1921 Open Championship

Tournament information
Dates	23–25 June 1921
Location	St Andrews, Scotland
Course(s)	Old Course at St Andrews
Statistics
Length	6,487 yards (5,932 m)
Field	85 players [1]
Cut	None
Prize fund	£200
Winner's share	£75
Champion
Jock Hutchison
296, playoff
←  1920 1922 →

The 1921 Open Championship was the 56th Open Championship, held 23–25 June at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland. Former local Jock Hutchison won his only Open Championship, in a 36-hole playoff over amateur Roger Wethered. ^{[2] [3]} It was Hutchison's second and final major title. ^[4]

Qualification

Qualifying took place on 20–21 June, Monday and Tuesday, with 18 holes on the Eden Course and 18 holes on the Old Course; the top 80 and ties qualified. ^{[5] [6]} Jock Hutchison led the field on 146; the qualifying score was 161 and 85 players advanced. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

The entries included an unusually large number of U.S.-based players following a funding-raising campaign by an American golf magazine. On 27 September 1920 Golf Illustrated wrote a letter to the Professional Golfers' Association of America with a suggestion that a team of twelve to twenty American professionals be chosen to play in the British Open, to be financed by popular subscription. ^[10] At that time no American golfer had won the British Open. The idea was that of James D. Harnett, who worked for the magazine. The PGA of America made a positive reply and the idea was announced in the November 1920 issue. The fund was called the British Open Championship Fund. By the next spring the idea had been firmed-up. ^[11] A team of 12 would be chosen, who would sail in time to play a warm-up tournament at Gleneagles (the Glasgow Herald 1000 Guinea Tournament) prior to the British Open at St Andrews, two weeks later. ^[12] The team of 12 was chosen by PGA president George Sargent and PGA secretary Alec Pirie, with the assistance of USGA vice-president Robert Gardner. ^[13] A team of 11 sailed from New York on the RMS Aquitania on 24 May, together with James Harnett, Harry Hampton deciding at the last minute that he could not travel. ^[14] The American team was: Jim Barnes, Emmet French, Clarence Hackney, Walter Hagen, Charles Hoffner, Jock Hutchison, Tom Kerrigan, George McLean, Fred McLeod, Bill Mehlhorn, and Wilfrid Reid.

The day before the Glasgow Herald Tournament, a match was played between the Americans and a team of British professionals, the first match between American and British professionals. ^{[15] [16]} It was a forerunner of the Ryder Cup matches, which began six years later in 1927.

After the Glasgow tournament, ^[17] most of the American team travelled to St Andrews to practice, however, Walter Hagen and Jock Hutchison played in a tournament at Kinghorn on 14 and 15 June. Hagen had a poor first round and didn't turn up for the second day, while Hutchison scored 74 and 64 and took the £50 first prize. ^[18] The American-based entry was augmented by two other professionals, Jack Burgess and James Douglas Edgar, and some amateurs, including Bobby Jones. All the American-based professionals qualified with the exception of Wilfrid Reid, who scored 163. Two of the amateurs qualified, Bobby Jones and Paul M. Hunter. ^{[9] [19]}

Venue

Hole	Name	Yards		Hole	Name	Yards
1	Burn	365		10	Tenth ^	312
2	Dyke	402		11	High (In)	148
3	Cartgate (Out)	353		12	Heathery (In)	318
4	Ginger Beer	417		13	Hole O'Cross (In)	413
5	Hole O'Cross (Out)	533		14	Long	516
6	Heathery (Out)	370		15	Cartgate (In)	395
7	High (Out)	345		16	Corner of the Dyke	338
8	Short	142		17	Road	456
9	End	303		18	Tom Morris	361
Out		3,230		In		3,257
Source: [20]				Total		6,487

^ The 10th hole was posthumously named for Bobby Jones in 1972.

Details

During the first round on Thursday morning, Hutchison made a hole-in-one at the 8th and then drove the green at the par-4 9th, his ball settling inches from the hole. He finished with a round of 72 and a two-shot lead, and continued to lead after 36 holes at 147, a shot ahead of Jim Barnes and Ted Ray. In the two-day format, there was no cut after 36 holes. ^{[21] [22]}

After the third round on Friday morning, Hutchison trailed Barnes and Sandy Herd by four shots, but both co-leaders shot 80 in the final round and fell into a tie for sixth with five others. Wethered, a student at Oxford, carded 71 to finish at 296, while Hutchison shot 70 to tie and force a Saturday playoff. ^{[23] [24] [25]}

Playoff

Wethered almost did not make it to the playoff, as he was scheduled to play for his cricket team that day and had to be persuaded to stay and play golf. In the playoff, the first two holes were halved before Hutchison gained two shots at the 3rd. However he played a poor 4th hole and took six to make the match all square again. Hutchison took a grip on the match by scoring four threes from the 7th to the 10th while Wethered took four fours. At lunch, Hutchison held a three shot lead.

