1903 British Open Winner and Scores
Winner: Harry Vardon, 300
Where it was played: Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland
Tournament dates: June 10-11, 1903
Leader after first round: Sandy Herd and Harry Vardon, 73
Leader after second round: Harry Vardon, 150
Leader after third round: Harry Vardon, 222
What Happened at the 1903 Open Championship
Harry Vardon won his fourth Open Championship at the 1903 British Open, beating his brother to do it.Tom Vardon never won the British Open, but he was a talented golfer in his own right. Tom posted 10 Top 10 finishes in the Open, and his runner-up finish in 1903 was his best showing. Tom even outplayed Harry over the final 36 holes, shooting 149 to Harry's 150. But an 81 in the second round was too much for Tom to overcome, and in the end he finished in second place, six strokes behind his brother.
Jack White — who one year later won the 1904 British Open, becoming the first golfer to post a lower score in each successive round — finished third.
At this point in his career, Harry Vardon had victories in the 1896, 1898 and 1899 Opens, and had also won the 1900 U.S. Open. After this, he added two more British Open titles (1911 and 1914).
Vardon held or shared the lead throughout the 1903 British Open, the second time he accomplished that feat. Today, Vardon remains the only golfer to record two wire-to-wire wins in a British Open. Vardon was tied for the lead after the first round, opened a 4-shot lead after the second, expanded that to seven shots following the third, and won by six.
The Vardons were the third set of brother to finish 1-2 in an Open. Willie Park Sr. won the 1866 British Open with David Park second; and Hugh Kirkaldy won the 1891 Open with Andrew Kirkaldy second.
1903 British Open Final Scores
| Harry Vardon | 73-77-72-78—300 |
| Tom Vardon | 76-81-75-74—306 |
| Jack White | 77-78-74-79—308 |
| Sandy Herd | 73-83-76-77—309 |
| James Braid | 77-79-79-75—310 |
| Andrew Scott | 77-77-83-77—314 |
| Robert Thomson | 83-78-77-76—314 |
| William Leaver | 79-79-77-80—315 |
| George Cawsey | 80-78-76-82—316 |
| J.H. Taylor | 80-82-78-76—316 |
| Andrew Kirkaldy | 82-79-78-78—317 |
| Tom Williamson | 76-80-79-82—317 |
| William Hunter | 81-74-79-84—318 |
| a-Robert Maxwell | 82-84-76-76—318 |
| Ernest Gray | 77-83-79-80—319 |
| James Kinnell | 78-86-76-79—319 |
| Willie Park Jr. | 78-86-80-75—319 |
| Albert Bellworthy | 80-86-77-77—320 |
| David Kinnell | 82-78-80-80—320 |
| George Pulford | 79-86-79-76—320 |
| Alfred Toogood | 86-77-80-77—320 |
| John Hunter | 77-79-84-81—321 |
| Ben Sayers | 79-84-80-78—321 |
| Ted Ray | 90-78-80-75—323 |
| Willie Fernie | 78-81-76-89—324 |
| James Hepburn | 78-82-87-77—324 |
| a-Harold Hilton | 81-79-83-81—324 |
| Rowland Jones | 82-82-81-79—324 |
| John Milne | 81-86-79-78—324 |
| George Coburn | 81-82-75-87—325 |
| John H. Oke | 80-81-81-83—325 |
| Archie Simpson | 79-85-80-81—325 |
| a-Robert Andrew | 78-85-79-84—326 |
| Ernest Foord | 80-84-81-82—327 |
| James Kay | 86-82-80-79—327 |
| Peter Rainford | 82-83-78-84—327 |
| a-J.A. Donaldson | 83-84-81-80—328 |
| a-John E. Laidlay | 81-88-81-78—328 |
| Frank Larke | 82-87-78-81—328 |
| Alfred Lewis | 80-82-81-85—328 |
| Arnaud Massy | 81-84-77-86—328 |
| John W. Taylor | 80-82-82-84—328 |
| Tom Yeoman | 81-86-83-78—328 |
| Harry Cawsey | 80-88-80-81—329 |
| Willie Auchterlonie | 83-84-79-84—330 |
| Fred Collins | 84-82-85-79—330 |
| Joseph Parr | 81-84-80-85—330 |
| William McEwan | 85-78-88-80—331 |
| a-R.W. Orr | 79-90-82-82—333 |
| a-James Robb | 83-80-85-85—333 |
| James Batley | 79-87-83-85—334 |
| Laurence Gourlay | 82-85-83-84—334 |
| Charles Neaves | 86-81-79-89—335 |
| Wilfred Reid | 81-86-84-84—335 |
| Alfred Beck | 83-85-89-86—343 |
| John Hill | 85-84-88-87—344 |
| George Cassidy | 85-84-86-90—345 |
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1902 British Open - 1904 British Open
Sources:
(Book titles are affiliate links; commissions earned)
Brenner, Morgan. The Majors of Golf, Volume 2, 2009, McFarland and Company.
Glasgow Herald. "The Open Championship," June 8, 1903, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CNpAAAAAIBAJ&pg=2831%2C6812085
TheOpen.com. "1903 / Prestwick," The R&A, https://www.theopen.com/previous-opens/43rd-open-prestwick-1903.
R&A. 148th Open Championship Media Guide, All-Time Records, 2019.
