1894 Open Championship: J.H. Taylor wins at Royal St George's Golf Club
J.H. Taylor won the 1894 Open Championship at Royal St George's Golf Club, Sandwich, England with 326, by 5 strokes over Douglas Rolland.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1894 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 11 June 1894 to 12 June 1894
- Course
- Royal St George's Golf Club, Sandwich, England
- Edition
- 34th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Field
- 94
- Purse
- £100
- Trophy
- Claret Jug
- Champion
- J.H. Taylor · age 23 · England · born Northam, England
- Champion's title
- 1st Open title
- How he got in
- open entry (no qualifying)
- Winning score
- 84-80-81-81 = 326 · won by 5 strokes
- Runner-up
- Douglas Rolland (331)
- 54-hole leader
- J.H. Taylor (245)
- Low amateur
- Freddie Tait (340)
Top 11 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | J.H. Taylor | 84 | 80 | 81 | 81 | 326 |
| 2 | Douglas Rolland | 86 | 79 | 84 | 82 | 331 |
| 3 | Andrew Kirkaldy | 86 | 79 | 83 | 84 | 332 |
| 4 | Alfred Toogood | 84 | 85 | 82 | 82 | 333 |
| T5 | Harry Vardon | 86 | 86 | 82 | 80 | 334 |
| T5 | Ben Sayers | 85 | 81 | 84 | 84 | 334 |
| T5 | Willie Fernie | 84 | 84 | 86 | 80 | 334 |
| 8 | Sandy Herd | 83 | 85 | 82 | 88 | 338 |
| 9 | Freddie Tait (a) | 90 | 83 | 83 | 84 | 340 |
| T10 | A.D. Blyth (a) | 91 | 84 | 84 | 82 | 341 |
| T10 | James Braid | 91 | 84 | 82 | 84 | 341 |
What happened at the 1894 Open Championship
Taylor became the first English professional to win, at the first Open held outside Scotland.
Old Tom Morris entered and withdrew after scoring 100 in the third round.
No hole is named in the R&A narrative.
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).