1901 British Open Winner and Scores
Winner: James Braid, 309
Where it was played: Muirfield at Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland
Tournament dates: June 5-6, 1901
Leader after first round: Harry Vardon, 77
Leader after second round: Harry Vardon and James Braid, 155
Leader after third round: James Braid, 229
What Happened In the 1901 Open Championship
The 1901 Open Championship was the second one in which the three members of the "Great Triumvirate" finished 1-2-3. In this case, it was James Braid who won, followed by Harry Vardon and J.H. Taylor. The three greats also finished 1-2-3 in 1900 (won by Taylor) and in 1906 (Braid again).Taylor and Vardon were already British Open champions prior to 1901. In fact, they won six of the previous seven Opens. But this was Braid's first Open Championship victory. He went on to win again in 1905, 1906, 1908 and 1910.
Braid didn't get off to a great start: His opening drive on the tournament's first hole was hooked out of bounds. But he finished Day 1 (it was a two-day tournament, 36 holes per day) tied with Vardon on 155.
Braid took a 5-shot lead with a 74 in the third round, a score that matched the low round of the tournament.
After a final-round 80, Braid had a 3-stroke victory over Vardon, with Taylor one more stroke behind. Amateur and fourth-place finisher Harold Hilton, Open Champion in 1892 and 1897, was another seven shots behind (11 off Braid's winning total). The next pro, other than the Great Triumvirate members, finished 16 strokes behind Braid.
1901 British Open Final Scores
| James Braid | 79-76-74-80—309 |
| Harry Vardon | 77-78-79-78—312 |
| J.H. Taylor | 79-83-74-77—313 |
| a-Harold Hilton | 89-80-75-76—320 |
| Sandy Herd | 87-81-81-76—325 |
| Jack White | 82-82-80-82—326 |
| James Kinnell | 79-85-86-78—328 |
| a-John E. Laidlay | 84-82-82-80—328 |
| Phillip Gaudin | 86-81-86-76—329 |
| a-John Graham Jr. | 82-83-81-83—329 |
| Rowland Jones | 85-82-81-83—331 |
| Ted Ray | 87-84-74-87—332 |
| Thomas Renouf | 83-86-81-82—332 |
| Tom Yeoman | 85-83-82-82—332 |
| Fred Collins | 89-80-81-84—334 |
| a-Samuel Mure Fergusson | 84-86-82-82—334 |
| John H. Oke | 91-83-80-80—334 |
| Andrew Kirkaldy | 82-87-86-81—336 |
| Alfred Lewis | 85-82-83-86—336 |
| Willie Park Jr. | 78-87-81-90—336 |
| Andrew Scott | 85-90-81-80—336 |
| Charles Neaves | 84-87-81-85—337 |
| Laurie Waters | 86-87-86-78—337 |
| a-Charles Dalziel | 82-84-89-83—338 |
| David Herd | 90-80-82-87—339 |
| James Hutchison | 84-83-91-81—339 |
| Jack Ross | 84-85-86-84—339 |
| Walter Toogood | 87-86-85-82—340 |
| Willie Auchterlonie | 86-82-88-86—342 |
| David McEwan | 86-84-86-86—342 |
| James Kay | 89-84-86-86—345 |
| George Sargent | 81-90-86-89—346 |
| W.C. Gaudin | 92-83-87-88—350 |
| Alex Marr | 87-87-93-91—358 |
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1900 British Open - 1902 British Open
Sources:
(Book titles are affiliate links; commissions earned)
Brenner, Morgan. The Majors of Golf, Volume 2, 2009, McFarland and Company.
The Liverpool Mercury. "The Open Championship: Victory for Scotland," June 7, 1901.
TheOpen.com. "1901 / Muirfield," The R&A, https://www.theopen.com/previous-opens/49th-open-royal-cinque-ports-1909.
