Twenty-one Open Championships between 1894 and 1914. Three guys won sixteen of them. Harry Vardon, James Braid, and J.H. Taylor were three working-class kids born within twelve months of each other, from three different corners of the British Isles. For two decades they owned professional golf, traveled together as a roadshow, and quietly built the entire business of the modern sport from scratch. This episode tells their story: a Jersey gardener's son who invented the grip you probably use today, a silent Scottish joiner who became one of the most prolific course architects in history, and a Devon laborer's kid who founded the PGA and forced golf to let professionals through the front door. Along the way: the 1896 Muirfield playoff that tilted the sport on its axis, Vardon's coast-to-coast American tour that rewrote how an entire country swung a club, the 13-and-12 exhibition rout that turned golf into a spectacle, tuberculosis, and the 1913 U.S. Open at Brookline, where a 20-year-old amateur named Francis Ouimet beat Vardon and Ted Ray in a playoff. You've seen the movie — The Greatest Game Ever Played — but the real story is bigger and stranger than the film, and Vardon's the one it leaves behind. -- In this episode: The world of golf before them Three boys: Jersey, Earlsferry, Devon Vardon breaks through at Muirfield, 1896 Braid joins them The rivalry that wasn't America discovers Vardon Francis Ouimet at Brookline, The war and the fade The legacy -- golf history, harry vardon, james braid, jh taylor, j.h. taylor, the great triumvirate, great triumvirate golf, vardon grip, open championship history, british open history, 1896 muirfield, francis ouimet, ouimet brookline, 1913 us open, brookline 1913, the greatest game ever played, greatest game ever played movie, ted ray golfer, golf documentary, history of golf, professional golf history, vardon trophy, gleneagles, carnoustie, royal jersey, westward ho, royal north devon, bernard darwin, old tom morris, young tom morris, scottish golf, victorian golf, golf in the 1900s, hickory golf, gutta percha, pga history, roll it back, golf storytelling, golf legends, six open championships, edwardian golf-- Thank you to our sponsor Birdie Social Club for making this video possible. Birdie Social Club is the ultimate FREE golf achievement tracker who want to celebrate and every great shot and understand their game at a deeper level. Track every birdie, eagle and ace! Track every course you have played! Analyze your game! Whether you just sank your first birdie, or you are chasing your next ace, Birdie Social Club is the App for you! Download in the app store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/birdie-...-- Roll It Back. Golf history.
