Following the announcement that the British Masters presented by Sky Sports will return to The European Tour schedule for the first time in seven years this Autumn, europeantour.com’s Will Pearson looks back at ten magical moments entwined in the rich history of the event…
1946: An Opening Tie
The inaugural British Masters was held at Stoneham Golf Club as an elite field of just 20 players battled it out at the Hampshire venue. Three years before claiming the first of four Open Championship Claret Jugs, legendary South African Bobby Locke shared the spoils with Scotland’s Jimmy Adams – five times a Ryder Cup player – as the pair each received £300 for their troubles.
1967: A Shot For The Ages
Tony Jacklin’s final round in the 1967 edition of the British Masters was remarkable – for a number of reasons. Not only did the Englishman carve out a superb 64 to win the title by three strokes at Royal St George’s – his first of two British Masters titles - he also aced the 165-yard 16th en route to victory. Notably, Jacklin’s perfect seven iron was the first hole-in- one ever to be seen live on British television.
1976: Breaking New Ground
Before the Manasseros, the Molinaris, the Roccas, there was Baldovino Dassu. The raven-haired Florence native became the first Italian to win on The European Tour as he completed a one-shot win over Hubert Green at St. Pierre Golf & Country Club in 1976. And the rest, as they say, is history. He recently recalled: "I had two putts to win from three feet and my playing partner Hubert Green, who won the US Open the next year, shook my hand before I hit the first putt! It distracted me and I missed the first putt but made the next! It was a big moment." Dassu would also go on to win the Italian Open in Sardinia just weeks later.
1985: Trevino Wins It In Style
The year following his sixth, and what would prove final, Major Championship victory, at the US PGA Championship, Lee ‘SuperMex’ Trevino teed it up on the Dukes at Woburn where the American cruised to a three-shot victory – and in some style. In the first of ten consecutive British Masters to be held at Woburn, and with the normal first hole being played as the 18th, Team USA Ryder Cup captain of that year, Trevino, struck a sublime three wood that ran up between the bunkers to within 18 inches of the cup for a majestic closing eagle.
1986: Six Of The Best For Seve
Even amongst the glittering, trophy-laden career of Spanish legend Severiano Ballesteros, 1986 remained unmatched in terms of championship success. That special season, Seve claimed no fewer than six tournament victories – the first of which arrived in June in the form of a two-shot triumph over Gordon Brand Jnr in the British Masters at Woburn. Ballesteros’ spellbinding six triumphs that season made him the first and only player to date to capture six official European Tour victories in a single season.
I had two putts to win from three feet and my playing partner Hubert Green, who won the US Open the next year, shook my hand before I hit the first putt! - Baldovino Dassu
1989: Quality Quintet For Sir Nick
After sealing the European Tour money-list with victory at the season-ending Volvo Masters in October the previous year, Sir Nick Faldo was victorious in his first start of the 1989 campaign at the Masters Tournament in Augusta. The Englishman then made it three European Tour titles in as many starts in winning the PGA Championship at Wentworth in May before turning his attention to Woburn and the British Masters the following week. Faldo, in something akin to theform of his life, made mince-meat of the Duke’s carding a then-record-equalling score of 267 – 21 under par – in a comprehensive four-shot victory in Buckinghamshire before going on to make it a fantastic five in five at the Open de France the following month.
1993: Record Breaking With Baker
If Sir Nick and Seve’s triumphs were memorable in terms of their dominance over the European game at the time, Peter Baker’s victory in 1993 remains indelibly stained into the golfing history books for his sharp-shooting exploits at Woburn. Thanks to a second-round 64 and a blistering closing 63, Baker’s winning score of 266 – 22 under par – remains the lowest winning total in the tournament’s history to this day. "I had one of those weeks where it all went very well,” he remembered. “I played some great golf and it just all came together. My wife and my youngest daughter were there with me as well, which also helped to make it such a magical week.”
2001: Levet Ends 94-Year Record
When Thomas Levet won the British Masters shortly after the turn of the century, he became the first Frenchman to triumph in a professional golf event in Britain since Arnaud Massy captured The 1907 Open Championship at Hoylake. Levet prevailed on the third hole of a four-man play-off with Swedes Mathias Gronberg and Robert Karlsson and England’s David Howell, sparking delirious celebrations at Woburn as the Parisian sprinted the circumference of the newly-unveiled Marquess course’s 17th green, high-fiving the assembled crowd in a manner reminiscent of Hale Irwin’s wild revelries at the culmination of the 1990 US Open at Medinah.
Perhaps one of the most enduring contests in the British Masters over the last few decades, 2002 saw an epic final-day duel between compatriots and – that week – room-mates Ian Poulter and Justin Rose. The latter, who was staying at Woburn member Poulter’s house during the tournament, began the day three shots adrift of the lead before a brilliant Sunday 65 saw the Hampshire player pip his close friend by just a single shot. “I still made him dinner after it, I’m not sure why,” Poulter later quipped.
2008: Gonzo Takes Down Westy
In the most recent edition of the British Masters, seven years ago, Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano put together a sparkling final round in which the Madrid man chipped in at the 12th and scrambled from the rough at the 72nd hole for a 67 – enough to tie defending champion Lee Westwood on 12 under par and force a play-off at the Belfry. A third consecutive par at the 18th proved enough for the Spaniard to take the spoils in the sudden-death shoot-out to secure a title which the victor still describes as “one of my best”.
