Golden age for Gaels of old

With the major championships completed for another year and with a man called O'Meara as the holder of the US Masters and British Open titles, it seems appropriate to examine Ireland's impact on golf in United States, particularly during the game's formative years there. It is clear that a rather special golfing bond exists with our American brethren dating back to the early years of the US Open.

This is hardly surprising, given that the first "home-bred" winner of that title was a player by the name of Johnny McDermott. And when capturing the title in 1911, one of the players he beat in a three-way play-off was a certain Mike Brady. Indeed Tom MacNamara was second and Brady was third when McDermott retained the title the following year.

But where American observers were concerned, the first golfing Gael of any consequence was Patrick Corcoran, who competed in the US Open at Chicago GC on October 4th and 5th 1900. As it happened, his challenge wasn't a particularly distinguished one since he shot rounds of 101, 90, 96 and 90 for an aggregate of 377 - 64 strokes behind the winner, Harry Vardon.

Corcoran has long since disappeared from the American golfing scene. Indeed very little was ever heard of him after that particular event. But in his own, modest way, he had blazed a trail for more accomplished compatriots who would follow in his wake.

Notable among these was Chandler H Egan, a product of a leading Irish-American family from Chicago and a golfer of some talent, given his victories in the US Amateur of 1904 and 1905. Born in 1884 of wealthy and socially prominent parents, he was also US Amateur runner-up in 1901 and 1909 and was victorious in the National Intercollegiate of 1902 and in the Western Amateur of 1902, 1904, 1905 and 1907.

The Egans are credited with having played a leading role in popularising the game among high society in the American mid-west. Shortly after his last Western Amateur triumph, Chandler Egan moved to Oregon where further progress in the game was thwarted by the fact that the nearest golf course was 300 miles away.

Yet he returned to prominence in 1929 when he reached the semi-finals of the US Amateur. And five years on, aged 50, he represented the US in the Walker Cup in 1934.

Then there was the fascinating role played by a Boston youngster, J H Sullivan, in the rise to prominence of Francis Ouimet. He will be recalled as the player who gained the distinction in 1913 of becoming the first American amateur to win the US Open.

Five years prior to that, however, in his first tournament appearance, Ouimet was beaten by Sullivan in the opening round of the Greater Boston Interscholastic Championship of 1908. But later, there was to be rich compensation for Ouimet in that he won Sullivan's sister as his bride.

By that stage, a native-born Irish player had already taken the US by storm. In the autumn of 1903, as the reigning British women's champion, Rhona Adair, accepted an invitation to the US from the parents of Pansy Griscom, the 1900 US Women's Amateur champion. Born in Cookstown, Co Tyrone, Adair was reported to have been overwhelmed by American and Canadian hospitality and "somewhat abashed by their publicity". Her hosts were particularly taken by the Irishwoman's power, particularly her feat of driving a ball across the 170-yard expanse of a river.

She played in tournaments in Boston, Toronto, Montreal and Quebec and for the duration of the tour, was beaten only once. As her great rival, May Hezlet observed: "No other lady golfer in the world could have performed such wonders or given the American people such a splendid exhibition of fine play.

"The visit made a tremendous sensation over the water and will probably have the effect of arousing fresh interest in the game of golf and enlisting many new members into the already large ranks of enthusiasts."

In terms of national impact in America, however, nothing compared with the victories of McDermott in the US Opens of 1911 and 1912, after he had lost in a play-off to Alex Smith in 1910. Yet his successes came as no surprise to those who had watched the rise of the Irish-American professionals.

McDermott was born in Philadelphia on August 12th 1891 and came into golf as a caddie. And lending a distinctly Irish flavour to the 1912 championship was the fact that runner-up MacNamara was Boston-born of Irish parents. As it happened, with a final round of 69, he gained the distinction of becoming the first player to break 70 in the history of the championship.

In the judgement of acknowledged American experts of this period, however, the greatest golfer not to win the US Open was Brady, the son of Irish parents who emigrated to Boston. Having been registered as professional at the Commonwealth GC, Boston, he made his US Open debut in 1905.

