The eyes of the golfing world are focused on the 123rd US Open Championship this week, as they were 100 years ago at the 27th edition of the event at Inwood, New York, when Bobby Cruickshank missed out on adding his name to the list of previous Scottish winners in heartbreaking circumstances.
Having defied the odds to tie with the great Bobby Jones after 72 holes, the man originally from Grantown-on-Spey (which sits about three hours north of Edinburgh) and affectionately known as the “Wee Scot” lost out when a miscued drive on the last hole of the play-off opened the door for Jones to clinch his first major.
Given the event’s history, it is hard to believe no Scot will feature this week. Things were very different in its early days when they dominated – between 1901 and 1910 a Scot claimed the title each year with one exception – but in 1923 Lady Fortune was not smiling on Bobby. Nor in 1932, when again he finished runner-up to another legendary figure, Gene Sarazen. Altogether Cruickshank managed five top-four finishes, an impressive record, but unfortunately never won.
Like many aspiring Scottish golfers then, Cruickshank went to the States in 1921 in search of fame and fortune, with high hopes but uncertain expectations. Within a year he had made his mark, winning three tournaments and reaching the semifinal of the PGA Championship, losing to Sarazen in the then-match-play event.
In 1923, American hopes for the Open were pinned firmly on the charismatic young amateur Bobby Jones, who in the preceding years had finished fifth and second. With three holes remaining at Inwood, Jones enjoyed a comfortable lead over Cruickshank but finished badly with two bogeys and a double bogey, commenting as he left the 18th green, “I finished like a yellow dog.”
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Meanwhile, the Wee Scot was having his own problems as a double bogey at the 16th required a par and birdie finish to tie Jones. After parring the 17th, he needed a birdie on the 425-yard 18th, a tall order. The buzz was Jones had it in the bag. Officials were so confident they asked him to prepare for the trophy ceremony, but wisely he declined, saying he would wait until the final putt was sunk.
Bobby Cruickshank putting during the Masters at Augusta, Georgia, while his daughter, Elsie looks on. “Wee Scot,” as he was known, had his best chance to win a major slip away to Bobby Jones at the 1923 U.S. Open.
A good drive by…
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