Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-29

~
v v week watching the pros
play for the national
open golf title he is to allow to go
by default, the possibility of tie
for the championship appears
smaller and smaller as the
chances Of any man to stand out
above the field grows weaker and
weaker.
The era of the Jones reign in
golf is known among golf writer's
as the era of ties, and with Jones
out of the championship, perhaps
the golf writer's will be able to
cover the championship without
the spectre of a tie looming as a
practical certainty at the end Of
u bliStering holes in the cham
pionship proper.
Bobby Jones will be out at Toledo
watching the pros perform, but he will
be there in his capacity of golf writer,
crowding into the press tent with the
other newspaper men to write for the
world his impressions of the champion
OAbAP 80 AlC oCCo ~ 1IOLU LAlC CIACAlllCos
And with Jones out the likelihood of
a tie becomes smaller, for the rotund
Bobby, in addition to being the worlds
greatest golfer, also has the dubious
distinction Of having been involved in
more ties for the championship than
any other individual who ever pulled
on pair Of spike-studded shoes.
Look over the records and you will
see how true this is. In the IS years
OF championship play beginning in
1903 and ending in 1922, there were
five ties for the open championship
Our own Freddie Mcleod was involved
in the first of these, in 1908 at Myopia,
when he won. In the succeeding IL
years there were only four ties. But
in the era beginning with the year
when Jones finally crashed through to
win there were five ties for the cham
pionship, and Jones was involved in
the play-off for four Of them. In
other words Jones had that something
the others lacked If he could not
win the championship outright he was
good enough to tie. In two Of these
play-offs he won the championship
eight championships he was crowned
king.
DOLBY JONES started playing in the
~ open championship back in 1920
at Toledo. where Ted Ray won
over the same course on which the
championship is TO be played this
week: He finished far in the ruck
in that tournament. for his game
1921 at Columbia. where he had a
chance to win up to the fifth hole and
blew it away with a 9 after putting
two balls out Of bounds. Sarazen won
outright at Skokie in 1922. with a grand
last round Of 68. Then along came
the tournament at Inwood, where
Jones tied for the first time and beat
Bobby Cruickshank on the play-of
there near the shores of Jamaica Bay
where $4,000 rabid New York golf fans
overran each other to see the young
Along came 1924 and Oakland Hills
and Cyril Walker was good enough to
win the title outright over that lengthy
course. with Jones second.
Then followed Worcester, the blister
ing championship of 1925, and again
Jones tied-this time with Willie Mac
Farlane, the be-spectacled Scot from
Westchester County. They played 1S
holes through the torrid sunshine and
were all even. And they played 10
more on the same day. and MacFarlane
y
In 1926 Bobby played a spanking
No. 4 iron shot to the eighteenth green
at Scioto to win the title by a single
shot, and at Oakmont in 1927 he was
out of the tournament after the
thirteenth hole of the third round.
where he took a 6 on a par hole. So
Tommy Armour and Harry Cooper tied
just to create a diversion from the
Jones ties, and Armour won.
DUT Jones came right back the fol-
- lowing year, to tie again for the
championship at Olympia Fields,
where Johnny Farrell opposed him.
They played So holes practically level,
for the championship, and at the end
Farrell needed to hole an eight-footer
to win. He holed 1t and beat Jones
by that margin.
Then came the 1929 championship at
Winged Foot and at the end of Y
blistering holes Bobby Jones sank r.
footer to tie again for the CHAMP ion
ship, this time with Al Espinosa In
the 36hole >playoff. he played the finest
golf I ever have seen him play in a
national open, shooting SO at Espinosa
to take long lead over the first round
and smothering the Chicagoan by
something like % strokes over the route.
His last championship came in 1880 at