John Ball (golfer)

John Ball

Ball as caricatured in Vanity Fair, March 1892
Personal information
Full name John Ball, Jr.
Born 24 December 1861(1861-12-24)
Hoylake, England
Died 2 December 1940(1940-12-02) (aged 78)
Holywell, Wales
Nationality  England
Career
Status Amateur
Best results in Major Championships
(Wins: 9)
The Open Championship Won: 1890
British Amateur Won: 1888, 1890, 1892, 1894, 1899, 1907, 1910, 1912
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 1977 (member page)

John Ball, Jr. (24 December 1861 – 2 December 1940) was a prominent English amateur golfer of the late 19th and early 20th century.[1]

Ball was born in Hoylake, Merseyside. His father was the prosperous owner of the Royal Hotel, located near the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, in Hoylake. Ball grew up playing golf as a youth on the Royal Liverpool course, which was established in his early boyhood.[2]

After winning The Amateur Championship in 1888, Ball became the first English-born player to win The Open Championship in 1890, and in the same year won his second Amateur, the first to win both titles in the same year. Ball subsequently won the 1892, 1894, 1899, 1907, 1910, and 1912 Amateurs, a record eight titles in all, in addition to two runner-up finishes. Ball retired with a 99-22 record (81.8%) at the The Amateur Championship. Ball was also runner-up in the 1892 Open.

Ball died in Holywell, Wales.[3] He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1977.

Contents

Tournament wins (16)

Major championships

Professional wins (1)

Year Championship Winning Score Margin Runner-up
1890 The Open Championship +22 (82-82=164) 3 strokes Willie Fernie, Archie Simpson

Amateur wins (8)

Year Championship Winning Score Runner-up
1888 The Amateur Championship 5 & 4 Johnny Laidlay
1890 The Amateur Championship 4 & 3 Johnny Laidlay
1892 The Amateur Championship 3 & 1 Harold Hilton
1894 The Amateur Championship 1 up S. Mure Fergusson
1899 The Amateur Championship 37 holes Freddie Tait
1907 The Amateur Championship 6 & 4 C. A. Palmer
1910 The Amateur Championship 10 & 9 C. C. Aylmer
1912 The Amateur Championship 38 holes Abe Mitchell

Results timeline

Note: Ball played in only The Open Championship and The Amateur Championship.

Tournament 1878 1879
The Open Championship T4 LA DNP
The Amateur Championship NYF NYF
Tournament 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T47 DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Amateur Championship NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF SF SF 2 1 SF
Tournament 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
The Open Championship 1 LA T11 T2 T8 T13 T18 DNP 17 DNP T25
The Amateur Championship 1 R32 1 R16 1 2 QF R64 QF 1
Tournament 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
The Open Championship DNP DNP T15 DNP 18 DNP T35 T15 T13 LA DNP
The Amateur Championship DNP DNP R64 QF R16 R128 R64 1 R128 R128
Tournament 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
The Open Championship T19 LA CUT DNP DNP DNP NT NT NT NT NT
The Amateur Championship 1 R32 1 R256 R64 NT NT NT NT NT
Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Amateur Championship DNP R16 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP R128

LA = Low Amateur
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Source for British Open: www.opengolf.com

Source for 1885 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, April 24, 1885, pg. 8.

Source for 1886 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, September 24, 1886, pg. 5.

Source for 1889 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 10, 1889, pg. 10.

Source for 1891 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 8, 1891, pg. 10.

Source for 1893 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 11, 1893, pg. 12.

Source for 1896 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 22, 1896, pg. 10.

Source for 1897 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, April 28, 1897, pg. 10.

Source for 1898 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 27, 1898, pg. 11.

Source for 1902 British Amateur: Golf, June, 1902, pg. 397.

Source for 1903 British Amateur: Golf, July, 1903, pg. 10.

Source for 1904 British Amateur: Golf, July, 1904, pg. 8.

Source for 1905 British Amateur: Golf, June, 1905, pg. 340.

Source for 1906 British Amateur: Golf, July, 1906, pg. 29.

Source for 1908 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, May 27, 1908, pg. 14.

Source for 1909 British Amateur: The American Golfer, July, 1909, pg. 11.

Source for 1911 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, June 1, 1911, pg. 10.

Source for 1913 British Amateur: The American Golfer, July, 1913, pg. 222.

Source for 1914 British Amateur: Golf Illustrated, July, 1914, pg. 27.

Source for 1921 British Amateur: The American Golfer, June 4, 1921, pg. 24.

Source for 1927 British Amateur: The American Golfer, July, 1927, pg. 66.

