Prince of Putters: Bobby Locke: Banned for his Birdies?

Portly, eccentric, beer-loving Bobby Locke, who majestically strode the world's fairways in immaculate attire that included plus-fours, white buckskin shoes, white cap and linen dress shirts with neckties, was a super-star golfer in the 1940s and 1950s, winning over 100 tournaments globally in his career. Using an ancient putter with a rusted head and a hickory wood shaft, he was seen by his peers as a magician on the greens, capable of holing putts from any distance and any angle. He won seven times in four months in his first visit to America in 1947, competing against, and often beating, US greats of the game like Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson. Then he was banned in America, then unbanned. Between 1949 and 1957 he won four Open Championships in Britain, before a 1960 car crash effectively ended his career on the world stage.

Grant Winter is an award-winning golf writer who covered tournaments in his native South Africa, Britain, Europe and America. Based at The Star in Johannesburg, he was for 30 years the Group Golf Writer for South Africa's Independent Group of newspapers.