Abe Mitchell

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For the baseball player, see Abe Mitchell (baseball).
Abe Mitchell
Mitchell c. 1920
Personal information
Full nameHenry Abraham Mitchell
Born(1887-01-18)18 January 1887
East Grinstead, Sussex, England
Died11 June 1947(1947-06-11) (aged 60)
St Albans, England
Sporting nationality England
Career
Turned professional1913
Professional wins29
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenT17: 1922
The Open Championship4th/T4: 1914, 1920, 1929
U.S. AmateurDNP
British Amateur2nd: 1912

Henry Abraham Mitchell (18 January 1887 – 11 June 1947) was an English professional golfer. Mitchell had eight top-10 finishes out of 17 appearances in the Open Championship, his best performance being fourth in 1920. He was runner-up in the 1912 Amateur Championship and won the 1924 Miami Open.

Early life[edit]

Mitchell was born in East Grinstead, Sussex on 18 January 1887.[1][2] He was the illegitimate son of Mary Mitchell. Mary married a Mark Seymour in 1890 and Abe was brought up by his grandparents, George and Sophia Mitchell. Mark and Mary had a son Mark, Abe's half-brother, who also became a successful professional golfer.[3] Mitchell was a fine amateur, and played for England against the Scots in 1910 and won. He won the Golf Illustrated Gold Vase twice in 1910 and 1913, and played in two Open Championships before turning professional in late 1913, attached to Sonning Golf Club in Berkshire.[2]

Golf career[edit]

Mitchell won many golf tournaments in Great Britain[2] and toured the United States frequently,[2] winning the 1924 Miami Open, and entered three U.S. Opens. He led at the halfway stage in the 1920 Open Championship before collapsing in the third round, when he shot 84 and finished four shots behind winner George Duncan, who had been 13 shots off the lead after two rounds. In a match held on 26 July 1921, Mitchell and George Duncan were paired in a foursomes match and won against Chick Evans and Charles Mayo at Edgewater Golf Club in Chicago, Illinois where Mayo was serving as the head professional.[4]

The Open Championship[edit]

Mitchell had eight top-10 finishes out of 17 appearances in the Open Championship. In the 1920 Open Championship he had rounds of 74−73−84−76=307 and finished in fourth place. He was leading the tournament on 147 after the first 2 rounds of play, but a third round 84 knocked him out of contention.

The Amateur Championship[edit]

He was runner-up in the 1912 Amateur Championship, losing to John Ball on the second extra hole.[1][2]

Ryder Cup[edit]

Mitchell was supposed to be the player-captain of Great Britain's first Ryder Cup team in 1927, but was unable to make the voyage to the United States due to appendicitis.[5] He did play on the next three teams in 1929, 1931, and 1933. Mitchell possibly[6] was Samuel Ryder's personal golf instructor from 1925 at Verulam Golf Club, St Albans.[1][5] The figure on top of the Cup trophy is modeled after Mitchell.[6]

Tooting Bec Cup[edit]

Mitchell had the lowest round at the 1933 Open Championship at St Andrews, carding a fine 68, and won the Tooting Bec Cup.

Personal life and death[edit]

Wedding of Mitchell and Deag

Mitchell married Dora Deag on 27 November 1920 in Tunbridge Wells.[7] He died suddenly in St Albans, England at age 60.[1][2]

Amateur wins[edit]

Professional wins[edit]

Results in major championships[edit]

Mitchell, c. 1911, demonstrating proper fairway wood technique – notice the white perpendicular lines drawn to show correct ball placement in the stance.
Tournament 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
U.S. Open NT NT
The Open Championship CUT WD T4 NT NT NT NT NT
The Amateur Championship SF QF 2 R128 – – – – – –
Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
U.S. Open WD T17
The Open Championship 4 T13 19 T8 WD 5 T5 T21 T4
Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
U.S. Open WD
The Open Championship T13 T12 T10 T7 WD CUT CUT

Note: Mitchell only played in The Open Championship, U.S. Open, and The Amateur Championship.

  Top 10
  Did not play

NT = No tournament
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Sources: U.S. Open,[8] Open Championship,[9] Amateur Championship – 1910,[10] 1911,[11] 1912,[12] 1913[13]

Team appearances[edit]

Amateur

Professional

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abe Mitchell.
  1. ^ a b c d Elliott, Len; Barbara Kelly (1976). Who's Who in Golf. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House. pp. 134–5. ISBN 0-87000-225-2.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Abe Mitchell, 60, British Golf Star (Obituary)". The New York Times. 12 June 1947.
  3. ^ "Through the Green – Abe Mitchell – The man of the Ryder Cup" (PDF). September 2008. pp. 10–17. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  4. ^ "British Golfers Defeat Evans and Mayo". Norwich Bulletin. Norwich, Connecticut. 27 July 1921. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  5. ^ a b Ryder Cup History Archived 13 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine. rydercup.com
  6. ^ a b Prezioso, Andrew (25 September 2014) Nine things to you know about the Ryder Cup trophy Archived 31 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine. rydercup.com
  7. ^ Abe MITCHEL (Golfer), St Albans, 1925–1947. hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk (September 2012)
  8. ^ USGA Championship Database Archived 21 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ www.opengolf.com
  10. ^ "Foreign Notes" (PDF). The American Golfer. July 1910. pp. 152–8.
  11. ^ "Golf – The Amateur Championship". The Glasgow Herald. 2 June 1911. p. 9.
  12. ^ "The British Amateur Championship" (PDF). The American Golfer. July 1912. pp. 195–200.
  13. ^ "The British Amateur Championship" (PDF). The American Golfer. July 1913. pp. 220–9.
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