1908 Open Championship: James Braid wins at Prestwick Golf Club
James Braid won the 1908 Open Championship at Prestwick Golf Club, Scotland with 291, by 8 strokes over Tom Ball.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1908 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 18 June 1908 to 19 June 1908
- Course
- Prestwick Golf Club, Scotland
- Edition
- 48th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Field
- 65
- Purse
- £125 · winner's share £50
- Trophy
- Claret Jug
- Champion
- James Braid · age 38 · Scotland · born Earlsferry, Scotland
- Champion's title
- 4th Open title
- Winning score
- 70-72-77-72 = 291 · won by 8 strokes
- Runner-up
- Tom Ball (299)
- 54-hole leader
- James Braid (219)
- Low amateur
- John Ball (311)
Top 10 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Braid | 70 | 72 | 77 | 72 | 291 |
| 2 | Tom Ball | 76 | 73 | 76 | 74 | 299 |
| 3 | Ted Ray | 79 | 71 | 75 | 76 | 301 |
| 4 | Sandy Herd | 74 | 74 | 79 | 75 | 302 |
| T5 | Harry Vardon | 79 | 78 | 74 | 75 | 306 |
| T5 | David Kinnell | 75 | 73 | 80 | 78 | 306 |
| T7 | J.H. Taylor | 79 | 77 | 76 | 75 | 307 |
| T7 | Tom Simpson | 75 | 77 | 76 | 79 | 307 |
| T9 | P.J. Gaudin | 77 | 76 | 75 | 80 | 308 |
| T9 | Arnaud Massy | 76 | 75 | 76 | 81 | 308 |
What happened at the 1908 Open Championship
Braid took an 8 at the 3rd in round three after going out of bounds from the Cardinal bunker.
He still won by eight, and his 291 set a new Championship record.
Braid took 8 at the 3rd in round three but still won by eight, and no hole is called 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).