1895 Open Championship: J.H. Taylor wins at Old Course, St Andrews
J.H. Taylor won the 1895 Open Championship at Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland with 322, by 4 strokes over Sandy Herd.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1895 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 12 June 1895 to 13 June 1895
- Course
- Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland
- Edition
- 35th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Field
- 76
- Purse
- £100
- Trophy
- Claret Jug
- Champion
- J.H. Taylor · age 24 · England · born Northam, England
- Champion's title
- 2nd Open title
- How he got in
- open entry (no qualifying)
- Winning score
- 86-78-80-78 = 322 · won by 4 strokes
- Runner-up
- Sandy Herd (326)
- 54-hole leader
- Sandy Herd (241) · J.H. Taylor was 3 strokes back
- Final-day weather
- windy and wet: "In the afternoon the wind and rain got up"; Taylor shot 78 "despite the driving rain"
- Low amateur
- James Robb (340)
Top 12 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | J.H. Taylor | 86 | 78 | 80 | 78 | 322 |
| 2 | Sandy Herd | 82 | 77 | 82 | 85 | 326 |
| 3 | Andrew Kirkaldy | 81 | 83 | 84 | 84 | 332 |
| 4 | George Pulford | 84 | 81 | 83 | 86 | 334 |
| 5 | Archie Simpson | 88 | 85 | 78 | 85 | 336 |
| T6 | David Anderson Jr | 86 | 83 | 84 | 84 | 337 |
| T6 | David Brown | 81 | 89 | 83 | 84 | 337 |
| T6 | Willie Fernie | 86 | 79 | 86 | 86 | 337 |
| T9 | Ben Sayers | 84 | 87 | 85 | 82 | 338 |
| T9 | Tom Vardon | 82 | 83 | 84 | 89 | 338 |
| T9 | Harry Vardon | 80 | 85 | 85 | 88 | 338 |
| T9 | Alfred Toogood | 85 | 84 | 83 | 86 | 338 |
What happened at the 1895 Open Championship
Taylor became the first Englishman to win at St Andrews, in its first 72-hole Open.
His closing 78 in wind and rain was the best round of the day; no one else broke 82.
The narrative names Taylor's 6s at the 13th and 14th and Herd's 7 at the 5th, but none as decisive.
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).