to ask Kirkaldy, after
the competition had been completed, what he really considered to be the
merits of the course. I was standing near him when a player came up and
bluntly asked, "What d'ye think o' Muirfield now, Andrew?" Andrew's lip
curled as he replied, "No for gowff ava'. Just an auld watter meedie.
I'm gled I'm gaun hame." But the inquirer must needs ejaculate, "Hooch
ay, she would be ferry coot whateffer if you had peen in Harry Fardon's
shoes."

There was an exciting finish also to the 1898 Championship, which was
held at Prestwick. The final struggle was left to Willie Park and
myself, and at the end of the third round, when Willie was three strokes
to the good, it seemed a very likely victory for him. In the last round
I was playing a hole in front of him, and we were watching each other as
cats watch mice the whole way round the links. I made a reckoning when
we reached the turn that I had wiped out the three strokes deficit, and
could now discuss the remainder of the game with Park without any sense
of inferiority. I finished very steadily, and when Park stood on the
last tee just as I had holed out, he was left to get a 3 at this
eighteenth hole to tie. His drive was a beauty, and plop came the ball
down to the corner of the green, making the 3 seem a certainty. An
immense crowd pressed round the green to see these fateful putts, and in
the excitement of the moment, I, the next most concerned man to Park
himself, was elbowed out. I just saw his long putt roll up to within
about a yard of the hole, which was much too dead for my liking. Then,
while Park proceeded to carry out his ideas of accomplishing a
certainty, I stood at the edge of the crowd, seeing nothing and feeling
the most nervous and miserable man alive. Never while playing have I
felt so uncomfortable as during those two or three minutes. After what
seemed an eternity there rose from all round the ring one long
disappointed "O-o-o-h!" I didn't stop to look at the ball, which was
still outside the hole. I knew that I had won the Championship again,
and so I hastened light-heartedly away. I must admit that Park was
playing an exceedingly fine game at that time, and it was only the fact
that I was probably playing as well as ever I did in my life that
enabled me to get the better of him. The day after winning the
Championship I gained the first prize in a tournament at the adjoining
course of St. Nicholas, and thereafter I frequently took part i