1890 British Open Winner and Scores
Winner: John Ball, 164
Where it was played: Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland
Tournament dates: Sept. 11, 1890
Leader after first round: Andrew Kirkaldy, 81
What Happened in the 1890 Open Championship
Amateur golfer John Ball was the winner of the 1890 British Open, and he established several firsts in so doing:- He was the first amateur to win the tournament.
- Since Ball had already won the 1890 British Amateur, by winning here he became the first to win both the Amateur and Open titles in the same year.
- And he was the first non-Scot to win the Open Championship.
As for winning the British Open and Am in the same year: Bobby Jones (in 1930) is the only other golfer to accomplish that feat.
This was Ball's only win at the Open, but he was a golfer of great achievement in his time. He won the British Amateur eight times total, first in 1888 and last in 1912. He played in the Open only twice before this, first as a 16-year-old at the 1878 Open, where he finished fourth.
The tournament was played over two 18-hole rounds at Prestwick.
Willie Fernie (1883 British Open winner) and Archie Simpson tied for second place, three strokes behind Ball. Ball found out that Simpson had posted 167 when Ball still had four holes to go, and Ball needed to play those holes in 20 strokes or less to win. He finished 5-4-5-4 to do just that.
Andrew Kirkaldy and brother Hugh Kirkaldy were 1-2 after the morning 18, but finished tied for fourth and seventh, respectively. At the 1891 Open a year later, Hugh and Andrew finished 1-2.
1890 British Open Final Scores
| a-John Ball | 82-82—164 |
| Willie Fernie | 85-82—167 |
| Archie Simpson | 85-82—167 |
| Andrew Kirkaldy | 81-89—170 |
| Willie Park Jr. | 90-80—170 |
| a-Horace Hutchinson | 87-85—172 |
| David Grant | 86-87—173 |
| Hugh Kirkaldy | 82-91—173 |
| William McEwan | 87-87—174 |
| David Brown | 85-90—175 |
| James Kay | 86-91—177 |
| a-John E. Laidlay | 89-88—177 |
| a-David Leitch | 86-93—179 |
| David Anderson Jr. | 90-90—180 |
| John Allan | 93-88—181 |
| Ben Campbell | 93-88—181 |
| a-David Anderson | 91-91—182 |
| David Ayton | 97-85—182 |
| Ben Sayers | 90-93—183 |
| Andrew Wright | 92-92—184 |
| George Fernie | 92-94—186 |
| R.B. Wilson | 91-96—187 |
| Bob Mearns | 96-93—189 |
| a-D.D. Robertson | 94-95—189 |
| a-Robert Adam | 91-99—190 |
| a-James Mair | 98-96—194 |
| James Cunningham | 104-95—199 |
| a-Charles Whigham | 93-106—199 |
| James McKay | 104-96—200 |
| a-D.H. Gillan | 100-104—204 |
| a-L. Robertson | 108-104—212 |
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1889 British Open - 1891 British Open
Sources:
Liverpool Daily Post. "The Golf Championship: Victory of Mr. John Ball," September 12, 1890.
TheOpen.com. "1890 / Prestwick," The R&A, https://www.theopen.com/previous-opens/30th-open-prestwick-1890.
R&A. 148th Open Championship Media Guide, All-Time Records, 2019.
