Brian Huggett, golfer who shone for Britain at the Ryder Cup in an era of American dominance

He had 16 tournament victories and was known as ‘the Welsh Bulldog’ for his tenacity

Brian Huggett, who has died aged 87, was a golfer who had a successful career on the European circuit and later on the Seniors Tour; but “the Welsh bulldog” – he was a stocky 5ft 6in and noted for his tenacity – is probably most fondly remembered for his exploits in the Ryder Cup, in which he appeared six times as a player and once as non-playing captain.
As was standard in the first few US-dominated decades of the Ryder Cup, most of Huggett’s appearances were on the losing side, but in 1969 he won a vital four points as Great Britain and Ireland secured a tie at Royal Birkdale thanks to Jack Nicklaus’s celebrated sporting gesture, when the American conceded a three-foot putt to Tony Jacklin on the final hole. “I can tell you, there were Americans in that team who weren’t too happy about that,” Huggett recalled.
In 1977 he was non-playing captain, giving Nick Faldo his debut but losing to the US in the last Ryder Cup before European golfers entered the scene and the playing field began to level; he was the oldest surviving former captain.
That Brian George Charles Huggett should have lived and breathed golf was perhaps no surprise, given that he was literally brought up on a course. He was born on November 18 1936 in Porthcawl; his father George was the assistant club pro at Royal Porthcawl – where the family had on-course accommodation – before moving after the war to Neath GC and then Redhill and Reigate GC in Surrey. Brian’s younger brother Geoff would also become a professional golfer.
Brian turned pro in 1951 when he became assistant to his father in Surrey. From 1960 to 1966 he was club pro at Romford, where he was joined by his father in 1963.
He was runner-up at the 1961 Dutch Open, returning to win the following year – his first tournament victory – after tying for third at the Open Championship at Royal Troon, 13 strokes behind the winner, Arnold Palmer.
He made the 1963 Ryder Cup team, and although the US won 23-9 he was the leading scorer for Britain and Ireland with two wins and a half.
In 1965 he was joint runner-up in the Open at Royal Birkdale, two shots behind the Australian Peter Thomson. In 1968 he won the Harry Vardon Trophy for topping the European Order of Merit, then the following year came the epic Ryder Cup confrontation at Royal Birkdale.
Though the result was determined by Nicklaus’s generous gesture, it came at the climax of a tetchy three days. The two captains, Sam Snead of the US and Eric Brown, were constantly at each other, and Brown had told his players to give the visitors no help if American balls were lost in the rough.
For the Friday-afternoon four-ball Huggett was paired with Bernard Gallacher. “We were probably the most fiery of the British,” he recalled. “And we were against Dave Hill and Ken Still – they were fiery, too.”
The ructions began on the first green when Huggett objected to the Americans standing too close to the hole, presumably in an attempt to put him off. They then accused Huggett and Gallacher of putting out of turn: “We were rowing all the way to the eighth,” said Huggett, and eventually a police escort was needed in case the crowd tried to join in.
On the Sunday afternoon Huggett was on the 18th hole, playing against Billy Casper, when he heard a roar from the 16th, where Jacklin and Nicklaus were up against each other. He wrongly assumed that Jacklin had prevailed and that his own putt, a four-footer, was to win the Ryder Cup. “I rolled it in and then I broke down and cried. It was only then I was told it was still going on behind us.”
Huggett’s commitment to the Ryder Cup was never in doubt, and in 1973 he chose to miss the birth of his daughter to play in the match at Muirfield. After she had been born he celebrated by joining Maurice Bembridge in the afternoon fourballs to beat Nicklaus and Palmer 3 &1 (three strokes up with one hole left). In all, over his six Ryders, he won 12 points – nine wins and six halves.
Individually, Huggett had a total of 16 tournament wins, the last coming in 1978 at the Jersey Open. He went on to be one of the inaugural members of the European Seniors Tour, winning 10 tournaments between 1992 and 2000, including the 1998 Senior Open Championship at Royal Portrush, where he beat Eddie Polland in a play-off. He finally retired in 2007, aged 70.
After his losing captaincy at the 1977 Ryder Cup Huggett flew to America with Peter Butler and Lord Derby to try to secure the future of a tournament which everyone agreed was hopelessly one-sided.
“The Americans discussed a match against a ‘rest of the world’ team,’ he recalled. “I remember telling them it would have no identity, a wash-out. We suggested expanding it to Europe and said there could be magic in it.” The US accepted this, the future of the tournament was secured – and many a European victory lay in the future.
Brian Huggett was appointed MBE in 1978. He married Winnie in 1961; she survives him with their two daughters.
Brian Huggett, born November 18 1936, died September 22 2024