16/09/2026
In Ireland he was not called by his surname. He was called Himself, and everybody knew who was meant. 🏌️
Christy O'Connor came out of Knocknacarra in Galway, learned the game caddying and knocking a ball about on rough ground, and turned into the most naturally gifted striker of a golf ball that his part of the world has produced. Other professionals used to walk across a practice ground to watch him hit four irons. He played almost entirely on feel, disliked being taught anything, and could shape a shot in weather that had everybody else reaching for a lower option and hoping.
He played in ten consecutive Ryder Cups between 1955 and 1973, which for a Great Britain and Ireland player of that era is a remarkable run of selection, and he won something like two dozen tournaments. He finished second in the Open Championship in 1965 and had a long string of high finishes without ever getting his hands on it. ⛳
The thing that kept him from more was partly that he did not much like leaving Ireland. Travel to America held no appeal, and the money that would have justified it did not exist for most of his career. He stayed, he played, he was adored, and the biggest prizes went to men who got on more aeroplanes. What have you happily given up because you did not want to leave home for it?