In the afternoon, Hutchison struggled at the first three holes but managed to halve the holes with Wethered. The match then turned decisively with Wethered taking six at the 4th and Hutchison taking threes at the 5th and 6th. Wethered dropped another shot at the 7th and now Hutchison was nine strokes ahead. Hutchison was in trouble at the 11th and took five but Wethered three-putted and only gained one stroke. Thereafter, Hutchison's lead increased to twelve before his cautious play at the final holes reduced the lead to nine. ^{[2] [3] [26]}

Although a native of St Andrews, Hutchison had become a U.S. citizen and was credited as being the Open's first American champion. The Times reported under the headline "Cup Goes to U.S.A." that "our Open Championship goes for the first time in its history to America." ^[26] The following year, Hagen became the first U.S.-born winner. Bobby Jones, 19, played at St Andrews and the Open for the first time, and was the low amateur after 36 holes. He withdrew in the third round after taking four shots to get out of a bunker at the 11th. ^[4]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, 23 June 1921 (morning)

Place	Player	Score
1	Jock Hutchison	72
2	Henry Kinch	73
T3	Jim Barnes	74
	George Duncan
	Walter Hagen
	Tom Kerrigan
	Arnaud Massy
	Walter Pursey
T9	Percy Alliss	75
	Sandy Herd
	Percy Hills
	Charles Hoffner
	Paul M. Hunter (a)
	Bill Mehlhorn
	Alfred Miles
	Mark Seymour (a)

Source: ^[1]

Second round

Thursday, 23 June 1921 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Score
1	Jock Hutchison	72-75=147
T2	Jim Barnes	74-74=148
	Ted Ray	76-72=148
T4	George Duncan	74-75=149
	Sandy Herd	75-74=149
	Arnaud Massy	74-75=149
	George McLean	76-73=149
T8	Arthur Havers	76-74=150
	Henry Kinch	73-77=150
	Joe Kirkwood	76-74=150
	Tom Williamson	79-71=150

Source: ^[1]

Third round

Friday, 24 June 1921 (morning)

Place	Player	Score
T1	Jim Barnes	74-74-74=222
	Sandy Herd	75-74-73=222
T3	Joe Kirkwood	76-74-73=223
	Arnaud Massy	74-75-74=223
5	Tom Williamson	79-71-74=224
T6	Walter Hagen	74-79-72=225
	Roger Wethered (a)	78-75-72=225
T8	Jock Hutchison	72-75-79=226
	Tom Kerrigan	74-80-72=226
T10	George Duncan	74-75-78=227
	Arthur Havers	76-74-77=227

Source: ^[1]

Final round

Friday, 24 June 1921 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Score	Money ( £)
T1	Jock Hutchison	72-75-79-70=296	Playoff
	Roger Wethered (a)	78-75-72-71=296
3	Tom Kerrigan	74-80-72-72=298	40
4	Arthur Havers	76-74-77-72=299	25
5	George Duncan	74-75-78-74=301	15
T6	Jim Barnes	74-74-74-80=302	6 8s 7d
	Walter Hagen	74-79-72-77=302
	Sandy Herd	75-74-73-80=302
	Joe Kirkwood	76-74-73-79=302
	Fred Leach	78-75-76-73=302
	Arnaud Massy	74-75-74-79=302
	Tom Williamson	79-71-74-78=302

Source: ^{[1] [27]}

Amateurs: Wethered (296), Hunter (307), Kyle (309), Seymour (314),
                 Armour (315), Murray (316), Harris (322), Quilter (327).

Playoff

Saturday, 25 June 1921

Place	Player	Score	Money (£)
1	Jock Hutchison	74-76=150	75
2	Roger Wethered (a)	77-82=159	0

Source: ^[26]

Scorecards

Morning round

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Back	Total
Hutchison	4	5	3	6	5	4	3	3	3	36	3	4	4	5	5	4	5	4	4	38	74
Wethered	4	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	39	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	38	77

Afternoon round

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Back	Total
Hutchison	4	5	4	4	3	3	4	3	3	33	4	5	5	4	5	4	5	6	5	43	76
Wethered	4	5	4	6	5	4	5	3	3	39	4	4	7	4	7	4	4	5	4	43	82

References

External links

• St Andrews 1921 (Official site)

56°20′35″N 2°48′11″W / 56.343°N 2.803°W / 56.343; -2.803