1907 News of the World Match Play
The 1907 News of the World Match Play was the fifth News of the World Match Play tournament. It was played from Tuesday 15 to Thursday 17 October at Sunningdale 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 J.H. Taylor 4 & 2 in the final to win the tournament.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 15–17 October 1907 |
| Location | Sunningdale, Berkshire, England |
| Course(s) | Sunningdale 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. J.H. Taylor 4 & 2 | |
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 number of entries from each section were adjusted. The Southern section had 14 qualifiers, the Northern section 6, the Midland and the Scottish sections 4 and the Irish and Welsh sections 2. In the event of a tie for places there was a playoff.
The qualifiers were:
- Irish section: James Edmundson, Charlie Pope
- Midland section: George Coburn, Alfred Lewis, Jack Oke, Tom Williamson
- Northern section: George Duncan, Sandy Herd, Bill Leaver, George Pulford, Ted Ray, Charles Roberts
- Southern section: Albert Bellworthy, James Bradbeer, James Braid, Ernest Gaudin, Ernest Gray, Rowland Jones, Anthony Kettley, James Kinnell, Charles Mayo, Bob McKenzie, Arthur Mitchell, James Sherlock, J.H. Taylor, Harry Vardon
- Scottish section: Tom Drummond, Alex Marling, Robert Thomson, Tom Watt
- Welsh section: Jack Ross, Sam Whiting
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 15 October | Second round 15 October | Third round 16 October | Semi-finals 16 October | Final 17 October | |||||||||||||||
| James Kinnell
| 20h | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tom Watt
| James Kinnell
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Alex Marling
|  Charlie Pope
| 4&2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Charlie Pope
| 7&5 | Charlie Pope
| |||||||||||||||||
| Alfred Lewis
|  Ted Ray
| 4&3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Tom Williamson
| 2&1 | Tom Williamson
| |||||||||||||||||
| Ted Ray
| 2&1 | Ted Ray
| 20h | ||||||||||||||||
| Rowland Jones
| Ted Ray
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Jack Ross
| James Braid
| 4&3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Sandy Herd
| 4&3 | Sandy Herd
| |||||||||||||||||
 James Edmundson
| 3&2 | James Edmundson
| 2&1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Sam Whiting
| James Edmundson
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Ernest Gray
| 2&1 | James Braid
| 6&5 | ||||||||||||||||
| James Bradbeer
| Ernest Gray
| ||||||||||||||||||
| James Braid
| 3&1 | James Braid
| 6&4 | ||||||||||||||||
| George Coburn
| James Braid
| 4&2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Anthony Kettley
| J.H. Taylor
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Robert Thomson
| 6&5 | Robert Thomson
| |||||||||||||||||
| J.H. Taylor
| 5&4 | J.H. Taylor
| 3&2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Ernest Gaudin
| J.H. Taylor
| 2up | |||||||||||||||||
| James Sherlock
| 6&5 | James Sherlock
| |||||||||||||||||
| Charles Roberts
| James Sherlock
| 1up | |||||||||||||||||
| Bob McKenzie
| Arthur Mitchell
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Arthur Mitchell
| 3&1 | J.H. Taylor
| 1up | ||||||||||||||||
| Tom Drummond
| Harry Vardon
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Bill Leaver
| 2&1 | Bill Leaver
| |||||||||||||||||
| George Duncan
| Charles Mayo
| 2&1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Charles Mayo
| 5&4 | Charles Mayo
| |||||||||||||||||
| George Pulford
| w/o | Harry Vardon
| 6&5 | ||||||||||||||||
| Albert Bellworthy
| George Pulford
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Harry Vardon
| 4&3 | Harry Vardon
| 4&3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Jack Oke
| |||||||||||||||||||
w/o = Walk over
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. 8 October 1907. p. 12.
- "Golf – Professional golfers' £240 tournament – Defeat of Alexander Herd". The Glasgow Herald. 16 October 1907. p. 13.
- "Golf – £240 Professional tournament – Braid and Taylor in the final". The Glasgow Herald. 17 October 1907. p. 13.
- "Golf – The Professional tournament – Braid's fine victory". The Glasgow Herald. 18 October 1907. p. 12.