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Taylor

1894 / Royal St George's

John Henry Taylor, known as “JH”, won the first Open held outside Scotland. The land for what would become Royal St George’s was spied from the tower of St Clement’s church in Sandwich by Dr Laidlaw Purves, a Scot living in London.

He was looking to create a links comparable to those he grew up on and the club was founded in 1887. Only five years later it hosted the Amateur Championship and, with The R&A looking to expand the rota for The Open, staged its first Championship in 1894.

Reduced rail fares were negotiated to encourage the Scottish professionals to make the trip and 14 did, while 21 Scots attached to English clubs also played. Far from a reduced entry, as feared, the 94 starters were a new record for the Championship.

Old Tom Morris, who had only travelled down intending to watch, was among them but withdrew after scoring 100 in the third round.Taylor, 23, was the first English professional to win The Open, following victories for the Hoylake amateur John Ball in 1890 and Harold Hilton in 1892.

Taylor learnt his golf at Westward Ho! and was tenth on his Open debut the year before. This was the start of the Great Triumvirate dominating The Open, Taylor, Harry Vardon and James Braid winning 16 times in two decades.

Sandy Herd led after a first round of 83 but Taylor ended the first day ahead after scores of 84 and 80.

Only two players broke 80 for the week, both in the second round with 79s for Douglas Rolland and Andrew Kirkaldy.

Taylor’s one-stroke lead turned into three after 54 holes and he won by five from Rolland and by six from Kirkaldy. He closed with two rounds of 81, for a total of 326, the highest ever to win The Open.

Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
J.H. TAYLOR
Champion Golfer
1
84
80
81
81
326
-
Douglas ROLLAND
2
86
79
84
82
331
-
Andrew KIRKALDY
3
86
79
83
84
332
-
Alfred TOOGOOD
4
84
85
82
82
333
-
Willie FERNIE
5
84
84
86
80
334
-
Ben SAYERS
5
85
81
84
84
334
-
Harry VARDON
5
86
86
82
80
334
-
Sandy HERD
8
83
85
82
88
338
-
Freddie TAIT
9
90
83
83
84
340
-
A.D. BLYTH
10
91
84
84
82
341
-
James BRAID
10
91
84
82
84
341
-
Willie PARK JR
12
88
86
82
87
343
-
Hugh KIRKALDY
13
90
85
80
89
344
-
David BROWN
13
93
83
81
87
344
-
Archie SIMPSON
13
90
86
86
82
344
-
John BALL JR
13
84
89
87
84
344
-
Joe LLOYD
17
95
81
86
83
345
-
Samuel Mure FERGUSSON
18
87
88
84
87
346
-
Tom VARDON
19
87
88
82
91
348
-
David GRANT
20
91
84
87
91
353
-
David HERD
20
92
93
84
84
353
-
C.E. DICK
20
85
89
89
90
353
-
Jack ROWE
23
90
90
84
91
355
-
C.E. HAMBRO
23
96
90
82
87
355
-
Willie AUCHTERLONIE
23
96
81
93
85
355
-
Stuart ANDERSON
26
90
87
91
88
356
-
Charles HUTCHINGS
26
93
85
88
90
356
-
C. GIBSON
28
92
94
87
84
357
-
Rowland JONES
29
89
88
93
88
358
-
A. LUMSDEN
30
90
93
87
89
359
-
Albert TINGEY
31
90
91
90
90
361
-
David MCEWAN
31
86
92
91
92
361
-
Willie AVESTON
33
98
88
89
88
363
-
F.S. IRELAND
34
99
87
92
86
364
-
Alexander STUART
35
88
95
96
86
365
-
W. TUCKER
36
92
94
91
89
366
-
George PEARSON
36
94
96
88
88
366
-
J. LONGHURST
38
91
93
92
91
367
-
Jack SIMPSON
38
94
89
94
90
367
-
James KAY
40
98
89
90
91
368
-
T. BUTEL
40
91
94
92
91
368
-
C. Ralph SMITH
42
98
89
89
93
369
-
John LOW
43
93
98
89
91
371
-
John CUTHBERT
44
97
96
88
92
373
-
Jack BURNS
45
93
97
90
95
375
-
Lindsay ROSS
46
92
98
90
96
376
-
J. MILNE
47
98
98
91
90
377
-
Bruce GOFF
47
98
92
88
99
377
-
Ernest LEHMANN
49
91
98
94
99
382
-
Walter KIRK
49
98
97
94
93
382
-
J. BOYD
51
103
96
95
90
384
-
C. THOM
52
97
102
99
90
388
-
Jack WHITE
Wd
86
89
89
-
-
-
W.D. MORE
Wd
93
96
94
-
-
-
Tom MORRIS SR
Wd
99
97
100
-
-
-
Peter FERNIE
Wd
93
93
91
-
-
-
A. SCHACHT
Wd
89
96
91
-
-
-
A. ALEXANDER
Wd
97
95
88
-
-
-
Tom CHISHOLM
Wd
96
94
89
-
-
-
Jack ROSS
Wd
93
91
84
-
-
-
W. MARKS
Wd
103
108
101
-
-
-
George LOWE
Wd
93
92
-
-
-
M/C
Richard KELLY
Wd
99
85
-
-
-
M/C
Joseph DALGLEISH
Wd
96
99
-
-
-
M/C
Harry HARRIS
Wd
98
95
-
-
-
M/C
Garden SMITH
Wd
98
94
-
-
-
M/C
Robert MUNRO
Wd
101
99
-
-
-
M/C
Robert TAIT
Wd
100
98
-
-
-
M/C
Horace HUTCHINSON
Wd
88
91
-
-
-
M/C
G. DUNN
Wd
92
96
-
-
-
M/C
H.C. BLYTH
Wd
95
98
-
-
-
M/C
R. FOULIS
Wd
104
93
-
-
-
M/C
Cowper COLES
Wd
107
97
-
-
-
M/C
George PULFORD
Wd
100
88
-
-
-
M/C
Peter PAXTON
Wd
97
94
-
-
-
M/C
J.P. HENDERSON
Wd
93
100
-
-
-
M/C
H.S. STOBART
Wd
96
98
-
-
-
M/C
W.E. DUNSFORD
Wd
96
97
-
-
-
M/C
P.M. LUCAS
Wd
94
101
-
-
-
M/C
Captain AUSTIN
Wd
101
94
-
-
-
M/C
A. JACKSON
Wd
102
107
-
-
-
M/C
W.O.S. PELL
Wd
108
103
-
-
-
M/C
Mungo PARK JR
Wd
105
117
-
-
-
M/C
John HUGHES
Wd
114
130
-
-
-
M/C
Harold HILTON
Wd
91
-
-
-
-
M/C
D. PINKERTON
Wd
96
-
-
-
-
M/C
Rev. A.H. COCHRANE
Wd
100
-
-
-
-
M/C
John KEDDIE
Wd
101
-
-
-
-
M/C
Frank PARK
Scr
-
-
-
-
-
M/C
Jack MORRIS
Scr
-
-
-
-
-
M/C
H.L. FORBES
Scr
-
-
-
-
-
M/C
Captain TATTERSALL
Scr
-
-
-
-
-
M/C
Hon. Stormont FINCH-HATTON
Scr
-
-
-
-
-
M/C
Hon. H.arold FINCH-HATTON
Scr
-
-
-
-
-
M/C

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