1896 Open Championship: Harry Vardon wins at Muirfield
Harry Vardon won the 1896 Open Championship at Muirfield, Gullane, Scotland with 316, beating J.H. Taylor in a playoff.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1896 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 10 June 1896 to 13 June 1896
- Course
- Muirfield, Gullane, Scotland
- Edition
- 36th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Field
- 65
- Purse
- £100
- Trophy
- Claret Jug
- Champion
- Harry Vardon · age 26 · Jersey · born Grouville, Jersey
- Champion's title
- 1st Open title
- How he got in
- open entry (no qualifying)
- Winning score
- 83-78-78-77 = 316
- Runner-up
- J.H. Taylor (316)
- 54-hole leader
- Sandy Herd (235) · Harry Vardon was 4 strokes back
- Playoff
- 36-hole stroke play; beat J.H. Taylor; Vardon 157 (78-79); Taylor 161 (80-81)
- Low amateur
- Freddie Tait (319)
Top 10 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harry Vardon | 83 | 78 | 78 | 77 | 316 |
| 2 | J.H. Taylor | 77 | 78 | 81 | 80 | 316 |
| T3 | Freddie Tait (a) | 83 | 75 | 84 | 77 | 319 |
| T3 | Willie Fernie | 78 | 79 | 82 | 80 | 319 |
| 5 | Sandy Herd | 72 | 84 | 79 | 85 | 320 |
| 6 | James Braid | 83 | 81 | 79 | 80 | 323 |
| T7 | A.H. Scott | 83 | 84 | 77 | 80 | 324 |
| T7 | David Brown | 80 | 77 | 81 | 86 | 324 |
| T7 | Ben Sayers | 83 | 76 | 79 | 86 | 324 |
| 10 | Tom Vardon | 83 | 82 | 77 | 83 | 325 |
What happened at the 1896 Open Championship
The 36-hole playoff was delayed a day because both Vardon and Taylor had entered a tournament at nearby North Berwick.
Old Tom Morris played his 34th and final Open and withdrew after failing to break 100 in any of his first three rounds.
Vardon "needed a 4 at the last to win but played safely" for a 5 to tie, and in the play-off Taylor, already two behind, took 6 at the last, so no hole is identified as deciding the title.
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).