The
British Amateur at Portmarnock, May 23-28
A
Great Triumph for McCready
W.
P. Turnesa Beaten in a Stirring Final
For
the first time the Amateur Golf Championship was played at Portmarnock Golf
Club, near Dublin. The choice of this magnificent course for the Championship
won general approval, but there was considerable comment from certain quarters
as this was the first occasion, and maybe the last too, that the Championship
has been held outside Great Britain.
Not for many years has an amateur championship
been 'attended by such large and impartial crowds. They saw a memorable week's
golf, at the end of which S. M. McCready, of Sunningdale, who was born in
Belfast, defeated the American Amateur Champion, W. P. Turnesa, by two up and
one to play. No more thrilling final has been seen since Cyril Tolley beat that
remarkable American athlete, Robert Gardner, at the 37th hole at Muirfield in
1920.
The week was a tremendous triumph for McCready. He
was first heard of as a golfer when he appeared in the final Walker Cup trials
at St. Andrews in 1947, after which he was made reserve for the British team.
Since then he has played with distinction, but never with quite that consistency
which is the hallmark of every first‑class golfer. In 1949 his form in
early tournaments was rather in and out, and out more often than in. Several
brilliant rounds in stroke play competitions kept on reminding the authorities
that here, at any rate, was a fine player in the making. He was chosen to play
for Ireland in the International Matches which preceded the championship, and
his record of four wins and only one defeat in six matches was distinctly good.
Even so, it did not occur to many people that he had more than an outside chance
of winning the Championship. Throughout the following week he played
magnificently, winding up triumphantly by defeating Frank Stranahan, the
American holder, in the last eight, and Turnesa in the final the following day.
His defeat of Stranahan cleared the air and removed the possibility of another
all‑American final. His defeat of Turnesa came as a most welcome surprise,
and whatever his record in years to come he may look back with pride and
pleasure at having held the fort for British Amateur Golf in 1949.
At his best McCready has all the attributes of a
great player. Blessed with a fine and powerful physique, he is, in any company a
long hitter. He has a tendency at times to play a number of loose tee shots that
fade to the right. His iron play is distinctly good, and he is a brilliant if
not always a reliable putter.
Turnesa, his American opponent, who is very
popular in this country, is one of the greatest match players in the world
today. He has twice won the American Amateur Championship. He won the British
Amateur Championship in 1947, was semifinalist in 1948 and runner‑up in
1949. It was in 1947 that we saw him at his best. Then he was a fine straight
hitter with all his clubs and a magnificent putter. The following year at Royal
St. George's he was never so impressive and at Portmarnock he played many loose
shots through the week. In one match alone he actually missed the prepared
surface from the tee on no fewer than 15 occasions and yet he contrived to hole
the course in 72 strokes. He is one of the best players of the short pitch from
either grass or sand with an old friend which has a dark and rusty head. His
putting is really wonderful despite the fact that he lifts his putter towards
second slip and somehow manages to loop it back dead on line. The justifiably
great reputation that he has established creates a fear and almost a dread in
the hearts of his opponents on both sides of the Atlantic.
The final came as a splendid climax to a wonderful
week's golf. It began in lovely weather and ended amidst storm and tempest. In
the morning round McCready's golf was superb and one could not fault him. From
the tee he hit the ball with splendid power and ease, his second shots were very
accurate and his putting had the confidence of an innocent child. He holed the
course in 70 shots and Turnesa was completely outclassed all the way.
As is his wont when facing great odds and hideous
situations, Turnesa holed many brave putts without which he must have gone into
lunch anything up to nine holes down. As it was, he was only four.
After lunch he won the first hole and by the 9th
he had squared the match. The glorious summer weather had vanished, ominous dark
clouds, rain and violent gusts of wind created an atmosphere of gloom, and
lightning in the distant hills warned of terrible things to come. Turnesa had
played splendidly, and McCready had lost the majesty and rhythm which had
distinguished his driving in the morning. McCready's confident and cheerful
smile was now a fixed and bewildered stare. When McCready lost the', 11 th to
become one down the situation looked hopeless, but with a courage that none will
ever forget he pulled himself together and came again. He squared the match at
the 13th, but at the 14th Turnesa holed a cruel putt of 10 yards to regain the
lead once more, and now he stood one up with four to play. But this nasty rap
inspired McCready who played the 15th, 16th and 17th holes without a mistake and
with extraordinary composure. He won them all and a great final was over.
I do not remember any Amateur Championship to have
produced quite so many thrilling matches in the course of six days. It is never
easy to make accurate forecasts of what is going to happen in 18-hole matches.
It seemed very probable as the Championship progressed that though the holder,
Frank Stranahan, was in nothing like his best form, he would reach the final.
British golfers have such a wholesome respect for American players that they
seldom play their best against them. We had to wait until Friday morning to find
McCready ready to take his chance in both hands and eliminate this formidable
competitor whom others had allowed to slip through their fingers. McCready,
playing thoroughly well, trounced him by four up and three to play and Stranahan
never had a look in.
1 suppose the great match of this Championship
before the final was that between R. J. White and P. B. Lucas. White, who had
swept all before him since the beginning of the season, was generally expected
to win, and though he was a tired man after too much competitive golf, most
people thought that he would reach the final. Lucas played him shot for shot,
and both gave an exhibition of the game of which professional finalists in the
" News of the World " Tournament would have been proud. White began
with nine fours, two threes and a five, which was par golf for anyone on earth.
Lucas had eleven fours and a three, and was all square. They halved the 13th,
14th and 15th holes in 5, 4, 3 and no one smiled, for this match was going on to
the bitter end.
White won the 16th with a birdie four, but Lucas
came back like a tiger to win the 17th in a wonderful birdie three. Then White
was bunkered near the pin at the last hole, but he got his four and a half, and
so on they went. At the 20th White's putt from 12 feet went in and Lucas's went
in and came out, as much as to say : " This contest has got to end
somewhere, sometime, and I'm already tired out." For those who had never
seen Lucas at his best the match was a revelation, and for everyone it was a
great occasion.
Click here to see the 4th round Championship Draw and subsequent Match Results