Alex Caygill

Gordon Alexander Caygill (born 24 April 1940) is an English professional golfer.[1] He had considerable early success as a young professional from 1960 to 1963 but then had a lean period, partly due to a stomach ulcer. He made a comeback in 1969, winning two tournaments, and gained a place in the 1969 Ryder Cup team.

Alex Caygill
Personal information
Full nameGordon Alexander Caygill
Born (1940-04-24) 24 April 1940
Appleby-in-Westmorland, England
Nationality England
Career
StatusProfessional
Former tour(s)European Tour
Professional wins13
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT16: 1966
Achievements and awards
Sir Henry Cotton
Rookie of the Year		1961

Professional career

Caygill turned professional at an early age, becoming an assistant professional at West Bowling Golf Club near Bradford. He was briefly an assistant at Sunningdale, during which time he won the 1960 British Youths Open Championship at Pannal Golf Club by 7 strokes.[2] He became an assistant at Pannal in 1961 and was chosen that year by Henry Cotton as his Rookie of the Year. In 1962 he won the British Youths Open Championship, which was again played at Pannal, for a second time, winning this time by 12 strokes.[3] He had more success in 1963, winning the Coombe Hill Assistants' Tournament and the Rediffusion Tournament in the same week.[4][5] In the 1964 Swallow-Penfold Tournament Caygill led Peter Alliss by 3 strokes with 5 holes to play but finished badly to drop into a tie for second place.[6]

After his early successes he did not win again on the circuit until 1969 having suffered with stomach ulcers.[7] That year he won twice, first at the Penfold Tournament,[8] and then again at the Martini International, where he tied with South African Graham Henning.[1][9] On the back of those wins Caygill was chosen as a member of the Great Britain and Ireland Ryder Cup team in 1969, although he only played one match, partnering Brian Huggett in Friday's foursomes. They halved their match against the American pair of Raymond Floyd and Miller Barber.[1]

Caygill played a limited number of events during the early years of the European Tour, from 1972 to 1977. His best finish was to reach the semi-final of the 1975 Piccadilly Medal.[10]

In 1981 Caygill was fined £500 and suspended by the PGA following an incident the previous October at the Wansbeck Classic, a pro-am event.[1][11]

Professional wins (13)

Major British PGA circuit wins (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 29 Sep 1963 Rediffusion Tournament 70-68-66-67=271 Playoff Flory Van Donck, David Snell
2 3 May 1969 Penfold Tournament 67-70-70-71=278 2 strokes Christy O'Connor Snr
3 14 Jun 1969 Martini International 70-66-77-69=282 Tie Graham Henning

Other wins (10)
This list may be incomplete

Results in major championships
Tournament 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
The Open Championship CUT CUT T17 CUT T16 CUT T24 T25
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
The Open Championship T41 CUT CUT CUT T63 CUT

Note: Caygill only played in The Open Championship.

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances
  • Ryder Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1969 (tie)
  • Diamondhead Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1974

References
  1. Alliss, Peter (1983). The Who's Who of Golf. Orbis Publishing. p. 222. ISBN 0-85613-520-8.
  2. "Caygill's record aggregate". Glasgow Herald. 6 August 1960.
  3. "Caygill youths' champion for a second time". Glasgow Herald. 11 August 1962.
  4. "G A Caygill's victory at Selsdon Park". The Glasgow Herald. 27 September 1963. p. 6.
  5. "Victory for Caygill in play-off". Glasgow Herald. 30 September 1963.
  6. "Penfold and Swallow win for Alliss". The Glasgow Herald. 11 May 1964. p. 5.
  7. "Record 66 puts Caygill three ahead". Glasgow Herald. 14 June 1969.
  8. "Caygill wins after dispute with rival". Glasgow Herald. 5 May 1969.
  9. "Caygill and Henning tie for Martini". Glasgow Herald. 16 June 1969.
  10. "British golf prestige takes another knock". The Glasgow Herald. 12 May 1975. p. 19.
  11. "Alex Caygill is suspended". Evening Times. 7 January 1981.
  12. "Bernie finishes 12 behind winner". Evening Times. 23 March 1970.
  13. "Lancs Open goes regional". Professional Golfers' Association (Great Britain and Ireland). 17 March 2010. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011.
  14. "Second chance for Sandy?". Glasgow Herald. 24 March 1978.
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