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From Park to Woods: The best at the British Open

By Bill Felber

British golfer Henry Cotton (1907 - 1987), right, congratulating American player Walter Hagen (1892 - 1969) on breaking the record at the last hole at the British Open Golf Championship at Muirfield, watched by their caddies. Original Publication: People Disc - HH0235 (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
British golfer Henry Cotton (1907 - 1987), right, congratulating American player Walter Hagen (1892 - 1969) on breaking the record at the last hole at the British Open Golf Championship at Muirfield, watched by their caddies. Original Publication: People Disc - HH0235 (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) /
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James Braid and Ted Ray crossing a bridge during a 1917 charity golf match. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
James Braid and Ted Ray crossing a bridge during a 1917 charity golf match. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) /

Best of the British Open: #3

3. James Braid, -33.63, 1894-1914 

The only Scotsman among the Triumverate, Braid took the longest time to develop and had the most concentrated period of success. He arrived at age 24 in 1894, the year of John H. Taylor’s first victory and was a consistent top 10 presence. Between that debut and 1912, Braid compiled a remarkable record of 17 consecutive top 10 finishes, 15 of them top fives. Between 1899 and 1912, Braid never finished worse than fifth.

He won for the first time in 1901, finishing three ahead of Vardon and four up on Taylor. His 1905 victory was possibly his strongest, coming by five strokes over Taylor and Rowland Jones. One year later he beat Taylor by four, and in 1909 he breezed home eight strokes ahead of the field. Braid’s fifth win, in 1910, came by four strokes over Sandy Herd.

Here’s a statistic illustrating the extent to which Braid strode over British golf in the first decade of the 20th Century. For the 12 tournaments between 1899 and 1910, only 10 players not named Harry Vardon or John H. Taylor finished ahead of Braid. Only twice, in 1903 and again in 1907, were as many as three able to do so.

In fact, if you add in Taylor and Vardon, the cumulative number of people who finished ahead of Braid between 1899 and 1910 only climbs to 17…about 1.5 per tournament.

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