This was a very difficult shot requiring great skill. Also in 1867, the Morris duo travelled to Carnoustie Golf Links for a significant open tournament, which attracted a strong field of 32 players, the largest seen anywhere up to that time. Playing an exhibition match with his father in North Berwick against Willie and Mungo Park, Morris received a telegram that his wife of a year and son had both died during childbirth. He was placed 9th in 1866, 18 shots behind the winner, and in 1867 Young Tom was placed fourth in the Open Championship. In 1869, Young Tom achieved the tournament's first ever hole-in-one by holing out at the 166-yard 8th hole: the scorecard is on display in Prestwick's clubhouse. Honoring the Legacy: A Tribute to African-Americans in Golf, Nancy Lopez: Pride, Passion & Personality. “He was simply too good for the available competition,” wrote Ross Goodner in Golf’s Greatest. Only two holes remained in the match; Old Tom and Young Tom finished the match, winning, and hurried home by ship across the Firth of Forth and up the coast, but when Young Tom got there both his wife and newborn baby were dead. Young Tom was a prodigy. Young Tom won this match decisively and was awarded a prize of five pounds, a significant amount at the time; the two young stars had been followed by a large gallery. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975. Corrections? Morris was a tremendous golf innovator who raised the playing standard significantly, and this, together with his aggressive promotion of his own skills, led to an enormous increase in the popularity of golf for spectators. It was a mournful party that made the voyage across the Firth of Forth to St. Andrews, and Morris never recovered from the shock of his loss. Thomas Morris (20 April 1851 – 25 December 1875), known as Young Tom Morris, was a Scottish professional golfer. Young Tom also toured Scotland and parts of England, both on his own and with fellow golfer Davie Strath, playing exhibition matches on their own account, without official sanction; this was the first time this had been done. …Tom” (son of “Old Tom”) Morris’s idea for the cup-faced niblick (what would be a nine iron in today’s parlance) for playing the shorter approaches.…, In 1870 Tom Morris, Jr., won the Open for the third consecutive time and was thus allowed to keep the Challenge Belt permanently. Today, he would be described as having the total package. Tom Morris, Jr. recorded the first hole-in-one during a major championship at the 1868 Open Championship. During his 1870 win, he began the tournament by scoring a 3 on the first hole of 578 yards, using hickory shafts and a guttie ball, holing a long fairway shot of about 200 yards; given the distances which were possible at that time, this may have been the first-ever albatross (double eagle), assuming a par of 6 for that hole;[7] the term 'par' had not yet been formally invented. In a team match on 11 September 1875 at North Berwick, with the Morrises facing brothers Willie and Mungo Park, Young Tom received a telegram from home requesting his immediate return; his pregnant wife, Margaret Drinnen, had gone into a difficult labour. [12] The official cause of death, according to his death certificate, was pulmonary hemorrhage causing apnea. [10], Morris was ranked the 14th best golfer of all time in a survey published in Golf Magazine, September 2009. Only two holes remained in the match; Old Tom and Young Tom finished the match, winning, and hurried home by ship across the Firth of Forthand up the coast, but when Young Tom got there both his wife and newborn baby were dead. When on form, his game was complete and without weaknesses. Morris learned golf from a young age over the Prestwick Golf Club links, which had been laid out by his father, the club's professional and greenkeeper, in 1851. [9] Young Tom and Strath received some criticism for this, as it challenged the established structure of competition at that time. Like his father, Tom Morris Jr. was idolized not only for the way he played, but the way he competed. He is considered one of the pioneers of professional golf, and was the first young prodigy in golf history. Omissions? Taylor and Harry Vardon while the gutta percha ball was in use. Thomas Morris, Jr., Scottish golfer who, like his father, Thomas Morris, won the Open Championship (British Open) tournament four times. TOM MORRIS JR. View previous article. WD = Withdrew That same year, his father finished second to him, a unique family occurrence in the Championship. At 16, Morris won the Open Professional Tournament at Carnoustie against the best golfers in Scotland. Although Morris won a very high percentage of his matches and tournaments, he managed to minimise animosity among rivals, who had to improve their own games to stay competitive. Thomas Morris, Jr., byname Young Tom, (born April 20, 1851, St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland—died December 25, 1875, St. Andrews), Scottish golfer who, like his father, Thomas Morris, won the Open Championship (British Open) tournament four times. Yellow background for top-10. The organisers instead arranged a match over the course with a local youth champion. Young Tom Morris followed in his father’s footsteps, winning four British Open Championships before his tragic death at the age of 24. He died three months later, on Christmas Eve, of a pulmonary hemorrhage, causing some to speculate that he had died of a broken heart. † indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire in 72-holes; # indicates the event was won by an amateur, "Notes: Young Tom Morris gets 20 days older", "Mystery of Scottish champ finally solved", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Young_Tom_Morris&oldid=984173538, Winners of men's major golf championships, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 18 October 2020, at 16:54. All four championships were played at Prestwick Golf Club, the course where he had learned golf as a youth. H.S.C. The previous mark of 79 (first set in 1858) had been scored by Allan Robertson and Old Tom Morris. