There are few figures in the history of golf as beloved as Fred Daly, the former caddie at Royal Portrush who became the first Irish winner of The Open.
Celebrated by his fellow professionals and fans alike, the Ulsterman’s charm and wit ensured his triumph in 1947 – his one and only major title – was celebrated like few before it.
He remained the only winner of The Open to come from the island of Ireland until Pádraig Harrington matched the feat in 2007 – highlighting the scale of Daly's achievement 60 years earlier.
The son of a blacksmith, Daly was born in Causeway Street, Portrush, on 11 October 1911 and began his golfing career as a teenage caddie on the local course.
While he was encouraged to learn a trade by his father, his passion saw him obtain his first professional appointment in 1931 at Mahee Island Golf Club in County Down.
He began as a greenkeeper and part-time professional – despite having never had a golf lesson – before moving to Lurgan Golf Club in 1933 where he focused more on playing professionally.
A lot of his early success came against the backdrop of the Second World War, with Daly winning the Ulster Professional Championship and Irish Professional Championship in 1940.
He won the Ulster Championship again in 1941, 1943 and 1944 before making his big move to Balmoral Golf Club in Belfast, where he remained for the last 45 years of his life.
It was at this time that he started to make his name in championship golf, playing his first full season of tournament golf in 1946 when he became the first Irish winner of the Irish Open.
Daly also won the Ulster Professional Championship again and finished tied for eighth at The 75th Open at the Old Course at St Andrews – a sign of what was to come a year later.
Daly was already on a hot streak of form heading into The Open in 1947, with three top-10s in the three tournaments he played in before teeing up at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake.
Read in full at TheOpen.com/News.
The R&A