ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – After the first 12 editions of the British Open were played at Prestwick, the tournament was moved to the Old Course in 1873, where a deflating thing happened. The pride and joy of St. Andrews, Young Tom Morris, fell short in his bid for a fifth consecutive title thanks to putting that was deemed “wretched.”
As for how Young Tom drove the ball, there’s not much information chronicled to that point. It was so wet that a new rule was employed – you could move your ball if it was submerged in a puddle, so long as it didn’t get placed closer to the hole and you took a penalty stroke.