The list of “champion golfers†to have lifted the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool includes several of golf’s most prolific winners, from Bobby Jones to Tiger Woods.
Yet it can be argued that the most impactful win on Hoylake’s famous links came way back in 1907, when Arnaud Massy of France claimed a unique place in Open Championship history.
Few players from outside the British Isles had even competed in the first 46 editions of the championship. Indeed, it was not until the 30th Open in 1890 that victory was secured by a non-Scottish competitor, Hoylake’s very own amateur star John Ball.
Harold Hilton, J.H. Taylor and Jersey’s Harry Vardon – the record six-time champion golfer – enjoyed multiple successes in the years that followed as the Open continued to grow, moving beyond Scotland’s borders for the first time and attracting a wider range of players in the process.
However, the championship remained an almost exclusively British affair throughout the first decade of the 20th century, making a French victory in the 47th Open one of huge significance.
Ahead of the Open’s return to Royal Liverpool this July, Massy’s great-granddaughter, Tracy Edgar, spoke about her pioneering forefather.
"He was a proud Frenchman,†she said. “He always believed that him winning the Open made the French people better. He always said that's why the French play golf, because of him. He definitely thinks that's when golf started in France as a major interest. He put France on the map with that win.â€
To read more from Edgar on her great-grandfather’s everlasting legacy, click HERE.
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