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1949 / Royal St George's
Bobby Locke became the first South African to win The Open at Royal St George’s in 1949, beating Harry Bradshaw in a 36-hole play-off by 12 strokes after the pair had tied on a total of 283.
It was the first of four titles for Locke, but the Irishman’s best chance of claiming the Claret Jug was not helped by a bizarre incident in the second round.
On the 5th hole Bradshaw pushed his drive into the rough and his ball ended up in the bottom of a broken beer bottle.
Unsure of the rule – he was entitled to relief but the wording at the time was ambiguous – and there not being a referee nearby to consult, Bradshaw shut his eyes tight and swung at the bottle.
With glass shattering everywhere, he moved his ball around 25 yards and ended up with a six. It took him a few holes to regain his composure and he ended with a 77.
Both Bradshaw and Locke were five behind going into the last day and produced morning rounds of 68 to share the lead with Max Faulkner. The Englishman fell away with a 74 and Roberto de Vicenzo took third place with a 69.
Bradshaw set the target with a 70 but after going out in 32, Locke kept dropping shots and had to birdie the 17th, with a 7-iron to eight feet, to force the tie.
Locke was scintillating in the play-off, scoring rounds of 67 and 68 for a 135 total, while Bradshaw scored 74-73.
At the 14th in the morning, where Locke had gone out of bounds in the first round, the South African hit a 4-iron from 200 yards to a couple of feet for an eagle-three, while Bradshaw took a six. The gap only grew and grew after that.
Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Harry BRADSHAW
2
68
77
68
70
283
-
Charlie WARD
4
73
71
70
72
286
-
Sam KING
4
71
69
74
72
286
-
Arthur LEES
6
74
70
72
71
287
-
Jimmy ADAMS
8
67
77
72
72
288
-
John FALLON
8
69
75
72
72
288
-
Walter SMITHERS
8
72
75
70
71
288
-
Ken BOUSFIELD
11
69
77
76
67
289
-
Bill SHANKLAND
11
69
73
74
73
289
-
William BRANCH
14
71
75
74
71
291
-
J. KNIPE
14
76
71
72
72
291
-
Walter LEES
17
74
72
69
78
293
-
A. WATERS
18
70
76
75
73
294
-
Norman SUTTON
19
69
78
75
73
295
-
Gregor MCINTOSH
20
70
77
76
73
296
-
William MCMINN
20
70
75
78
73
296
-
E.A. SOUTHERDEN
20
69
76
74
77
296
-
Arthur LACEY
20
72
73
73
78
296
-
Reg HORNE
20
73
74
75
74
296
-
J. WADE
25
71
74
77
75
297
-
H.E. OSBORNE
26
73
74
75
76
298
-
Johnny BULLA
27
71
73
76
79
299
-
Ugo GRAPPASONNI
28
70
76
77
77
300
-
Ernest KENYON
29
72
75
77
77
301
-
G.M. WHITE
30
74
71
80
78
303
-
Francis FRANCIS
31
72
74
82
79
307
-
Frank JOWLE
M/C
76
72
-
-
-
M/C
Cecil DENNY
M/C
72
76
-
-
-
M/C
Hector THOMSON
M/C
74
74
-
-
-
M/C
E. BLASI
M/C
74
74
-
-
-
M/C
A.G. HARRISON
M/C
75
73
-
-
-
M/C
Ricardo ROSSI
M/C
74
74
-
-
-
M/C
William ANDERSON
M/C
71
77
-
-
-
M/C
G.N. ROFFE
M/C
73
75
-
-
-
M/C
Tom COLLINGE
M/C
71
77
-
-
-
M/C
George JOHNSON
M/C
73
75
-
-
-
M/C
W.H. GREEN
M/C
72
77
-
-
-
M/C
Dai REES
M/C
73
76
-
-
-
M/C
P. VIOLA
M/C
78
71
-
-
-
M/C
Antonio CERDA
M/C
74
75
-
-
-
M/C
Eddie WHITCOMBE
M/C
75
74
-
-
-
M/C
Laurie AYTON JR
M/C
75
74
-
-
-
M/C
Bill COX
M/C
75
74
-
-
-
M/C
Alan POULTON
M/C
73
76
-
-
-
M/C
Ken ADWICK
M/C
69
80
-
-
-
M/C
Bert WILLIAMSON
M/C
74
76
-
-
-
M/C
George HOWARD
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
Syd SCOTT
M/C
76
74
-
-
-
M/C
R.G. FRENCH
M/C
77
73
-
-
-
M/C
W.C.A. HANCOCK
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
Allan DAILEY
M/C
72
78
-
-
-
M/C
Henri DE LAMAZE
M/C
76
74
-
-
-
M/C
Fred BULLOCK
M/C
76
76
-
-
-
M/C
Aldo CASERA
M/C
76
76
-
-
-
M/C
Reg KNIGHT
M/C
74
78
-
-
-
M/C
George KNIGHT
M/C
75
77
-
-
-
M/C
W.B. LYLE
M/C
73
79
-
-
-
M/C
W.R. FIRKINS
M/C
74
79
-
-
-
M/C
H. RISEBOROUGH
M/C
77
76
-
-
-
M/C
D.H.R. MARTIN
M/C
75
78
-
-
-
M/C
A.G. MATTHEWS
M/C
74
79
-
-
-
M/C
S. STENHOUSE
M/C
74
79
-
-
-
M/C
Thomas SPENCE
M/C
74
79
-
-
-
M/C
Jack HARGREAVES
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
John PANTON
M/C
72
81
-
-
-
M/C
Harry WEETMAN
M/C
78
76
-
-
-
M/C
Alex MURRAY
M/C
79
75
-
-
-
M/C
T.W. ALLEN
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Alfred G. BECK
M/C
76
78
-
-
-
M/C
Willie HUNTER
M/C
75
79
-
-
-
M/C
W.G. PIERCE
M/C
79
76
-
-
-
M/C
John BECK
M/C
79
76
-
-
-
M/C
Edward JARMAN
M/C
78
77
-
-
-
M/C
Percy ALLISS
M/C
74
81
-
-
-
M/C
A.S.G. THOMPSON
M/C
77
79
-
-
-
M/C
J.M. MCMILLAN
M/C
78
78
-
-
-
M/C
T.E ODAMS
M/C
77
80
-
-
-
M/C
W.S. COLLINS
M/C
79
78
-
-
-
M/C
F.G. ALLOTT
M/C
81
77
-
-
-
M/C
J. MORRIS
M/C
76
83
-
-
-
M/C
Cyril TOLLEY
M/C
79
81
-
-
-
M/C
Robert BALLANTINE
M/C
78
82
-
-
-
M/C
H.R. MANTON
M/C
77
84
-
-
-
M/C
Peter ALLISS
M/C
80
81
-
-
-
M/C
J.R.C QUILTER
NR
82
-
-
-
-
M/C