Hedley Muscroft

Hedley W. Muscroft (3 April 1938 – March 2023) was an English professional golfer. He played regularly on the European circuit and later on the European Tour when it started in 1972. He won the 1970 Classic International and played in The Open Championship 16 times with a best finish of 18th place in 1967.

Hedley Muscroft
Personal information
Full nameHedley W. Muscroft
Born(1938-04-03)3 April 1938
Leeds, Yorkshire, England
DiedMarch 2023(2023-03-00) (aged 84)
Marbella, Spain
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Sporting nationality England
Career
Turned professional1954
Former tour(s)European Tour
European Senior Tour
Professional wins6
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT18: 1967

Golf career

Muscroft won one important tournament, the 1970 Classic International, where he beat Christy O'Connor Snr at the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff and took the first prize of £1,000.[1]

In 1964, he was a runner-up in the Swallow-Penfold Tournament behind Peter Alliss, and was also a runner-up in the Gor-Ray Cup, the assistants' championship.[2][3] He was runner-up in the Bowmaker Tournament in 1965 and 1966 and in the 1966 Agfa-Gevaert Tournament.[4][5][6] In 1968 he won the Evian International Open in France.[7] Playing with Lionel Platts, he was runner-up in the inaugural Sumrie Better-Ball in 1969.[8]

Muscroft played on the European Tour from its start in 1972. His best season was 1973.[9] He was a joint runner-up in the Scandinavian Enterprise Open behind Bob Charles and was third in the Benson & Hedges Match Play Championship and the Dunlop Masters.[10][11][12] Muscroft finished 13th in the 1973 Ryder Cup points table after a poor finish in the last qualifying event, the Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf, where he was 11-over-par for the last 27 holes. Having been a stroke behind the leader after 36 holes, he scored 43 for the last 9 holes of the third round and 76 in the final round to finish 16 strokes behind the winner.[13][14] The leading 8 qualified automatically with 4 places chosen by a selection committee. The committee chose the players placed 9th to 12th in the table, selecting John Garner who had had a poor 1973 but had gained a lot of points in 1972.[15] Garner was not chosen to play in any matches in the 1973 Ryder Cup.[16]

In 1991 Muscroft finished tied for 7th place in the Seniors' British Open.[17] He played on the European Senior Tour from its start in 1992 until 2000. His best finish to be tied for 5th place in the 1993 Northern Electric Seniors.[18]

Muscroft was at Moor Allerton Golf Club before moving to the nearby Roundhay Park. Later he was at the Geneva Golf Club, Switzerland and later at Aloha Golf Club in Spain.[19]

Personal life and death

Muscroft's two sons, Duncan and Richard, were also professional golfers.[19]

Duncan Muscroft was born in 1963.[20] He won the 1980 Boys Amateur Championship at Formby, beating Aled Llyr in the final.[21] He turned professional in 1982 and played two seasons on the European Tour, 1984 and 1997.[20] He won the Northern PGA Championship in 1983.[22] In 2006 he tied for the Glenmuir Club Professional Championship but lost to Paul Wesselingh at the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.[23] This performance gained him a place in the 2007 PGA Cup team.[24]

Richard Muscroft was born in 1965.[25] He won the Berkshire Trophy in 1986, by two strokes from Ashley Brewer.[26] Later in the year he played for the Great Britain and Ireland youth team in the EGA Trophy and for England in the Men's Home Internationals.[17][27] He turned professional in 1989 and played on the Challenge Tour in 1999.[25]

Muscroft died in Marbella, Spain in March 2023, at the age of 84.[19]

Professional wins (6)

Results in major championships
Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
The Open Championship CUT T46 CUT CUT T43 T18 CUT T28
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
The Open Championship CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983
The Open Championship CUT CUT

Note: Muscroft only played in The Open Championship.

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1972 and 1973 Open Championships)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Source:[33]

References
  1. "Muscroft wins after play-off". The Glasgow Herald. 27 July 1970. p. 4.
  2. "Penfold and Swallow win for Alliss". The Glasgow Herald. 11 May 1964. p. 5.
  3. "Gregson top assistant". The Glasgow Herald. 20 June 1964. p. 5.
  4. "Nagle's victory at Sunningdale – Last round starts with 2". The Glasgow Herald. 30 June 1965. p. 7.
  5. "Boobyer's victory with inward 30 – Muscroft one stroke behind". The Glasgow Herald. 29 June 1966. p. 16.
  6. "A Miguel triumphs again". The Glasgow Herald. 16 May 1966. p. 4.
  7. "Muscroft and Horton share first prize". The Guardian. 11 September 1968. p. 17.
  8. "Anglo-Spanish team win Sumrie event with 28 under par". The Glasgow Herald. 9 June 1969. p. 4.
  9. "European Tour Order of Merit". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  10. "Charles wades to two-shot victory". The Glasgow Herald. 23 July 1973. p. 4.
  11. "Coles proves he is master under all conditions". The Daily Telegraph. 28 May 1973. p. 15.
  12. Jacobs, Raymond (8 October 1973). "Tony Jacklin a victim of his own prowess". The Glasgow Herald. p. 7.
  13. Williams, Michael (20 August 1973). "Ryder Cup poser unsolved as Baker swoops at Fulford". The Daily Telegraph. p. 22.
  14. Jacobs, Raymond (18 August 1973). "Gallacher's 71 makes him clear leader". The Glasgow Herald. p. 2.
  15. "Selectors stick to Ryder Cup table". The Glasgow Herald. 21 August 1973. p. 4.
  16. Jacobs, Raymond (24 September 1973). "U.S. victory confirms hopeless imbalance of Ryder Cup". Glasgow Herald. p. 5.
  17. Lewis, Peter N. "R&A Championships and International Matches 1984 - 2012" (PDF). The R&A. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  18. "Hedley Muscroft Career Record Details". European Tour. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  19. "Hedley Muscroft (1938 – 2023)". The PGA. 13 March 2023. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  20. "D.G. Muscroft Career Record Details". European Tour. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  21. "Extra-hole defeat for Miss Thomson". Glasgow Herald. 16 August 1980. p. 14.
  22. "Northern Pro Ch'ship". The Daily Telegraph. 18 June 1983. p. 31.
  23. "Fourth time lucky for new champ". Glenmuir. 16 June 2006. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  24. "Individual Playing Records".
  25. "Richard Muscroft Career Record Details". European Tour. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  26. "Trophy for Muscroft". The Daily Telegraph. 16 June 1986. p. 30.
  27. "Shaw breaks wedge then clinches victory". The Glasgow Herald. 13 September 1986. p. 21.
  28. "Play-off decides". The Glasgow Herald. 29 June 1962. p. 11. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  29. "Muscroft 's northern victory". The Guardian. 31 July 1964. p. 6.
  30. "D'un sport á l'autre". Le Monde (in French). 2 September 1968. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  31. "Muscroft makes up lost ground". The Guardian. 3 October 1970. p. 19.
  32. "Triumph for veteran". The Journal. 9 August 1982. p. 10.
  33. Brenner, Morgan G. (2009). The Majors of Golf: Complete Results of the Open, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and the Masters, 1860-2008. Vol. 1. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3360-5.
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