MUCH praise has recently been heaped on the ample shoulders of Colin Montgomerie, and rightly so. To have recovered from what seemed like terminal decline to win golf's European Order of Merit in 2005 for the eighth time is a remarkable achievement.
Leaving aside that threadbare argument about Monty's lack of "major" success, it is right nevertheless that he should be described only as the greatest Scottish player
of the modern era. That is because of a figure from history that knocks Mon
ty's record – indeed that of most players that have ever lived – into a cocked hat.
Comparisons between different ages in sport are notoriously troublesome, and especially so in golf. What possible common criteria can be employed to contrast the performance of gym-honed, multi-millionaire athletes wielding carbon-fibre and titanium clubs with those of pipe-smoking, middle-aged men in Norfolk jackets getting the best they can out of hickory and pig iron?
All that we can do is set players' contemporary records against those from later or earlier ages. Yet even such an exercise in measuring success is unnecessary in this case; James Braid stands head and shoulders above any other golfing Scot. Full stop.
Born on 6 February 1870 to a ploughman's son from Earlsferry, Fife, Braid never received the kind of paternal guidance and encouragement a certain Tiger Woods enjoyed. Indeed, both his parents disapproved of golf and remained mystified by the fame it conferred on their son right up to their deaths.
A joiner by trade and reasonably successful amateur golfer, it was Braid's employment as a clubmaker that – whether he liked it or not – automatically gave him professional status. As such he determined to be the best professional in the business.
It was at the age of 26 the Braid was appointed professional at Romford, Essex. He stayed there for eight years before taking on a similar role at Walton Heath, Surrey, where he stayed until his death in 1950.
An early weakness with the putter and an even earlier affliction with short-hitting were both tackled with characteristic single-mindedness. Within a few years Braid was one of the most reliable putters and longest drivers in golf. He once held the world record for the longest drive – 395 yards, measured at Walton Heath, England, in 1905. One hundred years later, only a very few of today's golfers equipped with state-of-the-art drivers and balls have ever beaten that distance.
These weapons allied to an ice-cool composure – what a rival called "the perfect temperament for golf" – soon catapulted Braid into golfing super-stardom. He joined the legendary Harry Vardon and John H Taylor at the top of the game and together they became known as the Great Triumvirate.
While most historians lean towards Vardon as the Tiger of his day, there are many contemporary accounts that casually confer on Braid the honour of best golfer in the world.
In an age when there was only one tournament of global significance, the tall, stooping Fifer was the first man ever to win the Open five times. He finished second on three occasions, won the British Matchplay Championship an unprecedented four times and also added a French Open title to his collection.
An often disabling susceptibility to motion sickness meant he avoided sea travel whenever he could and wouldn't dream of setting foot on a plane. Indeed, he was often sick in the cars sent to pick him up from railway stations.
For this reason he never crossed the Atlantic as most of his peers did and, unlike Vardon, was not able to add the new US Open to his collection of titles. But in 20 years of being at the top of the game, Braid won hundreds of open competitions, challenge and exhibition matches. Significantly, Braid played against Vardon 83 times over the years and beat him on 40 of those occasions with Vardon winning 36 and seven games being halved. His career included 18 holes-in-one.
If a competitive record like that were not enough to secure Braid's place in history, nor even his renown as a teacher – he gave lessons to Winston Churchill and cricketer W G Grace among others – then his legacy as a golf-course architect surely would.
This is the man who designed or improved more than 300 courses across Britain and his layouts at Boat of Garten, in Inverness-shire, and Gleneagles, in Perthshire, are considered among the finest examples of course architecture in the world.
Throw in a founding role in the establishment of the Professional Golfers' Association and unstinting support for public golf in Britain and you have not only the most successful ever Scottish golfer, but one of the greatest figures in sporting history.
Upon reporting his death on 27 November 1950 at age 80,
The Scotsman said: "His pride in his Scots origin and connections remained strong, and he kept his characteristic pawkiness of speech and humour. … Braid in his heyday was an awesome figure."
The full article contains 843 words and appears in scotsman.com newspaper.
