Author: Harry Vardon

Harry Vardon (1870-1937) was born at Grouville in Jersey, started out as a caddie on the local links, and became the dominant golfer of his generation. He won the Open Championship a record six times between 1896 and 1914 and took the U.S. Open in 1900 while touring the United States. Tuberculosis diagnosed after his 1903 Open win cost him eight months in a Norfolk sanatorium and years of interrupted play, though he came back to win two more Opens and to tie for second at the 1920 U.S. Open at the age of fifty. The overlapping grip he popularised and the Vardon Trophy, awarded for scoring average on the PGA Tour, both keep his name in circulation.