1900 Open Championship: J.H. Taylor wins at Old Course, St Andrews
J.H. Taylor won the 1900 Open Championship at Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland with 309, by 8 strokes over Harry Vardon.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1900 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 6 June 1900 to 7 June 1900
- Course
- Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland
- Edition
- 40th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Field
- 81
- Made the cut
- 37 (cut at 175)
- Purse
- £125 · winner's share £50
- Trophy
- Claret Jug
- Champion
- J.H. Taylor · age 29 · England · born Northam, England
- Champion's title
- 3rd Open title
- How he got in
- open entry (no qualifying)
- Winning score
- 79-77-78-75 = 309 · won by 8 strokes
- Runner-up
- Harry Vardon (317)
- 54-hole leader
- J.H. Taylor (234)
- Low amateur
- Robert Maxwell (329)
Top 12 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | J.H. Taylor | 79 | 77 | 78 | 75 | 309 |
| 2 | Harry Vardon | 79 | 81 | 80 | 77 | 317 |
| 3 | James Braid | 82 | 81 | 80 | 79 | 322 |
| 4 | Jack White | 80 | 81 | 82 | 80 | 323 |
| 5 | Willie Auchterlonie | 81 | 85 | 80 | 80 | 326 |
| 6 | Willie Park Jr | 80 | 83 | 81 | 84 | 328 |
| T7 | Robert Maxwell (a) | 81 | 81 | 86 | 81 | 329 |
| T7 | Archie Simpson | 82 | 85 | 83 | 79 | 329 |
| 9 | Ben Sayers | 81 | 83 | 85 | 81 | 330 |
| T10 | Tom Vardon | 79 | 87 | 84 | 81 | 331 |
| T10 | Sandy Herd | 81 | 85 | 81 | 84 | 331 |
| T10 | Andrew Kirkaldy | 87 | 83 | 82 | 79 | 331 |
What happened at the 1900 Open Championship
Taylor won by eight strokes, and the Great Triumvirate finished 1-2-3 (Taylor, Vardon, Braid).
Taylor's closing 75 was the best score yet in an Open on the Old Course, played before what RA calls the largest gallery ever seen at The Open.
No hole is named; Taylor won by eight.
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).