Harry Hampton (March 21, 1889 – May 5, 1965) was a Scottish-American professional golfer. His best finish in a major championship was a tie for third place in the 1920 PGA Championship when he met Jock Hutchison (the eventual winner of the tournament) in a semi-final match and lost 4 and 3. He finished T7 in the 1927 U.S. Open and won seven tournaments during his professional playing career. Hampton was a good iron player and made 16 holes-in-one in his lifetime.
Early life
Hampton was born on March 21, 1889, in Montrose, Scotland.[2] He emigrated to the United States in 1910.
Golf career
Hampton was described as a good ball striker, however his putting was adversely affected by poor vision in one eye.[2][3] Hampton served as professional at a number of clubs in Massachusetts and was also posted at clubs in South Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Canada.[2]
In May 1921, Hampton's eleven American teammates boarded the RMS Aquitania at New York and sailed to Southampton from where they traveled by train to Gleneagles at Perthshire, Scotland, where the forerunner to the Ryder Cup, the "International Challenge", would be played beginning on June 6, 1921.[4] Hampton, even though he was selected for the team, for reasons unknown decided at the last moment that he would not make the trip. The likely reason was that he was not an American citizen. In order to become a team member it was required that all players be either U.S. born or naturalized American citizens. Hampton wasn't naturalized until 1955.[5][6][7] The American team, captained by Emmett French, was taken to the woodshed for a 10½ to 4½ beating.[8]
Personal
On November 10, 1911, he married Victoria Mary Harding (1887–1973) in Canada. He became a U.S. citizen in 1955.[7]
NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
^ ab"Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California". May 3, 1955 – via Ancestry.com. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
^"Harry Hampton". GolfMajorChampionships.com. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
^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. ISBN978-0-7864-3360-5.
