1878 Open Championship: Jamie Anderson wins at Prestwick Golf Club (12-hole links)
Jamie Anderson won the 1878 Open Championship at Prestwick Golf Club (12-hole links), Scotland with 157, by 2 strokes over Bob Kirk.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1878 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 4 October 1878
- Course
- Prestwick Golf Club (12-hole links), Scotland
- Edition
- 18th Open Championship
- Format
- 36 holes of stroke play
- Trophy
- Claret Jug
- Champion
- Jamie Anderson · age 36 · Scotland · born St Andrews, Scotland
- Champion's title
- 2nd Open title
- How he got in
- open entry (no qualifying)
- Winning score
- 53-53-51 = 157 · won by 2 strokes
- Runner-up
- Bob Kirk (159)
- Leaders entering the final round
- Jamie Anderson, J.O.F. Morris (106)
- Deciding hole
- No. 11, round 3
- Final-day weather
- wet: "In dull weather, that eventually gave way to rain"
- Low amateur
- John Ball (165)
Top 10 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie Anderson | 53 | 53 | 51 | 157 |
| 2 | Bob Kirk | 53 | 55 | 51 | 159 |
| 3 | J.O.F. Morris | 50 | 56 | 55 | 161 |
| T4 | John Ball Jr (a) | 53 | 57 | 55 | 165 |
| T4 | Bob Martin | 57 | 53 | 55 | 165 |
| T6 | William Cosgrove | 55 | 56 | 55 | 166 |
| T6 | Willie Park Sr | 53 | 56 | 57 | 166 |
| 8 | Jamie Allan | 62 | 53 | 52 | 167 |
| T9 | Tom Dunn | 54 | 60 | 54 | 168 |
| T9 | John Allan | 55 | 55 | 58 | 168 |
What happened at the 1878 Open Championship
Anderson holed in one at the 11th (the Short Hole) in the final round, reportedly after re-teeing when a spectator said he was outside the tee markers.
Kirk's long putt on the last to tie lipped out; 16-year-old English amateur John Ball finished tied 4th.
Anderson holed in one at the 11th (the Short Hole, the penultimate hole) in the final round, a shot Kingdom says "helped the Scot to a two-stroke win over Bob Kirk", whose long putt to tie at the last lipped out.
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).