The amazing thing is that every British Open winner at Muirfield but one is already in the World Golf Hall of Fame (Phil was inducted last year).Here's the Muirfield Open winners' list:
1892 Harold Hilton
1896 Harry Vardon
1901 James Braid
1906 James Braid
1912 Ted Ray
1929 Walter Hagen
1935 Alf Perry (the one exception)
1948 Henry Cotton
1959 Gary Player
1966 Jack Nicklaus
1972 Lee Trevino
1980 Tom Watson
1987 Nick Faldo
1992 Nick Faldo
2002 Ernie Els
2013 Phil Mickelson
For those of you who aren't golf fans, Hilton was the person who created the idea of the "Grand Slam" being the Open, the U.S. Open, the Amateur, and the U.S. Amateur. Before Bobby Jones, he was the only person to win both the U.S. and British Amateur in the same year (1911, at age 42), and he finished third in the British Open that year.
Vardon was the second superstar in golf, and he, Braid and John Henry Taylor formed the "Great Triumverate" -- a dominant trio never equalled until Palmer, Player and Nicklaus. (In an ironic echo, only two of the three in each trio won the Open at Muirfield, although all of them won multiple Opens.)
Ray and Hagan were pros first and gentlemen second, and both also won the U.S. Open.
I don't think anyone can explain Alf Perry's shocking 4-stroke triumph at the 1935 Open, and I'm certainly not going to try. Cotton was the defending champion and first-round leader, but he faltered, finishing 76-75, and that was that. Cotton nevertheless won three Opens, among other triumphs, and then became a famous broadcaster.
I don't thiink the other winners need any introduction, even to non-fans of golf.
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