1889 Open Championship: Willie Park Jr wins at Musselburgh Links (9-hole)
Willie Park Jr won the 1889 Open Championship at Musselburgh Links (9-hole), Scotland with 155, beating Andrew Kirkaldy in a playoff.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1889 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 8 November 1889 to 11 November 1889
- Course
- Musselburgh Links (9-hole), Scotland
- Edition
- 29th Open Championship
- Format
- 36 holes of stroke play
- Purse
- £22
- Trophy
- Claret Jug
- Champion
- Willie Park Jr · age 25 · Scotland · born Musselburgh, Scotland
- Champion's title
- 2nd Open title
- How he got in
- open entry (no qualifying)
- Winning score
- 78-77 = 155
- Runner-up
- Andrew Kirkaldy (155)
- Playoff
- 36-hole stroke play (following Monday); beat Andrew Kirkaldy; Park 158 (82-76); Kirkaldy 163 (85-78)
- Low amateur
- John E. Laidlay (162)
Top 11 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Willie Park Jr | 78 | 77 | 155 |
| 2 | Andrew Kirkaldy | 77 | 78 | 155 |
| 3 | Ben Sayers | 79 | 80 | 159 |
| T4 | John E. Laidlay (a) | 81 | 81 | 162 |
| T4 | David Brown | 82 | 80 | 162 |
| 6 | Willie Fernie | 84 | 80 | 164 |
| T7 | Davie Grant | 82 | 83 | 165 |
| T7 | Willie Campbell | 84 | 81 | 165 |
| T7 | Willie Brown | 87 | 78 | 165 |
| T10 | William Thomson | 85 | 81 | 166 |
| T10 | Hugh Kirkaldy | 83 | 83 | 166 |
What happened at the 1889 Open Championship
In the November gloom, players not finished after three loops were paid five shillings to withdraw, and late finishers played by street light.
Park's putt for a 2 at the last stopped on the lip, which forced the 36-hole play-off in the last Open at Musselburgh.
Park's putt for a 2 at the last of regulation stopped on the lip, forcing the play-off, which he won by five without the article naming a deciding hole.
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).