The 1914 Open Championship was the 54th

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

, held 18–19 June at

Prestwick Golf Club Prestwick Golf Club is a golf course in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is approximately southwest of Scotland's largest city, Glasgow. Prestwick is a classic links course, built on the rolling sandy land between the beach and the hi ...

in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland.

Harry Vardon Henry William Vardon (9 May 1870 – 20 March 1937) was a professional golfer from Jersey. He was a member of the Great Triumvirate with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. Vardon won The Open Championship a record six times, and also won the ...

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 In U.S. politics, the Great Triumvirate (known also as the Immortal Trio) was a triumvirate of three statesmen who dominated American politics for much of the first half of the 19th century, namely Henry Clay of Kentucky, Daniel Webster of M ...

. Due to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, it was the last Open for six years; the next was in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

. Qualification took place the week before on 11−12 June at

Troon Troon (Scottish Gaelic: ''An Truthail'') is a town and sea port in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with ferry and freight serv ...

, 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 West Drayton is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and from 1929 was part of the Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District, which became part of Greater London in 1965. The s ...

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 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

. It was replaced by adjacent Troon Golf Club ("Royal Troon" since 1978) as the Open venue for southwestern Scotland. Turnberry was added to the rota in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, southwest of Prestwick.

Course

Source:

Round summaries

First round

''Thursday, 18 June 1914 (morning)'' Source:

Second round

''Thursday, 18 June 1914 (afternoon)'' Source:

Third round

''Friday, 19 June 1914 (morning)'' Source:

Final round

''Friday, 19 June 1914 (afternoon)'' Source: Amateurs: Jenkins (315),

Lassen Lassen is a Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwegian patronymic surname meaning "son of Lars" (equivalent of Laurentius), and thus a parallel form of the more common surname Larsen. Notable people with the surname include: * Ander ...

(319), Hutchison (324), Lockhart (326),
Anderson (329), Ouimet (332), Hope (335), Shepherd (338).

Scorecards

''Final round'' Source:

References

External links

Prestwick 1914 (Official site)
{{coord, 55.502, -4.619, type:event, display=title The Open Championship Golf tournaments in Scotland