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Some of his challenge matches attracted thousands of spectators from all over Scotland. His putting method was unusual: he took an open stance and played the ball very close to his right (back) foot. Noted for his Not quite four months later, on Christmas Day, he died at the age of 24. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Morris-Jr, How Stuff Works - Entertainment - Biography of Thomas Morris. With broad shoulders and hands that were both powerful and deft, he dominated the game in the short time he played it. At the Academy, Young Tom studied with the sons of noblemen and wealthy businessmen, and would put his schooling to good use in his golf game and in his personal relationships.[3]. His first-round Open score in 1870 of 47 over the 12-hole Prestwick course was the first competitive round anywhere which averaged under four strokes per hole. “Young Tom Morris brought to the game a flamboyance that it had never known,” wrote Charles Price in The World of Golf. It is based on Kevin Cook's Herbert Warren Wind Book Award–winning 2007 biography, Tommy's Honor: The Story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, Golf's Founding Father and Son. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The Morris family was becoming more prosperous, and hence able to afford the expensive private school fees, in the range of £15 per year. Morris was also an exceptional putter and chipper, virtually always giving the hole a chance, and he won many encounters with clutch short shots. Following the death of his wife during childbirth, Morris grew despondent and died several months later. This form of betting was also an innovation at the time. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Young Tom studied at the prestigious Ayr Academy up to his early teens. Morris was born in St Andrews, the "Home of Golf", and died there on Christmas Day, 1875, aged 24. No one else has since repeated this feat of four straight Open Championships. Morris entered his first golf tournament at age 13 and won his first Open Championship in 1868 at age 17, becoming the youngest winner of the event. The Open wasn’t played in 1871, but Morris made it four in a row in 1872, which is a record. His father, Old Tom Morris, was the greenkeeper and professional of the St Andrews Links, and himself won four of the first eight Open Championships. Sign up to get the latest World Golf Hall of Fame news, event invitations, special offers and more. The famous Claret Jug was purchased for the tournament in 1873, and his became the first name to be engraved on it, as he had won the Open Championship in 1872. Such was the interest that major London newspapers and magazines sent correspondents to Scotland, a 400-mile trip by rail, to cover his challenge matches in the 1870s. “Golfers may come and golfers may go, but it is very much open to doubt whether any golfers will be quite the idol of the day as Young Tom was during his brilliant career,” wrote Harold Hutchinson in The Book of Golf and Golfers. [11], Morris stood about 5'8" with a sturdy, wiry build, and had very strong wrists. In St. Andrews: Home of Golf, Young Tom was described as “endearingly modest.” Robert Clark, author of Golf: A Royal and Ancient Game, wrote about Morris’ “amiable temperament…obliging disposition…gentlemanly appearance…manly bearing,” and “undaunted determination.”. Read all about Tom Morris Jr. with TVGuide.com's exclusive biography including their list of awards, celeb facts and more at TVGuide.com He was the top player whose career was entirely in the 19th century. He was courting his future wife, Margaret Drinnen, the daughter of a Lanarkshire miner who was 10 years older than Tommy. The 2016 film Tommy's Honour depicts the lives and careers of Old Tom and Young Tom, and focuses on their complex and bittersweet relationship. One golf historian wrote that Morris missed fewer short putts than any player he had ever seen. His 1868 win, at the age of 17, made him the youngest major champion in golf history, a record which still stands. Young Tom was brok… [14], NT = No tournament They were also the first players to insist on receiving money up front before a match was to be held; this was the foundation of appearance money, and prior to this the players were at the mercy of the result and the match's patrons. He gripped the club with an interlocking grip as clearly seen on his famous photo with his father, in Gallery below. ... “It was probable that Tommy attained a rare pitch of excellence at as early an age as any golfer on record.” ... Morris received a telegram that his wife of a year and son had both died during childbirth.

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