1896 British Open Winner and Scores
Winner: Harry Vardon, 316 (won playoff)
Where it was played: The Muirfield links at Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland
Tournament dates: June 10-11 and June 13, 1896
Leader after first round: Sandy Herd, 72
Leader after second round: J.H. Taylor, 155
Leader after third round: Sandy Herd, 235
What Happened in the 1896 Open Championship
Harry Vardon, J.H. Taylor and James Braid today are collectively known as the "Great Triumvirate" of British golf. Between them, they won the British Open 16 times.But at the time of the 1896 British Open, there was no Great Triumvirate. Braid did not yet have an Open Championship to his credit, and wouldn't win his first for another five years. Vardon, too, had not yet won the Open. Taylor, however, was trying for three in row, coming off victories at the 1894 and 1895 Opens.
And Taylor almost did make it three in a row, but Vardon pipped Taylor in a playoff to earn his first championship. Vardon wound up leading the three greats (and everyone else) with a record six British Open wins; Taylor won five times, as did Braid.
Taylor and Sandy Herd traded the lead the first three rounds. Vardon began the final round four behind Herd, three behind Taylor. Herd took himself out of the running with a final-round 85. Taylor scored 80 and posted the clubhouse lead of 316.
Vardon could have won in regulation play, needing a score of four to do so. But he played the last hole conservatively and made five to close out a round of 77 and tie Taylor at 316. Two days later, Vardon and Taylor played a 36-hole playoff, and Vardon won that by four strokes, 157 to Taylor's 161.
It was the fourth playoff in Open Championship history to this point. Vardon won another of his six Clarets Jugs in a playoff at the 1911 British Open.
This was the last Open Championship played by Old Tom Morris, who, about to turn 73 years old, withdrew following the third round after posting three scores in the 100s. Morris was runner-up in the very first Open in 1860, and a four-time champion.
1896 British Open Final Scores
Harry Vardon | 83-78-78-77—316 (78-79-157) |
J.H. Taylor | 77-78-81-80—316 (80-81-161) |
Willie Fernie | 78-79-82-80—319 |
a-Freddie Tait | 83-75-84-77—319 |
Sandy Herd | 72-84-79-85—320 |
James Braid | 83-81-79-80—323 |
Davie Brown | 80-77-81-86—324 |
Ben Sayers | 83-76-79-86—324 |
Andrew Scott | 83-84-77-80—324 |
Tom Vardon | 83-82-77-83—325 |
Peter McEwan | 83-81-80-84—328 |
Willie Auchterlonie | 80-86-81-82—329 |
Archie Simpson | 85-79-78-87—329 |
James Kay | 77-88-83-82—330 |
Andrew Kirkaldy | 84-85-79-82—330 |
Willie Park Jr. | 79-80-83-88—330 |
Alfred Toogood | 81-85-84-84—334 |
John Hunter | 85-79-83-88—335 |
a-John E. Laidlay | 85-82-82-86—335 |
David McEwan | 83-89-81-82—335 |
Jack Ross | 83-87-84-81—335 |
Walter Toogood | 87-84-80-85—336 |
a-Harold Hilton | 82-85-85-85—337 |
David Anderson Jr. | 86-89-83-81—339 |
a-D.M. Jackson | 85-84-82-88—339 |
Walter Kirk | 85-87-84-83—339 |
David Herd | 85-87-86-82—340 |
Albert Tingey | 84-84-88-86—342 |
John W. Taylor | 87-83-84-90—344 |
Peter Paxton | 84-89-86-86—345 |
Jack Rowe | 89-85-87-86—347 |
a-Samuel Mure Fergusson | 85-93-84-86—348 |
Peter Fernie | 86-87-92-84—349 |
Rowland Jones | 88-85-89-87—349 |
George Lowe | 91-85-88-88—352 |
Andrew Simpson | 86-92-88-88—354 |
Henry Turpie | 85-90-88-95—358 |
a-Thomas Gray | 82-88-97-92—359 |
Christopher Calloway | 93-92-87-88—360 |
Peter Rainford | 87-87-93-95—362 |
Mungo Park Jr. | 90-87-92-94—363 |
a-David Anderson | 90-93-93-89—365 |
Bernard Nicholls | 90-102-87-88—367 |
a-Oliver Thomson | 86-93-94-94—367 |
William Day | 97-94-89-94—374 |
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