1898 Open Championship: Harry Vardon wins at Prestwick Golf Club
Harry Vardon won the 1898 Open Championship at Prestwick Golf Club, Scotland with 307, by 1 stroke over Willie Park Jr.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1898 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 8 June 1898 to 9 June 1898
- Course
- Prestwick Golf Club, Scotland
- Edition
- 38th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Field
- 76
- Made the cut
- 41 (cut at 170)
- Purse
- £100
- Trophy
- Claret Jug
- Champion
- Harry Vardon · age 28 · Jersey · born Grouville, Jersey
- Champion's title
- 2nd Open title
- How he got in
- open entry (no qualifying)
- Winning score
- 79-75-77-76 = 307 · won by 1 stroke
- Runner-up
- Willie Park Jr (308)
- 54-hole leader
- Willie Park Jr (229) · Harry Vardon was 2 strokes back
- Deciding hole
- No. 18, round 4
- Low amateur
- Harold Hilton (309)
Top 11 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harry Vardon | 79 | 75 | 77 | 76 | 307 |
| 2 | Willie Park Jr | 76 | 75 | 78 | 79 | 308 |
| 3 | Harold Hilton (a) | 76 | 81 | 77 | 75 | 309 |
| 4 | J.H. Taylor | 78 | 78 | 77 | 79 | 312 |
| 5 | Freddie Tait (a) | 81 | 77 | 75 | 82 | 315 |
| 6 | David Kinnell | 80 | 77 | 79 | 80 | 316 |
| 7 | Willie Fernie | 79 | 85 | 77 | 77 | 318 |
| 8 | John Hunter | 82 | 79 | 81 | 77 | 319 |
| 9 | Thomas Renouf | 77 | 79 | 81 | 83 | 320 |
| T10 | P. Wynne | 83 | 79 | 81 | 78 | 321 |
| T10 | James Braid | 80 | 82 | 84 | 75 | 321 |
What happened at the 1898 Open Championship
This Championship saw the first 36-hole cut in Open history.
Park missed a putt of about four feet on the 72nd green to tie; he later said spectators gave him wrong information about Vardon's score.
Willie Park Jr left himself a putt of about four feet at the last to tie Vardon and missed it, later saying he had been given wrong information about Vardon's score.
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).