Brian Huggett

Welsh professional golfer

Huggett played six times for Great Britain and Ireland in the Ryder Cup between 1963 and 1975 and had a 9–10–6 win–loss–half record, despite never being on a winning team. He was also the Great Britain & Ireland's non playing captain in 1977. He represented Wales nine times in the World Cup between 1963 and 1979. He played in the Open Championship 19 successive times between 1961 and 1979, finishing tied for third place in 1962 and joint runner up in 1965.

Huggett was born in Porthcawl, Wales, the son of George Huggett, who was an assistant professional at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club. After World War II, George was the professional at Neath Golf Club before moving to Redhill and Reigate Golf Club, in Surrey, in 1950. Huggett has a younger brother Geoff who was also a professional golfer.

In 1951, Huggett turned professional becoming an assistant to his father at Redhill and Reigate, later being the professional at Romford Golf Club from 1960 to 1966. In 1963 he was joined at Romford by his father. Huggett won his first important individual event in 1962, the Dutch Open. Earlier in 1962, he had finished tied for third in the Open Championship, albeit a full 13 shots behind runaway winner Arnold Palmer. Huggett had two more wins in 1963, the Cox Moore Tournament and the German Open, and finished the season third in the Order of Merit. He qualified for the 1963 Ryder Cup team in third place in the points list. Although the United States won the match 23 to 9, Huggett was the leading British scorer, with two wins and a half. After his successes in 1962 and 1963, Huggett struggled for success from 1964 to 1966, a period that coincided with the introduction of the bigger ball in many tournaments. During this period he was, however, joint runner up in the 1965 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, an event played with the smaller ball. He finished two shots behind Australia's Peter Thomson. Huggett returned to form in 1967, winning the PGA Close Championship and the Martini International in successive weeks, although he tied the Martini International with Malcolm Gregson. As in 1963, the British and Irish team was heavily defeated. Huggett beat Julius Boros in the morning singles matches but lost to Arnold Palmer in his afternoon match. In 1969 Huggett won the Daks Tournament and was joint winner of the Bowmaker Tournament, finishing the season third in the 1969 Order of Merit. Huggett was in second place in the Ryder Cup standings to get an automatic place in the team. The Ryder Cup was tied at 16 points each. Playing the 18th hole in the last but one match, Huggett holed a putt to halve his match with Billy Casper. Just before making his putt he had heard a loud roar from the 17th green, where Tony Jacklin was playing Jack Nicklaus. Believing that Jacklin had beaten Nicklaus he thought that his putt had won the Ryder Cup. Only after leaving the green did he find out the Jacklin/Nicklaus match was still being played. In 1970 Huggett won the Algarve Open, the Carroll's International and the Dunlop Masters. Huggett was ranked 10th in the world in McCormack's World Golf Rankings at the end of 1970, the rankings being based on performances from 1968 to 1970. Huggett was joint winner of the 1971 Daks Tournament with Neil Coles, but dropped to 8th place in the Order of Merit. He was 7th in the points list for the 1971 Ryder Cup in St. Louis. Only the leading six got an automatic place but Huggett was one of the six others selected by the committee. The match was closer that the two previous matches Huggett had played in America, the United States winning by 5 points. He was the third in the Order of Merit in 1972 and 8th in 1974, his only two seasons in the top 10. Huggett's younger daughter, Sandra, was born on the morning of the opening day of the match. He was not selected for the opening foursomes but played with Maurice Bembridge in the afternoon fourballs, Huggett and Bembridge having an impressive 3&1 win over Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. The match was tied after two days but the United States dominated the two singles sessions. Huggett beat Homero Blancas in the singles and went through the contest undefeated. He only played in two matches, winning a foursomes match with Tony Jacklin but losing to Gene Littler in the singles.

Huggett played on the European Seniors Tour from its start in 1992, making his final appearances in 2007. He won 10 times on the tour between 1992 and 2000 including the 1993 PGA Seniors Championship and the 1998 Senior British Open. His biggest win was the 1998 Senior British Open at Royal Portrush, winning the first prize of £60,000. He had tied with Eddie Polland after the 72 holes, but won the playoff at the first extra hole after Polland had missed the green with his second shot and, after chipping onto the green, missed his putt from nine feet. Huggett finished in the top ten on the European Seniors Tour's Order of Merit every year from 1992 to 1996 and again in 1998, his best position being 2nd in 1993, 1994 and 1998. Huggett has also been a golf course designer.

Huggett is married to Winnie and has two daughters. His daughter Sandra Huggett is an actress.

Huggett was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1978 Birthday Honours for his services to golf. In 2006, he was inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame.

DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s) upRef.27 Apr 1963Cox Moore Tournament72 68 70 66=2761 stroke John Jacobs10 Jun 1967PGA Close Championship66 67 67 71=2718 strokes Jimmy Hitchcock, Bernard Hunt17 Jun 1967Martini International69 70 70 70=279Tie Malcolm Gregson1 Jun 1968Sumrie Tournament69 75 70 68=2824 strokes Ángel Gallardo15 Jun 1968Martini International72 69 66 71=2782 strokes Tommy Horton8 Sep 1968News of the World Match Play1 up John Panton 31 May 1969Daks Tournament71 71 75 72=2892 strokes Bernard Gallacher1 Jul 1969Bowmaker Tournament68 67=135Tie Tony Grubb21 Jun 1970Carroll's International68 68 69 74=2797 strokes Christy O'Connor Snr12 Sep 1970Dunlop Masters80 78 70 65=2935 strokes David Graham5 Jun 1971Daks Tournament69 75 68 72=284Tie Neil Coles

DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner upRef.5 Aug 1962Dutch Open69 71 65 69=2742 strokes Gerard de Wit11 Aug 1963German Open70 70 68 70=2781 stroke Peter Alliss22 Mar 1970Algarve Open75 78 71 69=2933 strokes Andrew Brooks