1863 Open Championship: Willie Park Sr wins at Prestwick Golf Club (12-hole links)
Willie Park Sr won the 1863 Open Championship at Prestwick Golf Club (12-hole links), Scotland with 168, by 2 strokes over Tom Morris Sr.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1863 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 18 September 1863
- Course
- Prestwick Golf Club (12-hole links), Scotland
- Edition
- 4th Open Championship
- Format
- 36 holes of stroke play
- Field
- 14
- Purse
- £10 · winner's share £1.25
- Trophy
- Challenge Belt
- Champion
- Willie Park Sr · Scotland · born Wallyford, Scotland
- Champion's title
- 2nd Open title
- How he got in
- open entry (no qualifying)
- Winning score
- 56-54-58 = 168 · won by 2 strokes
- Runner-up
- Tom Morris Sr (170)
- Leader entering the final round
- Willie Park Sr (110)
- Final-day weather
- windy and wet: "In rain and strong winds" David Park led after the opening round (single day of play)
- Low amateur
- James Knight (190)
Top 12 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Willie Park Sr | 56 | 54 | 58 | 168 |
| 2 | Tom Morris Sr | 56 | 58 | 56 | 170 |
| 3 | David Park | 55 | 63 | 54 | 172 |
| 4 | Andrew Strath | 61 | 55 | 58 | 174 |
| 5 | George Brown | 58 | 61 | 57 | 176 |
| 6 | Robert Andrew | 62 | 57 | 59 | 178 |
| 7 | Charlie Hunter | 61 | 61 | 62 | 184 |
| 8 | James Knight (a) | 66 | 65 | 59 | 190 |
| 9 | James Millar (a) | 63 | 63 | 66 | 192 |
| T10 | J.F. Johnston (a) | 66 | 66 | 65 | 197 |
| T10 | Peter Chalmers (a) | 65 | 67 | 65 | 197 |
| T10 | James Paxton | 197 |
What happened at the 1863 Open Championship
Prize money was paid for the first time: a £10 purse for the professionals.
Park's win stopped Morris taking the Belt outright with a third straight title.
No hole is named; Park led by four after 24 holes and won by two.
How this was built
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's The Open data. A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the organizer's own record is used.
Data: the-open.json (The Open room's data), with GNN's Open Championship addendum tables L (top ten by round), H (deciding hole), W (final-day weather).