Watch this news reel of the 1951 Open Championship at Royal Portrush
The Open returns to Northern Ireland this week for the first time since 1951.
The last time The Open Championship was played at Royal Portrush was in 1951 when England’s Max Faulkner claimed the Claret Jug.
We stumbled upon this old highlights news reel from the tournament which also includes a brief few seconds of Australian Norman Von Nida (also a photo of him below) who despite leading through the first round, withdrew before he finished on Sunday with illness.
After Von Nida’s opening 68, he carded 77 and 80 before leaving the course during the final round.
Interestingly, the 1951 Open at Royal Portrush was Peter Thomson’s first where he finished in a tie for sixth place.
Thomson would of course go on to play in 29 more Open Championships winning five and finishing with 19 top-10 finishes.
Faulkner won by two strokes but led by six going into the final round.
A story about Faulkner emerged after his victory which was repeated many times, which The Open website sets straight.
The myth about the evening before the final two rounds was that Faulkner was signing autographs and adding: “Open Champion 1951”.
A more accurate telling of the tale suggests that after a 70 in the third round that put him six strokes ahead, he signed an autograph for a young boy, whose father asked that the words “Open Champion” be added because, “you are going to win, aren’t you?”
Faulkner did as requested but then thought: “My God, I’d better not lose now.” Alternatively, the whole thing might just have been the creation of his ghostwriter on a London newspaper, a young Ian Wooldridge.
