon of Golfing".

[edit] Vardon Grip

Vardon was also famous for the Vardon Grip, or overlapping grip, the grip most popular among professional golfers. In the Vardon grip, one places the little finger of the trailing hand (the one placed lower on the club - right hand for a right-handed player) in between the index and middle finger on the lead hand (the hand that is higher on the club). The lead-hand thumb should fit in the lifeline of the trailing hand. Vardon actually took up this grip some time after Johnny Laidlay, a champion Scottish amateur player, invented it.

[edit] Performance in the U.S. Open

Vardon played in the U.S. Open three times. He first played in the event in 1900 and he won by shooting 79-78-76-80=313. The event was played at the Chicago Golf Club that year. That year, Vardon won 70 exhibition matches.

Vardon did not play in the U.S. Open again until 1913. He finished in second place, losing to amateur Francis Ouimet in a playoff necessitated by Vardon missing a six inch putt. Ted Ray was also in the playoff. Vardon shot eight-over-par (75-72-78-79=304). In the playoff he shot a 77 while Ouimet shot a 72 and Ray shot a 78. The event was played at The Country Club. The golf world was shocked when Vardon and Ray lost to the 20-year old amateur.[1]

Vardon played in the U.S. Open for the last time in 1920. He finished tied in second place, one stroke behind fellow Jerseyman Ted Ray, missing a short putt on the final hole to force a play off. Vardon shot eight-over-par (74-73-71-78=296). The event was played at Inverness Club that year.

[edit] Media depictions

  • A biography of Vardon, published in 1991 and authored by his daughter-in-law, Audrey Howell, provides much intimate detail about the life of this champion.
  • English actor Stephen Dillane portrayed Vardon in director Bill Paxton's 2005 film The Greatest Game Ever Played. A book of the same name (upon which the movie was based), written by Mark Frost, goes into great detail depicting Vardon's life.
  • Irish-American actor Aidan Quinn portrayed Vardon in the 2004 film Bobby Jones: A Stroke of Genius.

[edit] Tournament wins

this list may be incomplete

  • 1893 Kilmacolm Tournament (Sco)
  • 1896 The Open Championship, Ganton Match Play (Eng)
  • 1897 Scottish Open, Cumbria Open (Eng), Carnoustie Open (Sco), Windermere Open (Eng), Cambridge Open (Eng)
  • 1898 The Open Championship, St. Nicholas Tournament (Sco)
  • 1899 The Open Championship
  • 1900 U.S. Open
  • 1903 The Open Championship
  • 1906 World of Golf Gold Medal
  • 1907 Cannes Tournament (Fra)
  • 1909 PGA Medal (Eng)
  • 1911 The Open Championship, Tooting Bec Cup (Eng), German Open, Montecarlo Open (Fra)
  • 1912 World of Golf Gold Medal, News of the World Match Play
  • 1914 The Open Championship, Prince of Wales Open
  • 1915 PGA Medal (Eng), Lord Roberts Memorial (Sco)
  • 1919 Daily Tournament (Eng)
  • 1920 Bramshoot Cup (USA)
  • 1921 UK vs. USA

Major championships are shown in bold.

[edit] Major championships

[edit] Wins (7)

Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runner-up
1896 The Open Championship 4 shot deficit (83-78-78-77=316) Playoff 1 England J.H. Taylor
1898 The Open Championship (2) 2 shot deficit (79-75-77-76=307) 1 stroke Scotland Willie Park, Jnr.
1899 The Open Championship (3) 11 shot lead (76-76-81-77=310) 5 strokes Scotland Jack White
1900 U.S. Open 4 shot lead (79-78-76-80=313) 2 strokes England J.H. Taylor
1903 The Open Championship (4) 7 shot lead (73-77-72-78=300) 6 strokes Jersey Tom Vardon
1911 The Open Championship (5) 3 shot lead (74-74-75-80=303) Playoff 2 France Arnaud Massy
1914 The Open Championship (6) 2 shot deficit (73-77-78-78=306) 3 strokes England J.H. Taylor

1 Defeated J.H. Taylor in 36-hole playoff by 4 strokes
2 Defeated Arnaud Massy in 36-hole playoff: Massy conceded after 35 holes

[edit] Results timeline

Vardon played in only The Open Championship and the U.S. Open.

Tournament 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
U.S. Open NYF NYF DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship T23 T5 T9 1 6 1 1
Tournament 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
U.S. Open 1 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship 2 2 T2 1 5 T9 3 T7 T5 T26
Tournament 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP 2 DNP DNP DNP NT NT DNP
The Open Championship T16 1 2 T3 1 NT NT NT NT NT
Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
U.S. Open T2 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship T14 T23 T8 DNP DNP T17 CUT CUT T47 CUT

NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

[edit] See also

  • Golfers with most major championship wins
  • Most wins in one PGA Tour event
  • Mundesley Golf Course

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Frost, Mark (November 6, 2002). The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf. Hyperion. ISBN 0786869208. 
  2. Yocom, Guy (July 2000). "50 Greatest Golfers of All Time: And What They Taught Us". Golf Digest. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HFI/is_7_51/ai_63015233. Retrieved 2007-12-05. 

[edit] External links

Adapted from the article Harry Vardon, from Wikinfo, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.