Alex_Caygill

Alex Caygill

Alex Caygill

English professional golfer

Gordon Alexander Caygill (born 24 April 1940) is an English professional golfer. He had considerable early success as a young professional from 1960 to 1963 but then had a lean period, partly due to a stomach ulcer. He made a comeback in the late 1960s, winning two tournaments in early 1969, and gained a place in the 1969 Ryder Cup team.

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Professional career

Caygill turned professional at an early age, becoming an assistant professional at West Bowling Golf Club near Bradford.[1] He was briefly an assistant at Sunningdale, during which time he won the 1960 British Youths Open Championship at Pannal Golf Club by 7 strokes.[2] He became an assistant at Pannal in 1961 and was chosen that year by Henry Cotton as his Rookie of the Year.[3] In 1962 he won the British Youths Open Championship, which was again played at Pannal, for a second time, winning this time by 12 strokes.[4] He had more success in 1963, winning the Coombe Hill Assistants' Tournament and the Rediffusion Tournament in the same week.[5][6] In the 1964 Swallow-Penfold Tournament Caygill led Peter Alliss by 3 strokes with 5 holes to play but finished badly to drop into a tie for second place.[7]

After his early successes he did not win again on the circuit until 1969 having suffered with stomach ulcers.[8] That year he won twice, first at the Penfold Tournament,[9] and then again at the Martini International, where he tied with South African Graham Henning.[10] Caygill finished 8th in the points list for the Great Britain and Ireland 1969 Ryder Cup team.[11] The leading six were chosen automatically and Caygill was one of the remaining six selected by a committee a few days later.[12] He only played one match, partnering Brian Huggett in Friday's foursomes. They halved their match against the American pair of Raymond Floyd and Miller Barber.[13] He finished the season 9th in the Order of Merit.[14]

In 1970 Caygill had his only foreign win, the Lusaka Dunlop Open on the Safari Circuit, finishing two strokes of Craig Defoy.[15] He played a limited number of events during the early years of the European Tour, from 1972 to 1977. His best finish was to reach the semi-final of the 1975 Piccadilly Medal.[16] Caygill finished third in the 1974 PGA Club Professionals' Championship to qualify for the Diamondhead Cup, the forerunner of the PGA Cup.[17] Caygill made 14 appearances in the Open Championship between 1962 and 1977, making the cut six times.[18]

Caygill became the professional at Cleckheaton Golf Club in the mid-1960s, leaving in 1973 to join the Pleasington club in Lancashire.[19] He later moved to the Crimple Valley club, near Harrogate and later to Branshaw.[20][21] In 1981 Caygill was fined £500 and suspended by the PGA following an incident the previous October at the Wansbeck Classic, a pro-am event.[21]

Professional wins (20)

Great Britain and Ireland wins (6)

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Safari circuit wins (1)

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Other wins (13)

Results in major championships

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Note: Caygill only played in The Open Championship.

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Source:[18]

Team appearances

References

  1. [1]
    "Conditions perfect at Pannal". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 26 September 1956. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. [2]
    "Caygill's record aggregate". The Glasgow Herald. 6 August 1960. p. 5.
  3. [3]
    "Cdr. Roe awarded writers' trophy". The Daily Telegraph. 20 December 1961. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. [4]
    "Caygill youths' champion for a second time". Glasgow Herald. 11 August 1962.
  5. [5]
    "G A Caygill's victory at Selsdon Park". The Glasgow Herald. 27 September 1963. p. 6.
  6. [6]
    "Victory for Caygill in play-off". The Glasgow Herald. 30 September 1963. p. 4.
  7. [7]
    "Penfold and Swallow win for Alliss". The Glasgow Herald. 11 May 1964. p. 5.
  8. [8]
    "Record 66 puts Caygill three ahead". Glasgow Herald. 14 June 1969.
  9. [9]
    "Caygill wins after dispute with rival". The Glasgow Herald. 5 May 1969. p. 15.
  10. [10]
    "Caygill and Henning tie for Martini". The Glasgow Herald. 16 June 1969. p. 5.
  11. [11]
    "Gallacher nosed out by 1/2 point". The Daily Telegraph. 16 July 1969. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. [12]
    Ward-Thomas, Pat (21 July 1969). "Gallacher wins Ryder place". The Guardian. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. [13]
    Alliss, Peter (1983). The Who's Who of Golf. Orbis Publishing. p. 222. ISBN 0-85613-520-8.
  14. [14]
    "Gallacher top". The Daily Telegraph. 3 October 1969. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. [15]
    "Caygill leads British sweep". The Glasgow Herald. 24 March 1970. p. 7.
  16. [16]
    "British golf prestige takes another knock". The Glasgow Herald. 12 May 1975. p. 19.
  17. [17]
    "'Wild' Bill is champion". The Glasgow Herald. 3 June 1974. p. 5.
  18. [18]
    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.
  19. [19]
    "Caygill leaves Yorks in style". The Guardian. 5 May 1973. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. [20]
    Cockin, Geoff (10 May 1978). "Bickerdike does his first hole in one". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. [21]
    "Alex Caygill is suspended". Evening Times. 7 January 1981.
  22. [22]
    "Caygill youths' champion for a second time". The Glasgow Herald. 11 August 1962. p. 5.
  23. [23]
    "Caygill's double success". The Guardian. 20 May 1961. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. [24]
    "Northern title for Caygill". Birmingham Post. 3 August 1963. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. [25]
    "Mr. Arthur Hill". Liverpool Echo. 18 July 1963. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. [26]
    "Caygill wins title by Muscroft sets new record". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 13 August 1964. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. [27]
    "Bousfield and Caygill win by two strokes". The Guardian. 14 September 1964. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. [28]
    "'Steady golf' earns Alex Caygill third pro. title". Hull Daily Mail. 16 June 1966. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. [29]
    "Cotton's challenge ends gallantly". The Glasgow Herald. 29 October 1966. p. 11.
  30. [30]
    "Caygill does it". The Guardian. 29 July 1967. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. [31]
    "Caygill's title at last". The Guardian. 15 July 1971. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. [32]
    Johnson, Bill (8 September 1973). "Caygill completes double". Liverpool Daily Post. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. [33]
    "Caygill beats Platts in play-off". The Guardian. 19 June 1974. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. [34]
    "Second chance for Sandy?". The Glasgow Herald. 24 March 1978.
  35. [35]
    "2014 Ryder Cup Media and Players' Guide". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  36. [36]
    "Jamieson only British winner". The Glasgow Herald. 1 November 1974. p. 4.
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