IT is hard to call which of the Jersey Opens, which ran from 1978 to 1995 (with the exception of 1990, which was cancelled due to a lack of sponsorship), had the deepest talent pool, but none of them were shy of it.
For nearly two decades, the tournament at La Moye overlooking the sweeping coastline along St Ouen’s Bay, was a fixture for most of the best players on the European Tour.
The Great White Shark, Greg Norman, played it twice, even missing the cut in the inaugural edition of 1978.
Tony Jacklin, once the poster boy of British golf, won it in 1981, while other leaders of the board include Sandy Lyle (1979) and Sam Torrance (1991). Bernard Langer would miss out to Jacklin by just one shot; Nick Faldo, who would go on to win six majors, finished fourth in his only attempt, in 1980; Colin Montgomerie came a few times early on his professional career, as did Lee Westwood once in the last edition in 1995. Perhaps the only ‘big’ European from that era not to have teed off on St Brelade’s course was Seve Ballesteros. But one player who kept coming over, year after year, slowly working his way up the world rankings, eventually won it in 1987 and became an adopted Jerseyman soon after.
Ian Woosnam turned professional in 1976 and earned his PGA European Tour card in 1979, making his Jersey Open debut that summer, missing the cut after shooting two rounds of 77 and finishing joint 118th overall. In 1985, he tied for second, just one stroke off winner Howard Clark. But it would be two years later that Woosie would eventually be crowned Jersey Open champion and it would mark the start of a sensational, and very lucrative, year that would thrust him to the forefront of the game.
Until that point, Woosnam had won one European tournament each year since 1982. In 1987, he doubled his tournament wins to eight, finished a clear top of the European Order of Merit, made a world record sum of £1,062,662 in global prize money, and won European Golfer of the Year. More importantly, he earned his seat at the top table.
The European season’s opening tournament was the Morocco Open in mid-March where Woosnam finished joint fifth. Then he, and 99 other golfers, descended on La Moye. The problem the Jersey Open always had was that it clashed with the US Open and, despite being a favourite destination for many on the tour, was one of the poorer cousins in terms of prize money. In 1987, the tournament was moved from June to April [9th to 12th], but this time it clashed with the Masters in Augusta. But, much to his disappointment, Woosnam wasn’t invited to take part in the major and so he arrived in Jersey as one of the favourites, along with two-time winner Bernie Gallagher (1982 and 1984), 1980 champion Jose-Maria Canizares and Torrance. He didn’t disappoint.
Most of the hard work was already done after the first two rounds, carding 68 and 67 on the 72-par course. At the halfway mark, he was in the lead with a one-stroke lead over David A Russell (a David J Russell was also competing), two over Ronan Rafferty, Des Smyth, Ron Stelton and Michael McLean. Michael King, who had led after the first round with a score of 65, fell away with a second round of 76, having played in severe pain from viral arthritis.
“If I play like this for next two days I should win,” proclaimed Woosnam.
But everything can change pretty quickly, especially on an exposed course on a particularly windy part of the Island during a volatile month of the year weather-wise. Having had to settle for a even-par round three, he allowed David A Russell and fellow countryman Mark Mouland to draw level. Woosnam got off to a tricky start to the fourth and final round when he found a bunker at one, but an eight-foot putt salvaged par. He birdied the second, then bogeyed the tricky fourth and continued to see-saw in that manner.
By the 14th hole he was three shots in the lead and “it looked like he only had to go through the motions and avoid a total disaster to take the title”, reported the JEP’s Jeff Wiseman. A subsequent bogey was brushed off when he “sank an awkward 12ft downhill putt” on the 16th. Two up, two to play. Then he played what he admitted was “the worst shot I have ever played, a real choker” when he found the bunker on the 17th. Thankfully, he salvaged the situation with a “brilliant putt from 25 yards to drop only one shot”. From thereon in, Woosnam ensured he kept the required level of concentration and nerve to hold out and win the £16,160 first prize.
“A booming drive up the 18th fairway showed what he had thought of efforts at the 17th, and a 9-iron left him two putts from seven feet for his par 72 and the fifth victory of his ten-year career.” Woosnam finished one stroke ahead of American Bill Malley rallying behind him.
Woosnam arrived in Jersey vowing that nothing less than victory here would do. He was as good as his promise, though he felt his overall performance wasn’t as good as it should have been.
“Yes, it was satisfying to win after the Masters disappointment, though I didn’t play all that well,” he told Wiseman. “The wind made it really difficult. On one or two shots I didn’t know which way I was going. But I putted reasonably well. The greens were much faster than the third day.”
Woosnam, who celebrated the win with coffee and a custard cream biscuit, told spectators he would love to come back and defend the title. He would have been able to do so too, as the 1988 edition was moved to October, the one time it didn’t clash with any of the majors, but Woosie was now big time and he never did come back. Not competitively, until he joined the senior tour when he turned 50 in 2008. But Jersey did do enough to win his heart to come back and become one of the Island’s favourite and most-famous residents when he moved here in 1993.
“It was one of my favourite spots to come during the season,” he told the JEP’s Steven Anderson recently.
“Every pro really enjoyed coming to Jersey. I think it was a combination of the hospitality, the lovely golf course [La Moye] and the atmosphere. It felt like a relaxing trip and a bit of a party atmosphere and the pros really liked that.
“When I got the chance to move here in 1993, I jumped at it. It was always a place I wanted to move to, it has everything for me. Jersey is such a beautiful place and it was ideal to raise the kids here.”
In 1988, Woosnam got his invitation for the Masters. “I’m worthy of my invite,” he told the New York Times ahead of the tournament. But he underwhelmed on Augusta’s “pesky greens” and missed the cut. The experience clearly counted, though, and the sunkissed Georgian lawns set the scene for Woosnam’s greatest ever individual achievement, winning the Masters in 1991 as the number one player in the world and becoming the first, and so far only, Welshmen to wear that famous green jacket.