Apart from a play-off defeat by McDermott in 1911, Brady also had winning chances in the US Opens of 1912 (tied 3rd), 1914 (tied 5th), 1915 (6th), 1916 (tied 9th), 1919 (2nd) and 1925 (seventh). In 1919, he tied with Walter Hagen only to lose the play-off by a stroke.

That was a time when the primary concern of professionals was to take care of their club job, with the result that tournaments were considered to be something of a busman's holiday. And the Irish were noted as particularly keen competitors.

From the early days of Corcoran and McDermott, their ranks were swollen by illustrious names such as J J O'Brien, Tom and George Kerrigan, Willie Maguire, Tom Boyd, Eugene McCarthy, Pat Doyle, Tom Mulgrew, John Shea, Johnny Farrell, Frank and Tom Walsh and the O'Hares, Peter and Pat.

Those researching the activities of the O'Hares in American tournaments, however, would become decidedly frustrated, for the simple reason that they didn't play under their own names. The fact was that the Americans simply refused come to terms with the name O'Hare and insisted on calling them O'Hara. Which is how their names appear in US golfing annals.

Pat, Jimmy and Peter O'Hare were brothers from 4, Anglesey Terrace in Greenore, Co Louth. All became professional golfers and whereas Jimmy remained at home and won the Irish Professional Championship of 1914 at Royal Co Down, while attached to Skerries, his brothers emigrated to the US.

After winning the Irish Professional Championship of 1919 while attached to Dundalk, Pat joined Peter in the States, becoming resident professional at the Richmond County CC in Staten Island, New York. Three years later, he had the distinction of winning the prestigious North and South Open at Pinehurst, where he beat such luminaries as Gene Sarazen, Jock Hutchison and Hagen.

Later in 1922, he was tied 35th behind Sarazen in the US Open at Stokie CC where, incidentally, Brady was tied eighth. He then returned home to Ireland, ostensibly for a two-week holiday, but never went back to the US.

Instead, he settled into the easy pace of life in Greenore, alternating golf lessons with some quiet refreshments. But his enduring skills remained very much in evidence at Royal Dublin in 1927, where he won the Irish Professional title for a second time, with an aggregate of 301.

Meanwhile, Peter went on to record his finest achievement on American soil when, in the 1924 US Open at Oakland Hills, he was tied seventh behind Cyril Walker. Remarkably, Brady was also in the top-10 on that occasion, finishing in a share of ninth place and another Irishman, Doyle, failed to make the third round cut after carding 82, 81 and 83.

A measure of Peter O'Hare's performance at Oakland Hills is the fact that it remains the best finish by an Irish-born player in the US Open. And it was also the best by an Irishman in any American "major" championship until being matched by David Feherty in 1991, when he was tied seventh behind John Daly in the USPGA Championship at Crooked Stick.

The staging of the US Open at Worcester, Massachusetts the following year, really had the Irish out in force. Once again, Brady was in the top-10, finishing seventh behind Willie McFarlane and further down the order were Tom Kerrigan, Doyle, Jack O'Connor and Martin O'Loughlin.

So it is clear that the first three decades of this century was truly a golden age for Irish-American golf - some time after Mark O'Meara's great-grandfather had emigrated from these shores. Against that background, it is fascinating to note that by a happy coincidence, Bobby Jones, the world's finest player of the period, was born on March 17th, St Patrick's Day.

By the time the Canada Cup was staged at Portmarnock in 1960, Jones had not played golf for 12 years. Which invested a message he sent to the organisers with an inescapable poignancy.

It read: "Because of the winning of this event two years ago by Harry Bradshaw and Christy O'Connor, the holding of it this year in Ireland is most appropriate. It was for a long time, years ago, my ambition to play the Portmarnock links. I envy those who will have this privilege.

"I might add that since I was born on St Patrick's Day (albeit in Atlanta, Georgia), it is mandatory that I should pull for a victory for Ireland. With best wishes to all. Most sincerely, (Signed) Robert T Jones Jr."