Full name John Henry Taylor Name John Taylor Turned professional 1890 Professional wins 18 | U.S. Open 2nd: 1900 Retired 1946 Nationality England Role Golfer | |
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Born 19 March 1871
Northam, Devon, England ( 1871-03-19 ) The Open Championship Won: 1894, 1895, 1900, 1909, 1913 Died February 10, 1963, Northam, United Kingdom Books Taylor on Golf: Impressions, Comments and Hints Similar People James Braid, Harry Vardon, Ted Ray, Old Tom Morris, Harry Colt | ||
World Golf Hall of Fame 1975 (member page) | ||
John Henry "J.H." Taylor (19 March 1871 – 10 February 1963) was an English professional golfer and one of the pioneers of the modern game of golf. Taylor is considered to be one of the best golfers of all time. He was also a significant golf course architect.
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Taylor was born in Devon. He was a member of the fabled Great Triumvirate of the sport in his day, along with Harry Vardon and James Braid, and he won The Open Championship five times. Born into a working-class family, and orphaned as a boy, he began work as a caddie and labourer at the Royal North Devon Golf Club (also known as Westward Ho!) at the age of eleven. He was employed as a caddie and houseboy by the Hutchinson family and was tasked to carry the bag of Horace Hutchinson. He became a professional golfer at 19, and was employed by Burnham & Berrow Golf Club, the Winchester (later Royal Winchester) Golf Club - while there winning in successive years the first two of his Open Championships - then the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club, before eventually moving to the Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club from 1899 until his retirement in 1946.
In 1901, Taylor was a co-founder and the first chairman of the British Professional Golfers' Association. This was the first association for professional golfers in the world. Bernard Darwin wrote that Taylor "had turned a feckless company into a self-respecting and respected body of men".
Taylor was a factor in the Open Championship from age 22 in 1893, until age 55, when he tied for 11th place in 1926. His five Open victories all took place before the First World War.
Open Championship wins:
Taylor captained the 1933 Great Britain Ryder Cup team to a win over the United States, and remains the only captain on either side never to have played in any of the matches.
Taylor was also involved in designing courses across England including Hindhead GC in 1904, Andover GC in 1907, Frilford Heath's Red Course in 1908, Hainault Golf Club's Upper Course in 1909, Heaton Park GC (Manchester) in 1912, Hainault Golf Club's Lower Course in 1923,, Bigbury Golf Club in South Devon in 1926, Pinner Hill GC (Middlesex) 1927, Axe Cliff GC (Seaton, Devon) in 1920s and Batchwood Hall GC (St Albans) in 1935. He is attributed with being the inventor of the 'dogleg', although holes of that form had existed on many courses before Taylor began golf course design (for example No. 7 at Old Course at St Andrews and No. 4 at Prestwick Golf Club). He was made an honorary member of the R&A in 1949, and was president of Royal Birkdale, whose course he had designed, in 1957.
A housing development in his hometown of Northam was named in his honour (JH Taylor Drive).
Tournament wins
Note: This list may be incomplete
Major championships are shown in bold.
Results timeline
Note: The Masters Tournament was not founded until 1934, and Taylor never played in it nor the PGA Championship (founded in 1916).
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DNP = Did not play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.