Ted Ray (golfer)
Ted Ray | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Full name | Edward Rivers J. Ray |
Nickname | Ted |
Born | Jersey | 6 April 1877
Died | 26 August 1943 Watford, England | (aged 66)
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
Weight | 220 lb (100 kg; 16 st) |
Sporting nationality | Jersey |
Career | |
Turned professional | c. 1895 |
Professional wins | 46 |
Best results in major championships (wins: 2) | |
Masters Tournament | DNP |
PGA Championship | DNP |
U.S. Open | Won: 1920 |
The Open Championship | Won: 1912 |
Edward Rivers John Ray (6 April 1877 – 26 August 1943)
Early life
Ray was born at
Golf career
Ray turned professional in 1894 at the age of 17, initially working as a club-maker before becoming a professional near
Ray favoured an attacking style, and had to develop phenomenal recovery skills. Cartoonists usually depicted him with a
Ray was also a fine clubmaker and advertised his business while the professional at Oxhey. He specialised in the production of drivers, mashies, and niblicks.
Before
. Despite this he was one of the leading British golfers of the first quarter of the 20th century.Major championships
Ray had an excellent record in the
Ray played in 29 successive Open Championships from 1899 and 1932, his run ending when he failed to qualify in 1933.[8] Ray's last appearance was in 1937, just after his 60th birthday. He had rounds of 76 and 81 to just make the qualifying score.[9] In the championship itself he had rounds of 87 and 88 and missed the cut by 22 strokes.[10]
In addition to his appearances in the Open Championship, Ray also played three times in the U.S. Open, in 1913 and 1920, when he was touring America with Harry Vardon, and in 1927, when he was in America as part of the British Ryder Cup team.
Ray is best known for being in a playoff for the U.S. Open in 1913 with Harry Vardon and Francis Ouimet, the winner. Ray had an opening round of 79 but he rebounded with a course record of 70 in round two which electrified the gallery and got him back into contention.[3] He narrowly missed a 5-foot putt at the last that would have given him a 69.[3] His four cards for the tournament were 79-70-76-79=304.[11] Ray, Vardon and Ouimet played an 18-hole playoff the following day. All three took 38 for the first 9 holes but Ouimet came home in 34 to Vardon's 39 and Ray's 40 to win the title. Already two strokes behind Ouimet, Ray effectively dropped out of contention when he took 6 at the 15th. Vardon was only one behind Ouimet after 16 holes but finished 5–6 while Ouimet finished 3–4 to win by five shots.[12]
The 1913 U.S. Open was the subject of a
Ray won the U.S. Open at Inverness in 1920, his second appearances in the championship.[11][6] That victory, at 43 years, 129 days, made Ray the oldest U.S. Open champion, a record he held until Raymond Floyd, a few months older, won in 1986.
Tournament career
In addition to his wins in the 1912 Open Championship and the 1920 U.S. Open, Ray won a large number of other tournaments, although he had few wins in multi-day events. Most of his victories were in one-day 36-hole stroke-play events at which Ray excelled. Ray was also known for performing well in qualifying for the big tournaments; qualifying also generally being the one-day 36-hole stroke-play format.[14]
Apart from his Open Championship success, Ray only won one important stroke-play tournament, the 1923 Daily Mail Tournament. Ray scored 288 to win by a stroke from Len Holland and Abe Mitchell and two from George Duncan, taking the first prize of £300.[14] Ray had been runner-up the previous year, finishing four shots behind Duncan.[15]
During Ray's playing career the most important British professional tournament was the
From 1920 to 1927 there was a second big match-play event, the Glasgow Herald Tournament. Ray reached two finals, 1922 and 1927. In 1922 he met Abe Mitchell in the final. Ray led by three after 11 holes of the morning round, but Mitchell finished well to level the match at lunch. Mitchell took a three-hole lead after the first nine holes of the afternoon round and eventually won 2&1, his second successive win in the tournament.[21] In 1927 Ray met Charles Whitcombe in the final. The match was very one-sided with Whitcombe 5-up at lunch. After 8 holes of the afternoon round Whitcombe was dormie-10. Ray won the 9th but Whitcombe won the 10th to win 10&8.[22]
Although Ray failed to win either the
The 1924 Roehampton Invitation Tournament was played in early April. Ray qualified comfortably in a tie for third place.[26] The first day of the knock-out stage was abandoned because of snow and, although conditions were little better on the following day, the two rounds were completed.[27][28] The final day was again cold and wet with the players drinking cups of hot coffee at the turn. Ray beat George Duncan 4&3 in the semi-final and then 53-year-old Rowland Jones by 1 hole in the final.[29]
Before
International representation
Ray was an automatic choice for all the main internationals during his career. Before
The England–Scotland Professional Match was not played immediately after the war, and in fact did not resume until 1932. Ted Ray was the non-playing Captain of the England team in 1933. The first important post-war international was a match between British and American teams in 1921 at Gleneagles. Ray played 3rd in the singles, behind George Duncan and Abe Mitchell. Ray was chosen as the British playing-captain for the 1926 international match on the East Course at the Wentworth Club in Surrey. The following year, despite having passed his 50th birthday, Ray was selected for the inaugural Ryder Cup match at Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts. Abe Mitchell was originally chosen as captain but was unable to travel because of illness, and was replaced by Ray.
