MAURICE - THE LEGEND

Maurice Flitcroft came to golf late, after reading instructional articles by former US PGA champion Al Geiberger.

He acquired his clubs by mail order. Practiced bunker shots from the long-jump pit of an athletics field and putted into buried coffee cans in his back yard.

Occasionally, he wandered near a golf course; "I'd park at the perimeter and nip over the fence and hit a few shots".

He was 46 years old and living on Social Security when he decided to play in The Open. He borrowed the entry fee from his wife, Jean.

On the first tee for the qualifying round at Formby, "Flitcroft hoisted it straight up, it came down vertically, and the ball travelled precisely four feet."

Maurice's 121 was 49 over par. Still the worst score in the Open's 145 years.

His fame extended across the Atlantic to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where brothers Terry and Tim Moore decided Blythefield Country Club should name its spring member-guest event in his honour.

Maurice Flitcroft's life story, called ‘The Phantom of the Open', comes out in the summer.

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