Bob Ferguson

1848 -1915

Bob Ferguson, the Musselburgh golfer won a hat-trick of titles at The Open Championship in 1880, 1881 and 1882. He was especially noted for his putting. He is one of only four men who have won The Open three years in a row. In fact the only other to accomplish the feat since was Peter Thompson. Incredibly Bob’s prize for his first win was only £7.

Ferguson started caddying at the age of eight and played his first competition at Leith when he was eighteen. His playing career was cut short by a bout of typhoid and he retired from competitive golf to became Custodian of the Links.

BOB FERGUSON WINS HIS FIRST OPEN TITLE

The morning of the 9th April, the day of the 1880 Open Championship held at Musselburgh dawned bright and warm and the weather stayed this way for the duration of the day.

Notably Jamie Anderson, winner of the past three Open Championships was absent from the competion this year. Thirty competitors entered, and the good weather ensured healthy crowds.The largest crowd followed Tom Morris Senior and Bob Ferguson and both players rose to the occasion. The second hole posed a problem for Ferguson as his second shot landed on the road. Attempting to play back to the green, he hit a telegraph pole causing the ball to rebound backwards. Despite excellent driving and iron play, Old Tom putting was inconsistent and by the end of the second round he was trailing Ferguson by 6 shots.

In the third round Ferguson again found the road at the second hole, but this time he recovered safely and reached the green in four shots. He managed a 42 for this round while Morris scored 43. Paxton scored an excellent 39, tying with Ferguson, and Cosgrove was only one shot behind them both going into the final round.

Andrew Kirkcaldy of St Andrews stirred the crowd when he scored a hole-in-one. Amazingly he nearly repeated it during his next round, missing the hole by only half an inch.

Bob Ferguson was always a man to rise to a challenge and his final round was the best round of the day, finishing with a total aggregate of 162.

Bob Ferguson won his first Open Championship. In the following two years he would go on to win again and be champion golfer for three years in succession.