References

  1. ^ Alliss, Peter (1983). The Who's Who of Golf. Orbis Publishing. pp. 206–207. ISBN 0-85613-520-8. 
  2. ^ The World Atlas of Golf, 2nd edition, edited by Herbert Warren Wind, Alistair Cooke, and Peter Thomson, London 1988, Mitchell Beazely publishers
  3. ^ "John Ball: Fifty years of golf championships". The Glasgow Herald. 4 December 1940. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tUZAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZlkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3846%2C4802134. Retrieved 12 February 2011. 

External links

1860 Willie Park, Sr. · 1861 Tom Morris, Sr. · 1862 Tom Morris, Sr. · 1863 Willie Park, Sr. · 1864 Tom Morris, Sr. · 1865 Andrew Strath · 1866 Willie Park, Sr. · 1867 Tom Morris, Sr. · 1868 Tom Morris, Jr. · 1869 Tom Morris, Jr. · 1870 Tom Morris, Jr. · 1871 No championship · 1872 Tom Morris, Jr. · 1873 Tom Kidd · 1874 Mungo Park · 1875 Willie Park, Sr. · 1876 Bob Martin · 1877 Jamie Anderson · 1878 Jamie Anderson · 1879 Jamie Anderson · 1880 Bob Ferguson · 1881 Bob Ferguson · 1882 Bob Ferguson · 1883 Willie Fernie† · 1884 Jack Simpson · 1885 Bob Martin · 1886 David Brown · 1887 Willie Park, Jr. · 1888 Jack Burns · 1889 Willie Park, Jr.† · 1890 John Ball# · 1891 Hugh Kirkaldy · 1892 Harold Hilton# · 1893 William Auchterlonie · 1894 John Henry Taylor · 1895 John Henry Taylor · 1896 Harry Vardon · 1897 Harold Hilton# · 1898 Harry Vardon · 1899 Harry Vardon · 1900 John Henry Taylor · 1901 James Braid · 1902 Sandy Herd · 1903 Harry Vardon · 1904 Jack White · 1905 James Braid · 1906 James Braid · 1907 Arnaud Massy · 1908 James Braid · 1909 John Henry Taylor · 1910 James Braid · 1911 Harry Vardon† · 1912‡ Edward Ray · 1913 John Henry Taylor · 1914 Harry Vardon · 1915-19 No Championships due to World War I · 1920 George Duncan · 1921 Jock Hutchison† · 1922 Walter Hagen · 1923 Arthur Havers · 1924 Walter Hagen · 1925 Jim Barnes · 1926 Bobby Jones# · 1927‡ Bobby Jones# · 1928 Walter Hagen · 1929 Walter Hagen · 1930 Bobby Jones#· 1931 Tommy Armour · 1932‡ Gene Sarazen · 1933 Denny Shute† · 1934‡ Henry Cotton · 1935 Alf Perry · 1936 Alf Padgham · 1937 Henry Cotton · 1938 Reg Whitcombe · 1939 Dick Burton · 1940-45 No Championships due to World War II · 1946 Sam Snead · 1947 Fred Daly · 1948 Henry Cotton · 1949 Bobby Locke† · 1950 Bobby Locke · 1951 Max Faulkner · 1952 Bobby Locke · 1953 Ben Hogan · 1954 Peter Thomson · 1955 Peter Thomson · 1956 Peter Thomson · 1957 Bobby Locke · 1958 Peter Thomson† · 1959 Gary Player · 1960 Kel Nagle · 1961 Arnold Palmer · 1962 Arnold Palmer · 1963 Bob Charles† · 1964 Tony Lema · 1965 Peter Thomson · 1966 Jack Nicklaus · 1967 Roberto De Vicenzo · 1968 Gary Player · 1969 Tony Jacklin · 1970 Jack Nicklaus† · 1971 Lee Trevino · 1972 Lee Trevino · 1973‡ Tom Weiskopf · 1974 Gary Player · 1975 Tom Watson† · 1976 Johnny Miller · 1977 Tom Watson · 1978 Jack Nicklaus · 1979 Seve Ballesteros · 1980 Tom Watson · 1981 Bill Rogers · 1982 Tom Watson · 1983 Tom Watson · 1984 Seve Ballesteros · 1985 Sandy Lyle · 1986 Greg Norman · 1987 Nick Faldo · 1988 Seve Ballesteros · 1989 Mark Calcavecchia† · 1990 Nick Faldo · 1991 Ian Baker-Finch · 1992 Nick Faldo · 1993 Greg Norman · 1994 Nick Price · 1995 John Daly† · 1996 Tom Lehman · 1997 Justin Leonard · 1998 Mark O'Meara† · 1999 Paul Lawrie† · 2000 Tiger Woods · 2001 David Duval · 2002 Ernie Els† · 2003 Ben Curtis · 2004 Todd Hamilton† · 2005‡ Tiger Woods · 2006 Tiger Woods · 2007 Pádraig Harrington† · 2008 Pádraig Harrington · 2009 Stewart Cink† · 2010 Louis Oosthuizen · 2011 Darren Clarke
† 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