Early Years

Born in Grouville, Jersey, Channel Islands, Vardon, whose mother was French and father English, did not play much golf as a youngster, but showed natural talent for the sport as a young caddie in his teens. Harry and his brother Tom Vardon, younger by two years and also interested in golf, were very close. Their golf development was held back by poor family circumstances; and their father was not supportive of his sons’ golf interest. Tom actually made the move from Jersey to England first, to pursue a golf career. Harry followed Tom to England in the spring of 1890, taking a job as greenkeeper at age 20, at Studley Royal Golf Club, Ripon, Yorks. A year later he became club professional at Bury Golf Club, and in 1896 the club professional at Ganton Golf Club, in Yorkshire. Harry was the better player of the two brothers. By his early 20s, Harry developed a demanding practice program, the most ambitious seen to that time. He was the first professional golfer to play in knickerbockers – discarding the “proper” dress of an Englishman in an uncomfortable shirt and tie with a buttoned jacket.

World’s Best Player

Within a few years he became golf’s first superstar since the days of Young Tom Morris. In 1896, Vardon won the first of his record six Open Championships (a record that still stands today). Vardon had great rivalries with James Braid and J.H. Taylor, who each won five Open Championships; together the three formed the ‘Great Triumvirate’, and dominated worldwide golf from the mid-1890s to the mid-1910s. These rivalries enormously increased the public’s interest in golf

During his career, Vardon won 48 tournaments and 21 team events; that was the most titles won by a single player to that juncture in golf history. He won the German Open in 1911 and the British PGA Matchplay Championship in 1912. Between 1898 and 1899 Vardon played in 17 tournaments, winning 14 and coming 2nd in the other three. Vardon popularised the overlapping grip that bears his name, one still used by over 90 percent of golfers; this grip had been originated by Johnny Laidlay a few years before Vardon adopted it. In his later years, he became a golf course architect, designing several courses in Britain, Llandrindod Wells Golf Club, Woodhall Spa and Radcliffe-on-Trent being notable examples. Following a bout with tuberculosis he struggled with health problems for years, but turned to coaching and writing golf instruction and inspirational books.

Vardon Grip

Vardon was also well known for the Vardon grip, or overlapping grip, the grip most popular among professional golfers. In the Vardon grip, one places the little finger of the trailing hand (the one placed lower on the club – right hand for a right-handed player) in between the index and middle finger on the leading hand (the hand that is higher on the club). The leading-hand thumb should fit in the lifeline of the trailing hand. Vardon actually took up this grip some time after Johnny Laidlay, a champion Scottish amateur player, invented it.

7 Major championship wins

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin
1896	The Open Championship	4 shot deficit	83-78-78-77=316	Playoff
1898	The Open Championship	2 shot deficit	79-75-77-76=307	1 stroke
1899	The Open Championship	3 shot lead	76-76-81-77=310	5 strokes
1900	U.S. Open	4 shot lead	79-78-76-80=313	2 strokes
1903	The Open Championship	7 shot lead	73-77-72-78=300	6 strokes
1911	The Open Championship	3 shot lead	74-74-75-80=303	Playoff
1914	The Open Championship	2 shot deficit	73-77-78-78=306	3 strokes