Jimmy Adams (golfer)
Encyclopedia
James Adams was a Scottish
professional golfer
who was chosen for five Ryder Cup
sides and achieved high finishes in The Open Championship
on several occasions (five top-10s including two seconds).
Born in Troon
, Adams turned professional when 14, and won the Irish PGA Championship
, in 1933. In 1936, he won the Penfold Tournament
on the British Tour, and came very close to winning The Open Championship
at Hoylake
. Adams shared the third-round lead with Henry Cotton, but despite beating Cotton (and Gene Sarazen
, also in the field that year) in the final round, Adams finished a single shot behind Alf Padgham
. Two years later, at Royal St George's
, Adams' final two rounds of 78-78 put him in second place, this time behind Reg Whitcombe
. When the Championship resumed after World War II, he was fourth in 1951, and in 1954, Adams was the only player to break 70 in both the final two rounds at Royal Birkdale
with a pair of 69s, but his effort was not quite enough to catch Peter Thomson, and Adams finished fifth, three shots behind.
In 1937 Adams was runner-up in the British PGA Matchplay championship
, the first of three occasions he would reach the final of that event without winning it. He won the British Masters in 1946 (tie with Bobby Locke
), the Silver King tournament in 1948 (tie with Charlie Ward
), the Dutch Open and Belgian Open in 1949, the Italian Open
in 1951 and the Lakes Open, an event on the Australian Tour, in 1952.
Adams was selected for the 1939 Ryder Cup
team, although the matches did not take place, then again in 1947, 1949, 1951 and 1953. He won both his matches in 1949. In 1951, the British team all played in the North and South Open
in America in preparation for the Ryder Cup matches, and Adams finished fourth in a field that contained the entire U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Adams was the head pro at the Wentworth Club
from 1949 to 1952.
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
professional golfer
Professional golfer
In golf the distinction between amateurs and professionals is rigorously maintained. An amateur who breaches the rules of amateur status may lose his or her amateur status. A golfer who has lost his or her amateur status may not play in amateur competitions until amateur status has been reinstated;...
who was chosen for five Ryder Cup
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...
sides and achieved high finishes in The Open Championship
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
on several occasions (five top-10s including two seconds).
Born in Troon
Troon
Troon is a town in South Ayrshire. It is situated on the west coast of Scotland, about eight miles north of Ayr and three miles northwest of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Lying across the Firth of Clyde, the Isle of Arran can be seen. Troon is also a port with freight and ferry services...
, Adams turned professional when 14, and won the Irish PGA Championship
Irish PGA Championship
The Irish PGA Championship is a golf tournament played annually in Ireland since 1907. It is one of the oldest golf tournaments in the world, the oldest in the Emerald Isles, and has been played at many different golf courses in Ireland. It is the marquee event on the PGA Tour of Ireland's...
, in 1933. In 1936, he won the Penfold Tournament
Penfold Tournament
The Penfold Tournament was a golf tournament on the European circuit/European Tour. It was played from 1932 to 1974 at a variety of courses. The purse for the 1974 event was £11,388....
on the British Tour, and came very close to winning The Open Championship
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
at Hoylake
Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake
The Royal Liverpool Golf Club is a leading golf club in Merseyside in North West England. It was founded in 1869 on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club, and received the "Royal" designation in 1871 due to the patronage of the Duke of Connaught of the day, who was one of Queen...
. Adams shared the third-round lead with Henry Cotton, but despite beating Cotton (and Gene Sarazen
Gene Sarazen
Gene Sarazen was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s. He is one of five golfers to win all the current major championships in his career, the Career Grand Slam:U.S...
, also in the field that year) in the final round, Adams finished a single shot behind Alf Padgham
Alf Padgham
Alfred Harry Padgham was one of the leading British professional golfers of the 1930s and 1940s.Padgham was born in Caterham, Surrey...
. Two years later, at Royal St George's
Royal St George's Golf Club
The Royal St George's Golf Club is one of the premier golf clubs in the United Kingdom, and one of the courses on The Open Championship rotation. It has hosted 13 Open championships since 1894, when it became the first club outside Scotland to host the championship...
, Adams' final two rounds of 78-78 put him in second place, this time behind Reg Whitcombe
Reg Whitcombe
Reginald Arthur Whitcombe was an English professional golfer.Whitcombe began his career at Came Down Golf Club in Dorset and served in the British armed forces during World War I. He was the professional at Parkstone Golf Club from 1 January 1928 until his death in 1957...
. When the Championship resumed after World War II, he was fourth in 1951, and in 1954, Adams was the only player to break 70 in both the final two rounds at Royal Birkdale
Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the town of Southport, England, and is one of the clubs in the Open Championship rotation for both men and women. The club has hosted the men's championship nine times since 1954, most recently in July 2008, and has hosted the women's tournament five...
with a pair of 69s, but his effort was not quite enough to catch Peter Thomson, and Adams finished fifth, three shots behind.