Death and legacy
Ray died on 26 August 1943 in the
Media depiction
- Ray was portrayed by English actor Stephen Marcus in director Bill Paxton's 2005 film The Greatest Game Ever Played.
- In March 2018 Bill Williams authored a book entitled Ted Ray – The Forgotten Man of Golf and is about Ted Ray's life, career, and his three trips to North America in 1913, 1920 as well as 1927 when he captained Great Britain's first Ryder Cup team.
Tournament wins (46)
Major championships are shown in bold.[37][self-published source]
Singles professional wins (16)
- 1903 Leeds Cup
- 1907 Leeds Cup
- 1910 Leeds Cup, Bramshot Cup
- 1911 Leeds Cup, Cruden Bay Professional Tournament
- 1912 Cramond Brig Tournament, The Open Championship
- 1913 Tooting Bec Cup
- 1919 Leeds Cup
- 1920 Tooting Bec Cup, U.S. Open
- 1923 Daily Mail Tournament
- 1924 Roehampton Invitation Tournament
- 1925 West Kent Invitation Tournament
- 1927 Frinton Invitation Tournament
Other singles professional wins (25)
- 1899 Hampshire, Isle of Weight & Channel Islands Championship
- 1903 News of the World Northern Section qualifying at Huddersfield
- 1906 News of the World Northern Section qualifying at Ganton
- 1907 Hyeres Professional Tournament (France)
- 1909 Open Championship Qualifying, News of the World Northern Section qualifying at Blackpool
- 1910 News of the World Northern Section qualifying at Bradford
- 1911 Le Touquet Tournament (France)
- 1912 News of the World Southern Section qualifying at Sundridge Park
- 1914 Open Championship Qualifying
- 1919 News of the World Southern Section qualifying at Sonning-on-Thames
- 1921 Hertfordshire Open Championship, News of the World Southern Section qualifying at Porters Park
- 1922 Hertfordshire Open Championship, Daily Mail Southern Section qualifying at Sudbury
- 1923 Hertfordshire Open Championship
- 1924 Hertfordshire Open Championship
- 1926 PGA Southern Section (18 holes)
- 1928 Hertfordshire Open Championship
- 1930 Short Course Championship (Torquay), Daily Dispatch Qualifying, Hertfordshire Open Championship
- 1931 Hertfordshire Open Championship
- 1933 Hertfordshire Open Championship
- 1935 Hertfordshire Open Championship
Foursomes (5)
- 1908 Yorkshire Professional Foursomes Cup (with A. Hayles)
- 1909 Yorkshire Professional Foursomes Cup (with H. Mann)
- 1910 Yorkshire Professional Foursomes Cup (with T. Tate)
- 1911 Yorkshire Professional Foursomes Cup (with T. Tate)
- 1925 Bystander Cup £500 Tournament (with Miss Stocker)
Major championships
Wins (2)
Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner(s)-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1912 | The Open Championship | 5 shot lead | 71-73-76-75=295 | 4 strokes | Harry Vardon |
1920 | U.S. Open | 2 shot deficit | +7 (74-73-73-75=295) | 1 stroke | Jack Burke Sr., Leo Diegel, Jock Hutchison, Harry Vardon |
Results timeline
Tournament | 1899 | 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. Open | |||||||||||
The Open Championship | T16 | 13 | T12 | 9 | 24 | T12 | T11 | T8 | T5 | 3 | 6 |
Tournament | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. Open | 3 | NT | NT | |||||||
The Open Championship | T5 | T5 | 1 | 2 | T10 | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT |
Tournament | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. Open | 1 | T27 | ||||||||
The Open Championship | 3 | T19 | T46 | T12 | T32 | T2 | T30 | T30 | T33 | T39 |
Tournament | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. Open | ||||||||
The Open Championship | T24 | CUT | T56 | CUT |
Note: Ray only played in The Open Championship and the U.S. Open.
NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Team appearances
- England–Scotland Professional Match (representing England): 1903, 1904 (tie), 1905 (tie), 1906 (winners), 1907 (winners), 1909 (winners), 1910 (winners), 1912 (tie), 1913 (winners)
- Coronation Match (representing the Professionals): 1911 (winners)
- Great Britain vs USA (representing Great Britain): 1921 (winners), 1926 (winners, captain)
- Ryder Cup (representing Great Britain): 1927 (captain)
- Seniors vs Juniors (representing the Seniors): 1928 (winners)
Bibliography
- Inland Golf (1913) (as Edward Ray)
- Golf Clubs and How to Use Them (1922) (as Edward Ray)
Gallery
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Ted Ray, clubmaker
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Ted Ray (right) in Vaudeville News, 1920[38]
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England Team 1913 - Ted Ray back left
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Ted Ray with familiar pipe
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Ted Ray & Harry Vardon
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Ted Ray & Harry Vardon 1920
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Ted Ray at Oxhey
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Ted in full swing
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Ted Ray receives the US Open trophy 1920
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Ted presents Walter Hagen with Ryder Cup 1927
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Open Champion 1912
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Yorkshire Professional Foursome
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Yorkshire Professional Foursomes Cup
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Ted Ray at Ganton G.C.
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Ted Ray 1913
References
- ^ Extract From The Registry of Births of the Parish of Grouville 1871–1879 page 43 entry number 421
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/51547. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b c "Ray Two Strokes Away". New York Tribune. 19 September 1913. p. 10. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ "Oxhey Golf Club, Herts". golfsmissinglinks.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- ^ "1912 Ted Ray". The Open. Archived from the original on 26 November 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
- ^ a b "Great Golf By Foulis". The New York Sun. 18 July 1896. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- ^ "Victory of Jim Barnes". The Herald. Glasgow. 27 June 1925. p. 9.
- ^ "Americans all safe". The Herald. Glasgow. 5 July 1933. p. 11.
- ^ "Americans dominate Open qualifying golf". The Herald. (Scotland). 7 July 1937. p. 23.
- ^ "Britain takes the lead". The Herald. (Scotland). 9 July 1937. p. 5.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7864-3360-5.
- ^ "American Open golf championship". The Herald. (Scotland). 22 September 1913. p. 9.
- ISBN 0-7868-6920-8.
- ^ a b "£1000 tournament – Ray comes into his own". The Herald. Glasgow. 4 May 1923. p. 16.
- ^ "Golf at St Andrews – Duncan's brilliant win in £1000 tournament". The Herald. Glasgow. 12 May 1922. p. 12.
- ^ "Golf – The great professional tournament – Success of James Braid". The Herald. Glasgow. 16 October 1903. p. 15.
- ^ "Golf – £240 Professional tournament – Braid and Taylor in the final". The Herald. Glasgow. 17 October 1907. p. 13.
- ^ "Golf – The £400 tournament – Braid beats Ray". The Herald. Glasgow. 6 October 1911. p. 15.
- ^ "Golf – The £400 tournament – Keen contest in the final – Vardon beats Ray". The Herald. Glasgow. 5 October 1912. p. 15.
- ^ "The £750 tournament –Gaudin and Seymour in final round". The Herald. Glasgow. 7 October 1921. p. 14.
- ^ "Gleneagles – The "Glasgow Herald" tournament – Abe Mitchell wins again". The Herald. Glasgow. 12 June 1922. p. 5.
- ^ "Gleneagles golf final – E Ray outplayed by C A Whitcombe". The Herald. Glasgow. 25 July 1927. p. 10.
- ^ "Golf tournaments – Professionals at Cruden Bay – Ray leads in stroke play". The Herald. Glasgow. 9 June 1911. p. 9.
- ^ "Golf tournaments – Professionals at Cruden Bay – The semi-finalists". The Herald. Glasgow. 10 June 1911. p. 9.
- ^ "The Cruden Bay golf tournament – A remarkable final – Ray beat Braid at 28th hole". The Herald. Glasgow. 12 June 1911. p. 9.
- ^ "Golf – Professionals at Roehampton". The Times. 10 April 1924. p. 6.
- ^ "Golf – Roehampton tournament postponed". The Times. 11 April 1924. p. 6.
- ^ "Professionals at Roehampton". The Times. 12 April 1924. p. 5.
- ^ "Golf – The Roehampton Tournament – Ted Ray's Success". The Herald. Glasgow. 14 April 1924. p. 13.
- ^ "Golf – Open Championship of France – Victory of Arnaud Massy". The Herald. Glasgow. 5 July 1911. p. 14.
- ^ "Open championship of Belgium – Victory of Duncan". The Times. 6 July 1912. p. 13.
- ^ "Golf – Open Championship of Germany". The Times. 21 August 1912. p. 9.
- ^ "Golf – Open Championship of Germany – Victory of J.H. Taylor". The Times. 22 August 1912. p. 9.
- ^ a b "Death of Ted Ray". The Times. 30 August 1943. p. 2.
- ^ "Find a will". probatesearch.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
- ^ "Ted Ray, former British golf star, dies in London at 66". Reading Eagle. Associated Press. 29 August 1943. p. 11-sec 2. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-5434-8134-1.
- ^ "Vaudeville News". Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections. Retrieved 9 July 2015.