Peter McEvoy, the first British amateur to make the cut at the Masters, has died aged 72. The Londoner was one of the best golfers never to turn pro, instead electing to stay in the non-paid game and inspire youngsters who went on to become Ryder Cup heroes.
One of these was Luke Donald, who does not make any secret of his admiration for the man who made history by leading Great Britain and Ireland to Walker Cup victories over the United States in 1999 and 2001 – the first time they had won consecutively in the then 79-year-old biennial match.
There can be no doubt that McEvoy helped Donald’s own captaincy style that guided Europe to the last Ryder Cup and which, in September in New York, he will deploy again to try to end a 13-year wait to win on away soil.
“Pete did a brilliant job of getting us in the right frame of mind and making us prepared,” Donald said in an interview. “He couldn’t control how we played but he certainly put us in a very confident mood. He painted a picture that we were champions and that we knew how to win – he put together a motivational video made by Saatchi & Saatchi at Nairn in 1999.
“Pete would go through each player individually and go through their records; he would say to me ‘you are conquering America’. He had a funny line to Gary Wolstenholme: ‘You are the champion of a billion people.’ Because he had won the Chinese Open.
“He would come up to you and say ‘two up? You’re doing great, maybe you could win a few more holes here’. It was succinct, no bulls--t, you heard what you wanted to hear.”
McEvoy called that side who followed up their Nairn glory by stunning the Americans in Sea Island, Georgia, with “the strongest GB&I team ever”. In 1998, he had captained Great Britain and Ireland on their way to the Eisenhower Trophy – aka the World Amateur Team Championships for men – making McEvoy the only player to win the individual event, the team event as a player, and the team event as a captain.
McEvoy, who died after a long battle with cancer, was a brilliant player in his own right and would have easily have made a living as a professional. He finished 53rd here at the 1978 Masters – where he played with Jack Nicklaus – the same year in which he claimed the second of his back-to-back Amateur Championship victories at Royal Troon.
McEvoy also won the silver medal given to the leading amateur in the Open Championship in 1978 and 1979. Awarded an OBE in 2003, McEvoy, who was also a successful course designer, is survived by his wife, Helen, and their children Cameron, Richie, Douglas and Mary.
Mark Darbon, the R&A chief executive, paid tribute to McEvoy as one of amateur golf’s “most respected figures”. “Peter was an outstanding amateur golfer and enjoyed an illustrious career, including his two victories in the Amateur Championship and success in the Walker Cup,” Darbon added.
“He also worked so hard to develop the game as an administrator and help provide opportunities for aspiring players. Peter was dedicated to the amateur game, choosing not to turn professional, and will be widely missed across the golf world.”
