1920 British Open Winner and Scores
Winner: George Duncan, 303
Where it was played: Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club in Deal, England
Tournament dates: June 30-July 1, 1920
Leader after first round: Sandy Herd and Ted Ray, 72
Leader after second round: Abe Mitchell, 147
Leader after third round: Len Holland, 229
What Happened at the 1920 Open Championship
The 1920 British Open was the first one played since 1914. A little scuffle known as World War I interrupted the Open Championship and a lot of other things in the 19-teens. So the British Open returned this year and was played at Royal Cinque Ports, a course that was the site of only two Opens. This was the last of those two.The winner was George Duncan. This was Duncan's lone victory in a major, but he was a Ryder Cup player for Great Britain, won two French Opens, plus had victories in the national opens of Belgium and Ireland, and won many other tournaments. His victory here started a 5-year stretch in which Duncan finished no lower than sixth in The Open. In total, Duncan posted 11 Top 10 finishes in the Open; he also finished in the Top 10 at the U.S. Open, an event he rarely played, twice.
Duncan was 13 strokes off the lead after 36 holes, after opening with back-to-back rounds of 80. Milling around an exhibition tent between the second and third rounds, Duncan spied a driver that looked nifty. So he bought it, and put it into play the next day. And with his new driver, Duncan played himself back into the mix with a third-round 71.
A final-round 72 sealed the victory for Duncan, which was by a margin of two strokes over 1902 British Open winner Sandy Herd. It was Herd's fourth runner-up finish in the Open Championship, his 17th Top 10 finish. Ted Ray, winner of the 1912 British Open and a major champion this year as winner of the 1920 U.S. Open, was third.
A pair of significant golfers made their Open Championship debuts this year: Tommy Armour and Walter Hagen. Armour was still an amateur and wouldn't play in another British or U.S. Open for four years. Hagen was already an established star, having won two U.S. Opens. But the amateur and the star tied for 53rd place.
1920 British Open Final Scores
| George Duncan | 80-80-71-72—303 |
| Sandy Herd | 72-81-77-75—305 |
| Ted Ray | 72-83-78-73—306 |
| Abe Mitchell | 74-73-84-76—307 |
| Len Holland | 80-78-71-79—308 |
| Jim Barnes | 79-74-77-79—309 |
| Arthur Havers | 80-78-81-74—313 |
| Syd Wingate | 81-74-76-82—313 |
| George R. Buckle | 80-80-77-78—315 |
| Archie Compston | 79-83-75-78—315 |
| William Horne | 80-81-73-81—315 |
| J.H. Taylor | 78-79-80-79—316 |
| Eugene Lafitte | 75-85-84-73—317 |
| Eric Bannister | 78-84-80-76—318 |
| Harry Vardon | 78-81-81-78—318 |
| Angel de la Torre | 84-78-78-79—319 |
| J.W. Gaudin | 81-82-77-79—319 |
| Charles Johns | 82-78-81-78—319 |
| James Sherlock | 82-81-80-76—319 |
| Philip Taylor | 78-84-77-80—319 |
| James Braid | 79-80-79-82—320 |
| William Smith | 81-81-77-81—320 |
| Dick Wheildon | 82-78-83-77—320 |
| Reginald Wilson | 76-82-78-84—320 |
| Cyril Hughes | 83-81-80-77—321 |
| a-Willie Hunter | 81-80-81-80—322 |
| Tom Williamson | 77-86-79-80—322 |
| C. Ralph Smith | 84-80-79-80—323 |
| Arthur Day | 77-83-84-80—324 |
| Jean Gassiat | 79-82-78-85—324 |
| a-Douglas Grant | 83-76-82-83—324 |
| Fred Leach | 83-82-78-81—324 |
| Arnaud Massy | 81-82-80-81—324 |
| William Ritchie | 79-86-81-78—324 |
| Charles Corlett | 77-82-81-85—325 |
| a-Robert Harris | 84-79-81-81—325 |
| F.C. Jewell | 85-79-79-82—325 |
| George Kirby | 87-84-79-75—325 |
| Joshua Taylor | 78-81-81-85—325 |
| George Gadd | 80-87-82-77—326 |
| Claude Gray | 82-87-80-77—326 |
| a-Charles Hope | 78-81-85-82—326 |
| Herbert Jolly | 81-84-77-84—326 |
| Alfred Miles | 79-82-81-84—326 |
| Charles Parsons | 79-85-77-85—326 |
| a-Cyril Tolley | 85-84-79-78—326 |
| James Batley | 86-79-78-84—327 |
| Arthur Monk | 78-84-85-80—327 |
| Sid Rush | 82-84-80-81—327 |
| James Bradbeer | 76-89-81-82—328 |
| R.S. Fernie | 88-83-77-80—328 |
| Jack Rowe | 80-83-81-84—328 |
| a-Tommy Armour | 84-82-79-84—329 |
| Walter Hagen | 84-82-78-85—329 |
| Herbert Riseborough | 83-84-82-80—329 |
| Harry Ball | 84-82-81-83—330 |
| William Oke | 82-84-80-84—330 |
| Ernest Risebro | 81-88-82-79—330 |
| William Watt | 81-88-80-81—330 |
| a-Michael Scott | 89-82-80-80—331 |
| Frank Ball | 80-88-81-83—332 |
| Arthur Butchart | 82-88-79-83—332 |
| Dick May | 82-87-85-79—333 |
| C.H. Reith | 87-82-82-82—333 |
| Percy Wyatt | 83-89-81-80—333 |
| a-Carl Bretherton | 86-79-84-86—335 |
| Cuthbert Butchart | 81-86-86-82—335 |
| James Ockenden | 86-86-80-83—335 |
| John Turner | 80-86-82-87—335 |
| Fred Collins | 84-86-83-83—336 |
| Walter Pursey | 81-80-89-86—336 |
| Harry Amos | 87-88-82-81—338 |
| Edwin Sinclair | 91-80-87-82—340 |
| Anthony Kettley | 86-89-81-87—343 |
| W.E. Brown | 85-87-87-86—345 |
| Arthur Young | 87-89-82-89—347 |
| Robert McKenzie | 88-91-89-93—361 |
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1914 British Open - 1921 British Open
