Rowland Thomas Jones (1871 – 2 February 1952) was an English

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who played in the late 19th and early 20th century. Jones had two top-10 finishes in the

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

. His best performance came in the 1905 Open Championship when he finished tied for second place.

Early life

Jones was born in

St Helens, Isle of Wight St Helens is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish located on the eastern side of the Isle of Wight. The village developed around village greens. This is claimed to be the largest in England but some say it is the second la ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, in 1871, the son of James Jones and Maria Saunders.

Golfing career

Jones won the

Tooting Bec Cup The Tooting Bec Cup is a trophy currently awarded by the Professional Golfers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland to the association member born in, or with a parent or parents born in, the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland who returns ...

in 1908 having been a runner-up in 1901. He was runner-up in the

London Professional Foursomes Tournament The London Professional Foursomes Tournament was a professional golf tournament played annually from 1907 to 1911. In 1909 the southern section of the PGA took over the organisation of the event which was called the Southern Professional Foursomes ...

in 1907, where he partnered Alfred Toogood, and was a losing semi-finalist in the 1905 and 1906

News of the World Match Play The British PGA Matchplay Championship was a match play golf tournament that began in 1903 and ran until 1979. Between 1903 and 1969, the event was sponsored by the now defunct British newspaper the '' News of the World'', and was commonly known ...

. He won the Belgian Open in 1920 and, as late as 1924, he was runner-up in the

Roehampton Invitation Tournament The Roehampton Invitation Tournament was a British golf tournament played each April at the Roehampton Club from 1920 to 1935. From 1922 the tournament was played over three days. There was 36 holes of stroke play on the first day with the leading ...

where he lost by 1 hole to Ted Ray. Jones was professional at Wimbledon Park Golf Club for 37 years from the opening of the club in 1898 until his retirement in 1935. He had earlier been at Littlehampton Golf Club since at least 1893.

1905 Open Championship

The 1905 Open Championship was held 7–9 June at the

Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course in the world. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Scottish champion golfer James Braid won the Championship for the second time, by five strokes from runners-up Jones and the legendary J.H. Taylor. All entries played 18 holes on the first two days with all those within 14 strokes of the leader making the cut and playing 36 holes on the final day. Strong winds and baked

hardpan In soil science, agriculture and gardening, hardpan or soil pan is a dense layer of soil, usually found below the uppermost topsoil layer. There are different types of hardpan, all sharing the general characteristic of being a distinct soil layer ...

conditions made scoring exceptionally difficult on all three days. Only a few players managed to break 80.

Sandy Herd Alexander Herd (24 April 1868 – 18 February 1944) was a Scottish professional golfer from St Andrews. He won The Open Championship in 1902 at Hoylake. Early life Born in St Andrews, Scotland, on 24 April 1868, to a golfing family, Herd had br ...

, Taylor and

Harry Vardon Henry William Vardon (9 May 1870 – 20 March 1937) was a professional golfer from Jersey. He was a member of the Great Triumvirate with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. Vardon won The Open Championship a record six times, and also won the ...

led after the first round with scores of 80. Scoring was marginally better on the second day with Jones's 77 giving him the lead on 158. He was followed by Braid on 159 and James Kinnell and

Arnaud Massy Arnaud George Watson Massy (; 6 July 1877 – 16 April 1950) was one of France's most successful professional golfers, most notable for winning the 1907 Open Championship. He was the first player from outside Scotland and England to win a major ...

on 161. Just 45 players made the cut of 172 and only one amateur, John Graham, Jr., was among those select few. Braid had round-by-round scoring of 81-78-78-81=318 and won £50. Jones's rounds of 81-77-87-78=323 enabled him to go home with £20. The third round 87 was detrimental to his opportunity to win.

Death

Jones died at

, on 2 February 1952.

Tournament wins (1)

:''Note: This list may be incomplete.'' *1920 Belgian Open

Results in major championships

''Note: Jones only played in The Open Championship.''
NT = No tournament
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place ^† In 1903 Jones was disqualified after the first day for incorrectly placing his ball on one of the holes. He was then reinstated and completed the final two rounds.

Team appearances

England–Scotland Professional Match The England–Scotland Professional Match was an annual men's professional golf competition between teams representing England and Scotland. It was played from 1903 to the start of World War I and was then revived in 1932 and played until the star ...

(representing England): 1903, 1904 (tie), 1905 (tie), 1906 (winners) 1907 (winners), 1909 (winners), 1910 (winners), 1912 (tie), 1913 (winners) *Coronation Match (representing the Professionals):

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

(winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Rowland English male golfers Sportspeople from the Isle of Wight History of the Isle of Wight 1871 births 1952 deaths