Taylor Wins The Open for the 5th Time

The 1913 Open was played at Hoylake. Ted Ray and J.H. Taylor took the first round lead with 73 and Taylor continued to show championship form in the second round.At the 3rd hole he pulled his tee shot into the ditch and the ball lay well under the left bank. Although he had great difficulty adjusting his stance, he hit a superb cleek shot that landed hole high on the green. He made the turn in 36 and a less magical home journey resulted in a total of 75 strokes. Ray’s round was the reverse of Taylor’s. He took 40 shots on the front nine and then came home in 34 to give him a one shot lead over Taylor.

The gale force wind the next day favoured Taylor, who hit his shots with a lower trajectory than Ray. Taylor’s score of 77 was the lowest of the round and only the American, J.J. McDermott could match that. Although he played in better conditions than Taylor, Ray failed to find any of his form of the previous day and went round in 81, which meant that he now trailed Taylor by three. Taylor had a shaky start to the final round and was out in 41. The championship was essentially clinched when Taylor played the 14th hole. He pulled his second shot but the ball landed between two bunkers. Taylor pitched the ball towards the hole, some 50 yards away and holed it for a three. At the same time, he received the news that Ray had just taken eight at the 3rd hole. Taylor was home in 38 for a total of 304. Meanwhile, Ray never recovered and took 84 strokes to finish second on 312.