In 1937 Adams was runner-up in the British PGA Matchplay championship
British PGA Matchplay Championship
The British PGA Matchplay Championship was a match play golf tournament that began in 1903 and ran until 1979. Between 1903 and 1969, the event was sponsored by the now defunct British newspaper the News of the World, and was commonly known by the paper's name...
, the first of three occasions he would reach the final of that event without winning it. He won the British Masters in 1946 (tie with Bobby Locke
Bobby Locke
Arthur D'Arcy "Bobby" Locke was the first internationally successful South African professional golfer. He won four Open Championships.-Early years:...
), the Silver King tournament in 1948 (tie with Charlie Ward
Charlie Ward (golfer)
Charles Harold Ward was a prominent English golfer of the 1940s, winner of the British Order of Merit in both 1948 and 1949, and twice finishing third in The Open Championship, in 1948 and 1951...
), the Dutch Open and Belgian Open in 1949, the Italian Open
Italian Open (golf)
The BMW Italian Open, as it is currently known for sponsorship reasons, is the Italian national open golf championship for men. It was founded in 1925 and has been part of the European Tour's schedule since the tour's first season in 1972....
in 1951 and the Lakes Open, an event on the Australian Tour, in 1952.
Adams was selected for the 1939 Ryder Cup
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...
team, although the matches did not take place, then again in 1947, 1949, 1951 and 1953. He won both his matches in 1949. In 1951, the British team all played in the North and South Open
North and South Open
The North and South Open was one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. It was played at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, long the largest golf resort in the world, which also staged a series of other tournaments with the "North...
in America in preparation for the Ryder Cup matches, and Adams finished fourth in a field that contained the entire U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Adams was the head pro at the Wentworth Club
Wentworth Club
Wentworth Club is a privately owned golf club and health resort in Virginia Water, Surrey on the south western fringes of London, not far from Windsor Castle. The club was founded in 1926.-History:...
from 1949 to 1952.
Tournament wins
- This list may be incomplete
- 1933 Irish PGA ChampionshipIrish PGA ChampionshipThe Irish PGA Championship is a golf tournament played annually in Ireland since 1907. It is one of the oldest golf tournaments in the world, the oldest in the Emerald Isles, and has been played at many different golf courses in Ireland. It is the marquee event on the PGA Tour of Ireland's...
- 1936 Penfold TournamentPenfold TournamentThe Penfold Tournament was a golf tournament on the European circuit/European Tour. It was played from 1932 to 1974 at a variety of courses. The purse for the 1974 event was £11,388....
- 1946 British Masters (tie with Bobby LockeBobby LockeArthur D'Arcy "Bobby" Locke was the first internationally successful South African professional golfer. He won four Open Championships.-Early years:...
) - 1948 Silver King (tie with Charlie WardCharlie Ward (golfer)Charles Harold Ward was a prominent English golfer of the 1940s, winner of the British Order of Merit in both 1948 and 1949, and twice finishing third in The Open Championship, in 1948 and 1951...
) - 1949 Dutch Open, Belgian Open
- 1951 Italian OpenItalian Open (golf)The BMW Italian Open, as it is currently known for sponsorship reasons, is the Italian national open golf championship for men. It was founded in 1925 and has been part of the European Tour's schedule since the tour's first season in 1972....
- 1952 Lakes Open (Australia)
- 1933 Irish PGA Championship
Results in major championships
- Note: Adams only played in The Open ChampionshipThe Open ChampionshipThe Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
.Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 The Open Championship The Open ChampionshipThe Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...CUT DNP CUT T48 T26 CUT 2 T17 2 T13 Tournament 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 The Open Championship The Open ChampionshipThe Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...NT NT NT NT NT NT CUT 12 DNP T8 Tournament 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 The Open Championship The Open ChampionshipThe Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...T12 T4 DNP CUT T5 CUT T25 CUT CUT T29
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10
Team appearances
- Ryder CupRyder CupThe Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...
: 19471947 Ryder CupThe 7th Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Portland Golf Club in Portland, Oregon, marking a resumption of the tournament after World War II forced its cancellation from 1939 to 1945. The United States overwhelmed the British team by winning the contest by a score of 11–1...
, 19491949 Ryder CupThe 8th Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Ganton Golf Club in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England.The United States team won the competition by a score of 7 to 5 points.-Format:The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point...
, 19511951 Ryder CupThe 9th Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina.The United States team won the competition by a score of 9½ to 2½ points.-Format:The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point...
, 19531953 Ryder CupThe 10th Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, England.The United States team won the competition by a score of 6½ to 5½ points.-Format:The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point...