1879 Open Championship: Jamie Anderson wins at Old Course, St Andrews
Jamie Anderson won the 1879 Open Championship at Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland with 169, by 3 strokes over Andrew Kirkaldy and Jamie Allan.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1879 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 27 September 1879
- Course
- Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland
- Edition
- 19th Open Championship
- Format
- 36 holes of stroke play
- Purse
- £47
- Trophy
- Claret Jug
- Champion
- Jamie Anderson · age 37 · Scotland · born St Andrews, Scotland
- Champion's title
- 3rd Open title
- How he got in
- open entry (no qualifying)
- Winning score
- 84-85 = 169 · won by 3 strokes
- Runners-up
- Andrew Kirkaldy (172), Jamie Allan (172)
Top 10 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie Anderson | 84 | 85 | 169 |
| T2 | Andrew Kirkaldy | 86 | 86 | 172 |
| T2 | Jamie Allan | 88 | 84 | 172 |
| 4 | George Paxton | 89 | 85 | 174 |
| 5 | Tom Kidd | 87 | 88 | 175 |
| 6 | Bob Ferguson | 89 | 87 | 176 |
| 7 | J.O.F. Morris | 92 | 87 | 179 |
| T8 | Jack Kirkaldy | 92 | 89 | 181 |
| T8 | James Rennie | 93 | 88 | 181 |
| T8 | Willie Fernie | 92 | 89 | 181 |
What happened at the 1879 Open Championship
Anderson completed three straight Opens, a feat since matched only by Bob Ferguson and Peter Thomson.
His 169 was seven better than the 176 that Martin and Strath had tied on at St Andrews in 1876.
No hole is named; Anderson led after the first round and won by three.
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).