Throwback Thursday: The most unwanted of European Tour records
The Background
On May 4, 1978 Mark James shot an opening round 73 at the Italian Open – a respectable score considering the lowest round of the day was 70.
But 24 hours later it was a whole different story. James’ hard work was brutally undone on the back nine of a turbulent second round, partly due to an injury in his left wrist.
The Scene
Having been fined £50 for withdrawing with a knee injury in an event a year prior, James didn’t want to risk the same outcome.
Instead, he played the remaining few holes one-handed in a total of 51 shots. This meant he signed for a final score of 111 and therefore missed the cut shooting 40 over par after two rounds.
But perhaps the biggest surprise of this sorry tale is the fact James didn’t even finish last. That honour went to Francois Berthet who shot 94-96 to finish a whopping 46 over for the tournament.
The Legacy
James still holds the highest 18 hole score in European Tour history, but he got over it in some style, going on to win 17 more times on the European Tour.
He also finished in a tie for 3rd at the 1981 Open Championship at Royal St George’s and was involved in eight Ryder Cups as a player and captain.
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Matthew Beedle
Matthew has been playing golf since he was around 13 and took up the game at a local nine-hole municipal course with his friends before joining Pontefract & District Golf Club just over the hedge.
Still a member of Pontefract with a handicap of 3, he currently sits on the board of directors to help with digital and marketing initiatives in order to improve membership and visitor income.
Matthew graduated university with a First Class in Sports Journalism from Leeds Trinity University and has been working in the golf industry since graduating.
NCG’s social media & marketing manager, Matthew’s main job role is to increase website traffic to the National Club Golfer website via our email and social media channels as well as driving entries to grow our NCG Top 100s Tour events amongst other tasks.
Not one to change his equipment too often, Matthew currently plays the TaylorMade M2 driver which has lasted the test of time in his bag. Elsewhere, you’ll find him using the TaylorMade Stealth 2 three-wood with a Ping G425 Crossover 2-iron to aid his long game.
Through his 4-iron to Gap Wedge, Matthew uses the Ping i500 irons accompanied by Ping’s Glide 3.0 56-degree and 60-degree wedges.
Another club that has stood the test of time in his bag is a Nike Method Core MC-3i putter which has had to have the SuperStroke grip changed at least three times. Ball of choice is the Titleist ProV1.
