1913 News of the World Match Play


The 1913 News of the World Match Play was the eleventh News of the World Match Play tournament. It was played from Tuesday 7 to Thursday 9 October at Walton Heath Golf Club. 32 players competed in a straight knock-out competition, with each match contested over 18 holes, except for the final which was over 36 holes. The winner received £100 out of a total prize fund of £400. George Duncan defeated James Braid 3 & 2 in the final to win the tournament. This was Braid's fifth final but the first time he had been beaten.

Qualification

Entry was restricted to members of the Professional Golfers' Association. Qualification was by a series of 36-hole stroke-play competitions; one for each of the eight PGA sections. The Southern section had 12 qualifiers, the Northern section 7, the Midland section 5, the Scottish, Welsh and Western sections 2 and the Eastern and Irish sections 1. Because of the large number of entries in the Southern section, two events were run with 6 qualifiers at each venue. In the event of a tie for places there was a playoff.
Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, the 1912 finalists, were in the US and did not enter.
Qualifying events:
The qualifiers were:
Sandy Herd, J.H. Taylor and James Sherlock failed to qualify from the Southern section. So the only previous winners competing were Tom Ball and James Braid.

Format

The format was unchanged. Matches were over 18 holes except for the final which was over 36 holes. Extra holes were played in the event of a tied match. Two rounds were played on the first day, two more on the second day with the final on the third day.

Results

Source:

Prize money

The winner received £100 and a gold medal, but the runner-up now received £40 and a silver medal, losing semi-finalists £20 and a bronze medal, losing quarter-finalists £15, second round losers £10 and first round losers £5.