BRITISH GOLF TITLE.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17221, 11 August 1921, Page 10

BRITISH GOLF TITLE.

CAPTURED BY HUTCHISON. The "New York Timeef' under date June 25tJh, wrote regarding tne winning l by Jock Hutchison, an , American, of the British Open Golf Ohampionßhip. He said:— ■ > Jock Hutchison, of Ohicago, won the British Open Golf Championship ,to-day for America, bentin.? Hoger the youi«r Oxford amateur, by 160 to 160. At the end of the first round, Wethwed, with 77, was only 3 down, but after that experience began to tell in decißive fashion. Hutchison played magnifioerrtly in the final round, while "Withered seemed to suffer from nerves. He had a chance # to get up. at the eecond hole, but threw it away by poor putting 1 , and then Hutchison made th» fift'h and longest hole in fl Fnfendid 3. His play from then on aroused the greatest enthusiasm among his old friends nt St. Andrews. He was a caddie there before he went to America, and it was generally admitted that never had _ a finer performance been seen, on the historic links thn-n his .lust round 1 . He wms actually twelve etmlteei ahead at the fourteenth hole, but Wethered cut his lead down bv threo at the end. It was the first time that an American player had won the British open-, and the fent was accompli«hed only after an exhibition of great brilliancy and e struggle that was fought to the extreme in the earlier stages.. Barely- lias o more thrillin? exhibition seen on the famous old course. Hutchison was a's-to 1 favourite when the re-play for the open championship leean at St. Andrews this morning l , but he had to pioducc his very best frame to lead at the end of the morning round by three strokes, 74 to 77. Withered, after beinjr four Ftrokos behind at the tenth hole, rallied wonderfully. Against anyone less skilled than Hutchison in playinsr the low-running op-, pr.oach, which St. Andrews rewards bo hnndanmely, or the bi«rh J Ditn I 'e<l OTroroafh, wheni the occasion made it' appropriate, the young Eneli&h amateur would have held his own. The ■ only marked difference between ■ the .m*n was that, wherena Hutchipon phowed he could play eiiher' kind of approach, WetheTod always got up to the hole with a hisrh pitch. That he dropped behind at one i»taj»e was due to -the fact that he could not always prevent these shots from running over the green. Heat Favours American.

It was «''day of glorious, sunshine, although t,l». JiAot wfle liken*" l to f's-t of CHang" in midsummer, and people thought that .Hutchison would- feel at in sense that he was playing on the course where he learned tho game and 'in the temparatiire'to which he las since- making his home in America nineteen .years ago. ' . • Th*, players shook'hands heartily before starting,, arid-it .wa« a fine apbrting gnme, with Hutchison's ' efforts making th» hearts of his former fellow-townsmen palpitate. The American "rained n Irad of two strokes at the third: hole with a great 3. A beauti'vl shot with the ribbed meshie niblick, which he used very effectively all day, and a 4-yard pnt. Wethered fevel at the fourth. 427 yarda ( with an equally brilliant .4. Hutchison took a tux h«re through missing hi« drive and finding the bunker with his third. A lemarkable hole • waa the seventh. Wethered after a bad drive bunkered hw second and made a recovery shot that rolled down the elope. He .I">M out fmm'fifteen yards for a 4;. then Hutchison, holed a 9yard putt for the same score. Then began a seauence of Bs. The American did the short eight in that figure and also the.ninth, where he got jfawn a 8-vard r'utt. At the tenth he. raised. a great cheer _bv laying an atioroach of ninety yards to within two feet of the pin. . • Wethered was.now. four strokes behind, but he began to recover them at the thirteenth with some, brilliant shot©. At the next twcy hc-les he reduced his deficit to one. Going to ihe seventeenth he pulled his drive and. uaju? his spoon fir the second shot from lie, he missed it and had to strurele for a. 5 wljile Hutchison had a beautiful 4. Going to the last hole after a long; Way in marshalling th« crowd, Wethered hit a, lolling maehie niblick . shot wh : oh- finished rolling on the grassy slope beyond the green and he tnok a 6, Hutchison played a correct St. Andrews shot, running his approach to within three yards of the pin, but runt mi«s"d the.putt. "Oh. Tockl" one of Vfe old St. Andrews friends wailed in. anguish, but Hntch-'eon had made few such slips as this. /The ceores were::—■'■ Hutchison— , Out ... 4'6 8 864.8 8 S— 3fi In ..8446645 4 4—38 Wethered^Out ..45546444 4—89 In .. 4' 4 4 4 4 4 4 8. 6—BB There was.a quick and.dramatic turn in the. afternoon". For two holes Wethered seemed to be continuing his eTeat fi<*bt; and he had a fine chanie of reducing his deficit to two'strokes at the second hole. There Hutchison was bunkered from the. drive, and only just.got o"t with his next. Wethered was on the knoll at the. corner of the srreen in ,the same number of strikes; but instead of playing his long putt dead he ran two yards past, and the Teturn putt,.each mart taking 6. If Wethered could have regainedl his stroke here he would have been dangerously c'oee to Hutchison, and thaat in itself would have given him heart. But Hutchison having had a,narrow escape saw to it. that his rival had no further opportunity. ; Beaches Turn in S3. Prom this point on his golf was simply magnificent. None better has been seen in any championshin H« reached the turn in 83j which /has been done by only ' two men in the whole week—Tom Kerrigan and Arrvmd Mnssey Hutchison began to forge well ahead in the second .imwl. »t the fourth hoV hj» had- e, 4 against Wethered'a 6. The latter paid too much heed to the cross'wind here. He nlayed his mashie approach into a wind blowing from left instead of going straight for the pin. But the ball did not come Tound. It dropped into a bimfcer to the left of Th«n Hutchison applied ' what waa almost the finishing touch at the ffth 't v e longest hole on the course, measurlirig 530 yards. He pot down' for 1 a. 3, while Wethered had only an ordinary S, and so loßt another two strokes, wliicH. .made him. altogether 7 behind.

Hutehi'on now was playing: 'ike a machine. He followed tip a perfect appro-tch to the sixth by holing « four-yard putt for ft 3 against Wethered's 4 ; and holed a two-yard Witt for a 4 at the seventh. Here Wethcred. bin confidence shaken, frittered away an opportunity by taking three pnttn in four yards and a 5 for the hole. The am? teur was letting himself go »t his hardest from the tee, and. was outdriving Hutchison Vy thirty yards. Now "Wetherei drove to the ninth and tenth greens, 306 and 312 yards respectively, bnt could not' putt, and "Hutchison, playing with bis head,'held his own. The Americn.led by 9 strokes at the turn. He took two shots in. the formidable bunker to the left of the eleventh green,' a short hole which has 'been the grave of many hopes, but he secured a. 3 against a. 4. Wethered then hed many roi!»adwit'.ires, having to play back at the twelfth and taking' two strokes in o bunker at the fourteenth. 'He was twelve strokes lown then, but recovered three in. the last ihree holes, which was all ie coord save from the ruins. The cards: Hutchison— Out . .. 4-5 4 4 3 8 4 3 -33 In -.. 455 4 54566-43 WetheTed— Out .. 4 6 4 6 5 4 5 3 3- 39 1n,.: 44747445 4—43 Hutohison wag greeted with a great round of applause by the 5000 onlookers when he Holed the last putt. _He was presented at once with the championship cup, -md was carried 'shoulder high from the green, waving the cup aloft and calling for three cheers for the British playem.