1902 Open Championship: Sandy Herd wins at Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Sandy Herd won the 1902 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, England with 307, by 1 stroke over James Braid and Harry Vardon.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1902 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 4 June 1902 to 5 June 1902
- Course
- Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, England
- Edition
- 42nd Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Field
- 86
- Made the cut
- 41 (cut at 168)
- Purse
- £125 · winner's share £50
- Trophy
- Claret Jug
- Champion
- Sandy Herd · age 34 · Scotland · born St Andrews, Scotland
- Champion's title
- 1st Open title
- How he got in
- open entry (no qualifying)
- Winning score
- 77-76-73-81 = 307 · won by 1 stroke
- Runners-up
- James Braid (308), Harry Vardon (308)
- 54-hole leader
- Sandy Herd (226)
- Deciding hole
- No. 18, round 4
- Low amateur
- Robert Maxwell (309)
Top 11 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandy Herd | 77 | 76 | 73 | 81 | 307 |
| T2 | James Braid | 78 | 76 | 80 | 74 | 308 |
| T2 | Harry Vardon | 72 | 77 | 80 | 79 | 308 |
| 4 | Robert Maxwell (a) | 79 | 77 | 79 | 74 | 309 |
| 5 | Tom Vardon | 80 | 76 | 78 | 79 | 313 |
| T6 | James Kinnell | 78 | 80 | 79 | 77 | 314 |
| T6 | Harold Hilton (a) | 79 | 76 | 81 | 78 | 314 |
| T6 | J.H. Taylor | 81 | 76 | 77 | 80 | 314 |
| 9 | Ted Ray | 79 | 74 | 85 | 80 | 318 |
| T10 | Arnaud Massy | 77 | 81 | 78 | 84 | 320 |
| T10 | Andrew Kirkaldy | 77 | 78 | 83 | 82 | 320 |
What happened at the 1902 Open Championship
Herd won with the new rubber-cored Haskell ball, which he first tried in a practice round with John Ball; after his win everyone began using it.
Needing a 4 at the last to tie, Vardon saw his putt stop on the lip of the hole.
Vardon needed to hole from five feet for a 4 at the last to tie Herd but the ball stopped on the edge of the hole, and Braid also missed a putt on the final green to tie.
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).