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. Entering the championship, Vardon, Taylor, and James Braid had five Open wins each. 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.
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. Taylor and Ted Ray, winners of the last two Opens, led the field on 150 and 96 players at 163 or better advanced. The thirteen at 164 played an additional 18 holes at Prestwick the next day to determine the final four places; scores of 79 and better qualified.
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.
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.
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.
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 as the Open venue for southwestern Scotland. Turnberry was added to the rota in 1977, southwest of Prestwick.

Past champions in the field

Source:
Did not enter: Jack White

Course

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards3301184923771964352873284033,0564793835034324003252863832793,4706,526

Source:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, 18 June 1914
PlacePlayerCountryScore
1Harry Vardon73
T2James Braid74
T2J.H. Taylor74
T2Ernest Whitcombe74
T5James Ockenden75
T5Tom Williamson75
T7Jean Gassiat76
T7Fred Leach76
T7Abe Mitchell76
T7Reg Wilson76

Source:

Second round

Thursday, 18 June 1914
PlacePlayerCountryScore
1Harry Vardon73-77=150
2James Ockenden75-76=151
3J.H. Taylor74-78=152
4Reg Wilson76-77=153
T5James Edgar79-75=154
T5Walter Hambleton79-75=154
T5Abe Mitchell76-78=154
T5Tom Williamson75-79=154
T9James Braid74-82=156
T9George Duncan77-79=156
T9Len Holland78-78=156
T9Cecil Hutchison 81-75=156

Source:

Third round

Friday, 19 June 1914
PlacePlayerCountryScore
1J.H. Taylor74-78-74=226
2Harry Vardon73-77-78=228
3James Jenkins 79-80-73=232
T4Abe Mitchell76-78-79=233
T4Tom Williamson75-79-79=233
T4Reg Wilson76-77-80=233
T7James Braid74-82-78=234
T7Arnaud Massy77-82-75=234
T7James Ockenden75-76-83=234
T10Ted Ray77-82-76=235
T10Harry Simpson77-80-78=235

Source:

Final round

Friday, 19 June 1914
PlacePlayerCountryScoreMoney
1Harry Vardon73-77-78-78=30650
2J.H. Taylor74-78-74-83=30925
3Harry Simpson77-80-78-75=31015
T4Abe Mitchell76-78-79-79=3128 15s
T4Tom Williamson75-79-79-79=3128 15s
6Reg Wilson76-77-80-80=3137 10s
7James Ockenden75-76-83-80=3145
T8Phil Gaudin78-83-80-74=3155
T8James Jenkins 79-80-73-83=3150
T10James Braid74-82-78-82=3160
T10George Duncan77-79-80-80=3160
T10Arnaud Massy77-82-75-82=3160
T10Ted Ray77-82-76-81=3160

Source:
Amateurs: Jenkins, Lassen, Hutchison, Lockhart,
Anderson, Ouimet, Hope, Shepherd.

Scorecards

Final round
Source: