For a short while, after a rapid rise, David Thorp was the leading Midlands professional golfer, a British international player and one of the top British club professionals, before an equally fast drop into obscurity.
How could this happen and where did it all go wrong? These are questions that the author will answer in this fascinating narrative while giving an insight into the world of professional golf in the seventies and eighties.
Be there with David as he confidently tees off in the British Open at Royal St. Georges behind Jack Nicklaus and in the PGA Championship at Wentworth when his movement control is so impaired that he wishes he could disappear.
This is not the usual story of a British sporting star's fame and fortune, but is about an ordinary young man with a special talent and his gritty determination to succeed despite a disabling condition.
David Thorp, born in 1953, started life in Leeds, Yorkshire, where he spent most of his childhood, apart from a short, but influential spell in Canada as a young teenager.
Sport was always a major part of his life, but mostly football and cricket, rather than golf. Despite this non-golfing background, and starting the game relatively late, David made remarkable strides through the ranks to briefly experience the very top level of the game.
Combined with this roller-caster ride of a playing career, he was also Club Professional at several leading English golf clubs including Sutton Coldfield and Gog Magog. Latterly David has concentrated on teaching, using his wide experience to become a renowned golf coach in the Shropshire area.
Wife Rosie and David live in Bridgnorth and have two grown-up children, Emily and Christopher.
My five over par score for 36 holes put me in 20th place, just seven shots behind the leader, and eventual winner, American Bill Rogers. I had some very high class company on the score-board with Nick Faldo and Nick Price sharing my score, Sandy Lyle and Arnold Palmer one behind, Seve Ballesteros two behind and Jack Nicklaus four behind after a superb second round 66. Andrew and I eagerly awaited the third round draw, and when it was published, I was excited to be paired with young South African star Nick Price.
There were 81 players in Saturday’s field, and that number would be reduced to 60 for the final round. We teed off at 1.15p.m. in warm and breezy conditions and I hit another great drive down the long par-four first hole. I followed it with an equally good 4 iron over the cross-bunkers to about 10 feet, and proceeded to knock in the putt for a birdie three. What a start! After solid pars on two and three I then made my third straight bogey on the difficult fourth. Four more pars would follow and then a superb birdie three on the 387 yard 9th where I hit a 9 iron second shot to six feet. Going out in one under par 34, I was edging up the leader board. Things didn’t go quite so well on the back nine; bogeys on 10, 13 and 18 and another double bogey on 15 combined with pars on the other five holes to give me a 40, for a total of 74. This was two shots better than Nick Price and my 54 hole score of 219 had me in 35th spot going into the final round of the 1981 Open Championship. It was like a dream, Andrew and I were having a great time and I am sure we both wondered if I could keep up this form to the end. Again we couldn’t wait to see who I would play with on Sunday. It turned out to be Australian Rodger Davis (famous for his plus-twos) and we would have Jack Nicklaus and partner in front, and Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman behind. I was hoping I wouldn’t hold them up!
I became a little nervous on the first tee on Sunday when I realised that I would be following the great Jack Nicklaus round the course and would see at first hand how he played in the situation he relished, the last day of a major championship. Conditions were again windy and the course would continue to be a difficult test. Once Big Jack and his entourage had cleared the fairway, Rodger drove first and when it was my turn I hit my fourth consecutive perfect drive down the first.