1895 Open Championship


The 1895 Open Championship was the 35th Open Championship, held 12–13 June at the Old Course at St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Defending champion J.H. Taylor won the Championship for the second time, by four strokes from runner-up Sandy Herd.
Harry Vardon, one of the early starters, led after the first round with an 80 but had an 85 in the afternoon to finish the day on 165. Herd had the best round of the afternoon with a 77 and led overnight on 159, five strokes clear of Taylor and Andrew Kirkaldy on 164.
Herd played steadily in the third round and finished with 82 to lead on 241. Taylor, playing in the last group, scored 80 to finish on 244. The Championship resolved into a battle between Herd and Taylor. Herd started well but took seven at the 5th. Playing in wind and rain, Herd eventually scored 85 to finish on 326. Taylor need an 81 to win and after 12 holes had only taken 49 strokes. Despite taking six at the next two holes he reached the 17th tee needing to take 12 or less to win. Playing carefully he scored five at the dangerous 17th and then four at the last to win by four strokes and retain the title. His 78 was the best round of the afternoon by four shots, the next best being an 82 by Ben Sayers.

First day leaderboard

Wednesday, 12 June 1895
PlacePlayerCountryScore
1Sandy Herd82-77=159
T2Andrew Kirkaldy81-83=164
T2J.H. Taylor86-78=164
T4Willie Fernie86-79=165
T4George Pulford84-81=165
T4Harry Vardon80-85=165
T4Tom Vardon82-83=165
8James Kinnell84-83=167
9Laurie Auchterlonie 84-84=168
T10David Anderson Jr.86-83=169
T10Alfred Toogood85-84=169
T10Laurie Waters86-83=169

Final leaderboard

Source:
Thursday, 13 June 1895
PlacePlayerCountryScoreMoney
1J.H. Taylor86-78-80-78=322£30
2Sandy Herd82-77-82-85=326£20
3Andrew Kirkaldy81-83-84-84=332£10
4George Pulford84-81-83-86=334£7
5Archie Simpson88-85-78-85=336£5
T6David Anderson Jr.86-83-84-84=337£3 6s 8d
T6David Brown81-89-83-84=337£3 6s 8d
T6Willie Fernie86-79-86-86=337£3 6s 8d
T9Ben Sayers84-87-85-82=338£2
T9Alfred Toogood85-84-83-86=338£2
T9Harry Vardon80-85-85-88=338£2
T9Tom Vardon82-83-84-89=338£2