September 13, 1872 – At the British Open Men’s Golf tournament held at the Prestwick Golf Club, there was a bit of dominant sports history being made. The reigning three-time champion of the event Tom Morris Jr. turned in his score card for a fourth consecutive title outlasting fellow Scottish countryman Davie Strath by 3 strokes for the weekend event.
The real amazing part of this story was that he had not even reached the age of 21 years on this earth yet thus earning him the moniker of “Young Tom Morris.” He had an advantage as he was raised on the grounds of St Andrews Golf Course where his father Tom Sr. was the groundskeeper.
Sadly the lad passed away at the age of 24, so we don’t know what more he could have accomplished. We do know that Tom’s first Open Championship win in 1868 at age 17 made him the youngest major champion in PGA history, a record which still stands to this day! His success on the links led many in Europe to start the following golf spreading the popularity of the game.
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