On Sunday the golfing world paid tribute to the brilliance of Phil Mickleson as he claimed the PGA title just a few weeks shy of his 51st birthday. He was widely acknowledged as the oldest Major winner in history but is that strictly true? golfnews24.co.uk editor Mark Flanagan explains why the record, in reality, probably belongs to someone else – an amateur player who was descended from nobility and was a hero in WWI.
It WAS the quiz question asked a thousand times…name the oldest winner of a Major? Of course to be awarded the points you had to say Julius Boros. The American was 48 when he won the PGA at Pecan Valley in 1968, ‘ending’ Tom Morris Sr’s 101-year reign. The legendary Scotsman was 46 when he won The Open in 1867.
This ‘fact’ is one that has occupied the minds of many a golfing historian because there was a time when the ‘four Majors’ meant something very different.
And had this quiz been taking place pre Second World War the answer would almost certainly have been very different. To get your point you would have needed to write down the name Michael Scott.
The son of an Earl, Scott was 54 when he won the British Amateur in 1933 – the year before the first Masters.
That the British Amateur was considered to still be ‘a Major’ that year remains the pivotal part of the debate although could it ever really be ranked alongside both Opens? The likes of Walter Hagen (the greatest professional of his time) was not eligible to enter.
What isn’t in doubt is that three years earlier the iconic Bobby Jones is widely accepted to have completed ‘The Grand Slam’ by winning both the US and British versions of the Amateur and Open – sorry Walter.
If that’s the case Scott must be the oldest Major winner?
Pedantic?
Possibly.
I prefer the word ‘consistent’.
The problem for historians who debate this issue is there wasn’t a meeting between the men running golf to decide the tournament pecking order. The process was gradual, reflecting the rise of professionalism, accelerated by the retirement of Jones, who won four US Opens, three Opens, five US Amateurs and one Amateur in eight years, He retired after his 1930 Grand Slam, only appearing once a year at the tournament he created – The Masters.
Whether you think Scott should still be considered the record holder or not, it is rather sad that his story has been lost in the mists of time.
His 4&3 victory over fellow Englisman Dale Bourn at Royal Liverpool represents a remarkable feat for a man who entered his first Open 22 years earlier and was dominant figure in Australian golf between 1900 and 1911 – the year he and his family returned home to England.
A year later Scott became the oldest person to play in the Walker Cup – a record he still holds and one he will almost certainly never lose, such has been the evolution of the sport.
At the age of 68 he won a first round match in the British Amateur. The year was 1947 and golf was about to enter a golden age, illuminated by the heroics of Ben Hogan and Sam Snead.
At this point in history the Majors as we know them now were pretty well established in the minds of most golf fans. However the leading Americans were not coming to Britain for the Open and despite Hogan’s visit in 1953, it wasn’t until Palmer, fired up with ambition to match Hogan’s feat of winning all four, that our Open became a must-visit from the stars on the other side of the Atlantic. The event often clashed with the PGA and until the advent of air travel, the likes of Snead, Demaret and Boros stayed at home where the prize money – and the golf ball itself – was bigger.
Where Arnie went, Jack followed and Nicklaus’ endorsement of The Open sealed the elevated status of the four competitions to the special status that has endured to this day.
What is also certain is that it did not take not long for the Masters to be ranked alongside both Opens and the PGA. In 1937 an American article discussing the merits of Gene Sarazen’s chances at the PGA talks about the ‘all of the four big ones’.
Two years later esteemed AP writer Dillon Graham was writing about Craig Wood and Harry Cooper and included the phrase the ‘world’s four major competitions’.
Those two examples illustrate the problem because even in the 50s and 60s, other competitions were talked up, particularly the made-for-TV World Championship of Golf, which boasted prize money beyond most golfers’ wildest dreams.
It was really Palmer and then Nicklaus that put all that to bed nearly 30 years after Scott’s heroics on The Wirral.
What’s also ironic is the person most responsible for diminishing the original Majors concept is the man who stands to lose most from how the game developed after the Second World War.
Jones’ ‘Grand Slam’ barely registers anymore. Infact I doubt most golfers playing now would even know he did what he did in 1930.
Yet had he not created the Masters who knows what would have happened to the Majors concept?
What’s certain is it remains important to treasure the incredible feats of those who went before. The winner of this year’s Amateur at Nairn next month (June 14-19) will join a very special club and achieving that feat will always represent a major achievement for any player.