1914 Open Championship

The 1914 Open Championship was the 54th Open Championship, held 18–19 June at Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Harry Vardon won a record sixth Open Championship title, three strokes ahead of runner-up J.H. Taylor, the defending champion.[3][4][5] Entering the championship, Vardon, Taylor, and James Braid had five Open wins each.[3][6] This was the sixteenth and final Open title for these three, the Great Triumvirate. Due to World War I, it was the last Open for six years; the next was in 1920.

1914 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates18–19 June 1914
LocationPrestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland
Course(s)Prestwick Golf Club
Statistics
Length6,526 yards (5,967 m)[1]
Field100 players[2]
Cutnone
Prize fund£125
Winner's share£50
Champion
Jersey Harry Vardon
306
← 1913
1920 →
Prestwick is located in Scotland
Prestwick
Prestwick

Qualification took place the week before on 11−12 June at Troon, with 18 holes on the Old Course and 18 holes on Troon municipal number 2, and exactly 100 players qualified.[7][8] Taylor and Ted Ray, winners of the last two Opens, led the field on 150 and 96 players at 163 or better advanced.[9] The thirteen at 164 played an additional 18 holes at Prestwick the next day to determine the final four places;[9] scores of 79 and better qualified.[10]

After the first two rounds on Thursday, Vardon led at 150, by one shot ahead of a relatively unknown James Ockenden from West Drayton Golf Club. Taylor was a shot back in third at 152. One shot back after an opening 74, Braid's 82 in the afternoon dropped him into a tie for ninth.[1]

Vardon and Taylor were paired together on Friday and, after Ockenden had a disappointing 83, they were clear leaders after the morning's third round. Taylor led on 226 with Vardon two back; amateur James Jenkins was third on 232 and three were tied at 233.[3]

With the two leaders playing together, huge crowds followed in the final round that afternoon. Taylor extended his lead to three at the first hole, but at the third, he was distracted by a photographer and dropped a stroke to Vardon. The championship was largely decided at the fourth hole, where Taylor found the water and took seven to Vardon's four, which changed the lead. Taylor dropped more strokes to Vardon at the 5th, 8th, 10th, and 11th holes and Vardon led by five. Taylor recovered somewhat and shot 83, but Vardon won by three shots at 78 for 306. Phil Gaudin had the best score in the final round at 74.[3]

This was the penultimate Open at Prestwick, which hosted 24, including the first twelve; the last was eleven years later in 1925. It was replaced by adjacent Troon Golf Club ("Royal Troon" since 1978) as the Open venue for southwestern Scotland. Turnberry was added to the rota in 1977, southwest of Prestwick.

Course

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Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 330 118 492 377 196 435 287 328 403 3,056 479 383 503 432 400 325 286 383 279 3,470 6,526

Source:[1]

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, 18 June 1914 (morning)

Place Player Score
1   Harry Vardon 73
T2   James Braid 74
  J.H. Taylor
  Ernest Whitcombe
T5   James Ockenden 75
  Tom Williamson
T7   Jean Gassiat 76
  Fred Leach
  Abe Mitchell
  Reg Wilson

Source:[1][2]

Second round

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Thursday, 18 June 1914 (afternoon)

Place Player Score
1   Harry Vardon 73-77=150
2   James Ockenden 75-76=151
3   J.H. Taylor 74-78=152
4   Reg Wilson 76-77=153
T5   James Edgar 79-75=154
  Walter Hambleton 79-75=154
  Abe Mitchell 76-78=154
  Tom Williamson 75-79=154
T9   James Braid 74-82=156
  George Duncan 77-79=156
  Len Holland 78-78=156
  Cecil Hutchison (a) 81-75=156

Source:[1][2]

Third round

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Friday, 19 June 1914 (morning)

Place Player Score
1   J.H. Taylor 74-78-74=226
2   Harry Vardon 73-77-78=228
3   James Jenkins (a) 79-80-73=232
T4   Abe Mitchell 76-78-79=233
  Tom Williamson 75-79-79=233
  Reg Wilson 76-77-80=233
T7   James Braid 74-82-78=234
  Arnaud Massy 77-82-75=234
  James Ockenden 75-76-83=234
T10   Ted Ray 77-82-76=235
  Harry Simpson 77-80-78=235

Source:[2][3]

Final round

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Friday, 19 June 1914 (afternoon)

Place Player Score Money (£)
1   Harry Vardon 73-77-78-78=306 50
2   J.H. Taylor 74-78-74-83=309 25
3   Harry Simpson 77-80-78-75=310 15
T4   Abe Mitchell 76-78-79-79=312 8 15s
  Tom Williamson 75-79-79-79=312
6   Reg Wilson 76-77-80-80=313 7 10s
7   James Ockenden 75-76-83-80=314 5
T8   Phil Gaudin 78-83-80-74=315
  James Jenkins (a) 79-80-73-83=315 0
T10   James Braid 74-82-78-82=316
  George Duncan 77-79-80-80=316
  Arnaud Massy 77-82-75-82=316
  Ted Ray 77-82-76-81=316

Source:[2][3][11]

Amateurs: Jenkins (315), Lassen (319), Hutchison (324), Lockhart (326),
                 Anderson (329), Ouimet (332), Hope (335), Shepherd (338).

Scorecards

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Final round

Hole  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Back Total
  Vardon 6 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 39 4 4 5 5 4 4 5 4 4 39 78
  Taylor 5 4 5 7 5 4 4 5 5 44 5 5 5 4 4 5 3 4 4 39 83
Leader-strokes T3 T3 T2 V1 V2 V2 V2 V3 V3 V4 V5 V5 V4 V4 V5 V3 V3 V3

Source:[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Golf championship - Vardon leading". Glasgow Herald. 19 June 1914. p. 16.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. p. 120. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Vardon wins - golf champion for the sixth time". Glasgow Herald. 20 June 1914. p. 14.
  4. ^ "Vardon tops British golf". Chicago Daily Tribune. 20 June 1914. p. 14.
  5. ^ "Vardon wins title". Pittsburg Press. 19 June 1914. p. 36.
  6. ^ "Golf championship - prospects for today". Glasgow Herald. 18 June 1914. p. 9.
  7. ^ "Golf championship - qualifying stage". Glasgow Herald. 11 June 1914. p. 14.
  8. ^ "Golf championship - qualifying stage, first day's play at Troon". Glasgow Herald. 12 June 1914. p. 16.
  9. ^ a b "Golf championship - the qualified players". Glasgow Herald. 13 June 1914. p. 14.
  10. ^ "Golf - Open Championship draw - Saturday's qualifying ties". Glasgow Herald. 13 June 1914. p. 14.
  11. ^ Brenner, Morgan G. (2009). The Majors of Golf: Complete Results of the Open, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and the Masters, 1860-2008. Vol. 1. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3360-5.
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55°30′07″N 4°37′08″W / 55.502°N 4.619°W / 55.502; -4.619