1907 British Open Winner and Scores

The 1907 British Open was the 47th time this major was played, but for the first time it was won by a golfer who was not British.

Winner: Arnaud Massy, 312

Where it was played: Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England

Tournament dates: June 20-21, 1907

Leader after first round: Arnaud Massy and Walter Toogood, 76

Leader after second round: Arnaud Massy, 157

Leader after third round: J.H. Taylor, 234

What Happened in the 1907 Open Championship

Arnaud Massy won the 1907 British Open, and it was a significant victory in multiple ways: Another Continental golfer didn't win the Open until Spaniard Seve Ballesteros' victory in the 1979 Open. And Massy remains the only Frenchman to win one of the professional majors of men's golf.

Massy was not a one-hit wonder: He finished in the Top 10 at the British Open 10 times, the first in 1902 and last in 1921. He was runner-up at the 1911 British Open, losing in a playoff. Massy also has the distinction of winning three different national championships in the very first years they were played: the French Open (1906), Belgian Open (1911) and Spanish Open (1912).

Massy held the lead after both the first and second rounds, but after a 78 in Round 3 he trailed J.H. Taylor by a stroke entering the final round.

But Taylor carded a final-round 80 to Massy's 77, producing a 2-stroke victory for Massy. That was typical scoring for this era; the lowest round of the tournament was Harry Vardon's 74 in Round 3. (Harry's brother Tom Vardon finished tied for third.) Taylor was runner-up for the fourth consecutive year, but he also won five Opens so don't feel too bad for him.

James Braid, going for his third consecutive victory, finished tied for fifth, six strokes behind Massy.

The 1907 Open was the first one at which all golfers had to play qualifying rounds to get into the tournament.

1907 British Open Final Scores

Arnaud Massy 76-81-78-77—312
J.H. Taylor 79-79-76-80—314
George Pulford 81-78-80-78—317
Tom Vardon 81-81-80-75—317
James Braid 82-85-75-76—318
Ted Ray 83-80-79-76—318
George Duncan 83-78-81-77—319
Harry Vardon 84-81-74-80—319
Tom Williamson 82-77-82-78—319
Tom Ball 80-78-81-81—320
Phillip Gaudin 83-84-80-76—323
Sandy Herd 83-81-83-77—324
a-John Graham Jr. 83-81-80-82—326
Walter Toogood 76-86-82-82—326
John Ball Jr. 88-83-79-77—327
Fred Collins 83-83-79-82—327
Alfred Matthews 82-80-84-82—328
Charles Mayo 86-78-82-82—328
Thomas Renouf 83-80-82-83—328
Reginald Gray 83-85-81-80—329
James Bradbeer 83-85-82-80—330
George Carter 89-80-81-80—330
Jack Rowe 83-83-85-80—331
Alfred Toogood 87-83-85-77—332
Harry Kidd 84-90-82-77—333
David McEwan 89-83-80-81—333
Charles Roberts 86-83-84-80—333
Alex Smith 85-84-84-80—333
James Kinnell 89-79-80-86—334
John Oke 86-85-82-81—334
a-Herbert Barker 89-81-82-83—335
Harry Cawsey 85-93-77-80—335
William McEwan 79-89-85-82—335
a-Charles Dick 85-83-82-86—336
James Hepburn 80-88-79-89—336
James Edmundson 85-86-82-84—337
Ernest Gaudin 88-88-82-80—338
Wilfred Reid 85-87-82-84—338
Robert Thomson 86-87-85-80—338
Albert Tingey 87-84-88-79—338
Ernest Gray 87-84-83-85—339
William Horne 91-80-81-87—339
Peter McEwan 85-85-88-81—339
Arthur Mitchell 94-83-81-81—339
Charles Corlett 90-83-82-85—340
Ben Sayers Jr. 89-85-83-84—341
Fred Leach 88-87-86-81—342
Ben Sayers Sr. 86-83-86-87—342
Philip Wynne 90-83-85-84—342
John D. Edgar 86-88-82-87—343
Harry Hamill 86-87-84-86—343
Peter Rainford 85-84-87-87—343
John W. Taylor 90-92-81-81—344
James Kay 87-84-91-84—346
Frank Larke 91-86-84-86—347
William Lewis 93-91-80-87—351
William MacNamara 87-89-88-87—351
Ernest Risebro 90-92-87-82—351

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