23.11.1929 - 24.03.2007 (77 years) (Manchester, England)
Maurice Gerald Flitcroft (23 November 1929 – 24 March 2007) was a British golfer. Flitcroft received widespread attention after shooting a score of 121 in the qualifying competition for the 1976 Open Championship—the worst score recorded at the Open Championship—and by a self-professed "professional golfer". Subsequently, he gained significant media coverage, being referred to as "the world's worst golfer". Following the 1976 Open, the rules were changed to prevent Flitcroft from attempting to enter again. Undeterred, he regularly attempted to enter the Open and several other golf competitions, either under his own name or under pseudonyms, such as Gene Paycheki (as in pay cheque), Gerald Hoppy, and James Beau Jolley. Other more ludicrous names used were Arnold Palmtree and Count Manfred von Hoffmanstel, together with physical disguises such as wearing a false moustache and dark glasses. Flitcroft was married to Jean (died 2002) by whom he had two sons—one of whom caddied for him. He is the subject of a biography, The Phantom of the Open, by Scott Murray and Simon Farnaby, published by Yellow Jersey Press in July 2010.In its obituary of Flitcroft, The Daily Telegraph commented: Maurice Flitcroft ... was a chain-smoking shipyard crane-operator from Barrow-in-Furness whose persistent attempts to gatecrash the British Open golf championship produced a sense of humour failure among members of the golfing establishment.