1905 News of the World Match Play
The 1905 News of the World Match Play was the third News of the World Match Play tournament. It was played from Tuesday 3 to Thursday 5 October at Walton Heath Golf Club. 32 players competed in a straight knock-out competition, with each match contested over 18 holes, except for the final which was over 36 holes. The winner received £100 out of a total prize fund of £240. James Braid defeated Tom Vardon 4 & 3 in the final to win the tournament.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 3–5 October 1905 |
| Location | Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, England |
| Course(s) | Walton Heath Golf Club |
| Organised by | The PGA |
| Format | Match play – 18 holes (Final 36 holes) |
| Statistics | |
| Field | 32 players |
| Prize fund | £240 |
| Winner's share | £100 |
| Champion | |
 James Braid | |
| def. Tom Vardon 4 & 3 | |
Qualification
Entry was restricted to members of the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA). Qualification was by a series of 36-hole stroke-play competitions; one for each of the six PGA sections. The Southern section had 16 qualifiers, the Midland and Northern sections had 5 each, the Scottish section 3, the Irish section 2 and the Welsh section 1. In the event of a tie for places there was a playoff. Compared to 1904 one entry was allocated to the new Welsh section with the number of qualifiers from the Northern section being reduced to five.
The qualifiers were:
- Irish section: Tom Hood, Fred Smyth
- Midland section: George Cawsey, John Hutchings, Willie Lewis, John Whiting, Tom Williamson
- Northern section: George Duncan, Sandy Herd, Percy Hills, David McEwan, Bertie Snowball
- Southern section: James Braid, George Carter, Harry Cawsey, James Hepburn, Rowland Jones, Arthur Mitchell, Wilfrid Reid, Ernest Riseborough, Jack Rowe, Ralph Smith, J.H. Taylor, Alfred Toogood, Harry Vardon, Tom Vardon, William Webb, Jack White
- Scottish section: Jock Hutchison, Andrew Kirkaldy, Arnaud Massy
- Welsh section: Fred Collins
Format
The format was unchanged. Matches were over 18 holes except for the final which was over 36 holes. Extra holes were played in the event of a tied match. Two rounds were played on the first day, two more on the second day with the final on the third day.
Results
| First round 3 October | Second round 3 October | Third round 4 October | Semi-finals 4 October | Final 5 October | |||||||||||||||
| Ralph Smith
| |||||||||||||||||||
 Willie Lewis
| 1up | Willie Lewis
| w/o | ||||||||||||||||
| Fred Collins
| scr | ||||||||||||||||||
 Arnaud Massy
| scr | Willie Lewis
| |||||||||||||||||
| John Hutchings
| Rowland Jones
| 2&1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Rowland Jones
| 9&7 | Rowland Jones
| 1up | ||||||||||||||||
 Harry Vardon
| 4&3 | Harry Vardon
| |||||||||||||||||
| William Webb
| Rowland Jones
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Sandy Herd
| James Braid
| 4&3 | |||||||||||||||||
| James Braid
| 19h | James Braid
| 5&4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Harry Cawsey
| 3&2 | Harry Cawsey
| |||||||||||||||||
| George Cawsey
| James Braid
| 6&4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Jack White
| Jack Rowe
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Jack Rowe
| 1up | Jack Rowe
| 19h | ||||||||||||||||
| John Whiting
| Tom Williamson
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Tom Williamson
| 19h | James Braid
| 4&3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Jock Hutchison
| 4&2 | Tom Vardon
| |||||||||||||||||
| David McEwan
| Jock Hutchison
| 3&2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Alfred Toogood
| 6&4 | Alfred Toogood
| |||||||||||||||||
| Tom Hood
| Jock Hutchison
| ||||||||||||||||||
| James Hepburn
| Tom Vardon
| 6&5 | |||||||||||||||||
| George Duncan
| 3&2 | George Duncan
| |||||||||||||||||
| Bertie Snowball
| Tom Vardon
| 1up | |||||||||||||||||
| Tom Vardon
| 1up | Tom Vardon
| 1up | ||||||||||||||||
| Ernest Riseborough
| Arthur Mitchell
| ||||||||||||||||||
| J.H. Taylor
| 2up | J.H. Taylor
| 2&1 | ||||||||||||||||
| George Carter
| w/o | George Carter
| |||||||||||||||||
| Andrew Kirkaldy
| J.H. Taylor
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Percy Hills
| Arthur Mitchell
| 2&1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Arthur Mitchell
| 1up | Arthur Mitchell
| 1up | ||||||||||||||||
 Fred Smyth
| 3&1 | Fred Smyth
| |||||||||||||||||
| Wilfrid Reid
| |||||||||||||||||||
w/o = Walk over
scr = Scratched
Prize money
The winner received £100 and a gold medal, the runner-up £30 and a silver medal, the losing semi-finalists £15 and a bronze medal, while the third round losers received £10 and the second round losers received £5.
References
- "Golf – Professional Golfers' Association". The Times. 28 September 1905. p. 9.
- "Golf – Professional tournament at Walton Heath – Defeat of Herd and H Vardon". The Glasgow Herald. 4 October 1905. p. 11.
- "Golf – The Professional tourney at Walton Heath – J H Taylor's surprising defeat". The Glasgow Herald. 5 October 1905. p. 13.
- "Golf – The Professional tourney – Victory of J Braid". The Glasgow Herald. 6 October 1905. p. 11.