The Weirdest Major Ever Played: St. Andrews, 1876

Less than a year after the death of his best friend Young Tom Morris, Davie Strath came to St Andrews hoping to win his first-ever Open Championship. He'd come close before, but while Strath was considered one of the three best golfers of his generation, and had been a sort of pioneer in giving up everything for a career in the very new field of professional golf, there was also something dogging his reputation: A tendency to choke in the big moment. That tendency would rise again, but that's far from the only thing marking the 1876 Open as the single strangest major championship ever contended. Played over one day in late September, it's a forgotten oddity in the tournament's storied history, and remains as vibrantly bizarre today as it must have seemed to those who watched it play out almost 150 years ago. In this week's Local Knowledge, we examine the singular career of Strath, the tragedy of his life's end, and that wild day when he had his best, and last, chance to etch his name in the history books.