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Maurice Gerald Flitcroft (23 November 1929 – 24 March 2007) was a British golfer and audacious hoaxer. Flitcroft became notorious after hitting a score of 121 in the qualifying competition for the 1976 Open Championship, the highest score recorded at the Open Championship and by a self-professed "professional golfer". Subsequently,he gained significant media attention, 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 Paceky (as in paycheque), Gerald Hoppy and James Beau Jolley. 〔 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 his obituary, The Daily Telegraph commented thus: :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.〔(Telegraph Obituary )〕 ==The 1976 Open Championship== Flitcroft had golfing ambitions well above his ability and came to notoriety in 1976 when, posing as a professional golfer, he managed to obtain a place to play in the qualifying round of The Open Championship – despite his previous experience amounting only to some hacking around on playing fields near his home. Flitcroft recalled that, "I was looking to find fame and fortune, but only achieved one of the two". When he discovered, to his shock, that any amateurs entering competitions needed an official handicap – something he lacked – he simply declared himself to be a professional. It was in the same 1976 Open that a young new player, the 19-year-old Seve Ballesteros first came to the public's attention. Flitcroft prepared for the tournament by studying a golf instruction manual by Peter Alliss which was borrowed from his local library – he further studied from instructional articles by the 1966 PGA Championship winner Al Geiberger, and honed his skills on a nearby beach.〔http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1547158/Maurice-Flitcroft.html〕 His deception (and ineptitude) were however uncovered when he managed to card a 49-over-par 121 – the worst score in the tournament's history; some of the other professionals playing with him were so angry that they successfully demanded a refund of their entry fees. It seems that none of the professionals noticed that his gear comprised only a red imitation-leather bag and half a set of mail-order clubs. As a result of his abilities, he became known as "The Royal & Ancient Rabbit". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Maurice Flitcroft」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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