Bobby Jones won the U.S. Open 100 years ago, but Bobby ‘Wee Scot’ Cruickshank blew his best chance at a major

The eyes of the golfing world are focused on the 123rd US Open Championship this week, as they were 100 years ago at the 27th edition of the event at Inwood, New York, when Bobby Cruickshank missed out on adding his name to the list of previous Scottish winners in heartbreaking circumstances.

Having defied the odds to tie with the great Bobby Jones after 72 holes, the man originally from Grantown-on-Spey (which sits about three hours north of Edinburgh) and affectionately known as the “Wee Scot” lost out when a miscued drive on the last hole of the play-off opened the door for Jones to clinch his first major.

Given the event’s history, it is hard to believe no Scot will feature this week. Things were very different in its early days when they dominated – between 1901 and 1910 a Scot claimed the title each year with one exception – but in 1923 Lady Fortune was not smiling on Bobby. Nor in 1932, when again he finished runner-up to another legendary figure, Gene Sarazen. Altogether Cruickshank managed five top-four finishes, an impressive record, but unfortunately never won.

Like many aspiring Scottish golfers then, Cruickshank went to the States in 1921 in search of fame and fortune, with high hopes but uncertain expectations. Within a year he had made his mark, winning three tournaments and reaching the semifinal of the PGA Championship, losing to Sarazen in the then-match-play event.

In 1923, American hopes for the Open were pinned firmly on the charismatic young amateur Bobby Jones, who in the preceding years had finished fifth and second. With three holes remaining at Inwood, Jones enjoyed a comfortable lead over Cruickshank but finished badly with two bogeys and a double bogey, commenting as he left the 18th green, “I finished like a yellow dog.”

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Meanwhile, the Wee Scot was having his own problems as a double bogey at the 16th required a par and birdie finish to tie Jones. After parring the 17th, he needed a birdie on the 425-yard 18th, a tall order. The buzz was Jones had it in the bag. Officials were so confident they asked him to prepare for the trophy ceremony, but wisely he declined, saying he would wait until the final putt was sunk.

A good drive by Cruickshank landed down the middle of the fairway some 180 yards short of the green, with pressure now ratching up. Unfazed, he struck a magnificent shot with his mid-iron, as it was then called, to the heart of the green where it rolled to a stop six feet from the pin. A pressure putt to end all pressure putts was then calmly made to the roar of an appreciative crowd. Later Jones magnanimously described it as “one of the greatest holes ever played in golf.”

On the next day’s 18-hole play-off in front of 8,000 fans rooting for Jones, the pair reached the final tee all square in a nip and tuck contest. A hooked drive put Cruickshank in difficulty as Jones’ tee shot edged into the rough. Boldly, the American went for the green, hitting a superb iron close to the pin while the Scot could only bunker his approach shot, leaving the outcome a formality.

Afterward, Cruickshank graciously stated, “Bobby Jones is the greatest of them all. Man, it was a bonny shot! I’m proud to have stepped so close to him.”

The Wee Scot went on to enjoy widespread tournament success Stateside including being the leading money winner in 1927 and again coming close to Open glory in 1932 when final rounds of 68 and 69 on the same day were not quite enough to beat Sarazen, who famously completed the last 28 holes in 100 strokes to edge it. Other top-four finishes followed as well as a fourth place in the 1936 Masters, the highest achieved by a Scot until Sandy Lyle’s 1988 win.

Such success would have seemed fantasy to young Cruickshanks growing up in humble circumstances in Grantown where he was nicknamed “Boback” and began involvement in golf as a summertime caddy for prosperous visitors with brother John. One such visitor was widow Isabella Usher from Edinburgh who became very fond of the brothers and adopted them to live with her at Murrayfield in the capital where she provided for their education at Daniel Stewart’s College, now Stewart’s Melville. There Bobby excelled at athletics, setting numerous records and winning Scottish Schoolboy titles at 100 yards, long jump and throwing the cricket ball.

He also represented the school at golf and set a junior record of 76 aged 16 over the Braid Hills course where he played long hours with Tommy Armour, the future triple major winner. War interrupted their golfing ambitions as Cruickshank saw service at The Somme and Passchendaele.

Brother John, alongside him in a trench at Ypres, was killed outright by a shell. Bobby ended up in a POW camp alongside Sandy Armour, Tommy’s older brother, also an excellent golfer, whose health he helped to restore.
Incredibly, in 1919 at the Scottish Athletics Championships at Celtic Park, Bobby won a bronze medal in the long jump while also excelling on the golf course as a member at Turnhouse, winning the Edinburgh Coronation Cup twice and reaching the semifinal of the French Amateur.

Encouraged by Armour and Willie Park Jr., he went to America where, as they say, the rest is history.

A hugely popular figure, his ultimate accolade was induction into the PGA Hall of Fame in 1967. Major titles may have eluded him, but his place in golf history remains secure.