1923 Open Championship: Arthur Havers wins at Troon Golf Club (Old Course)
Arthur Havers won the 1923 Open Championship at Troon Golf Club (Old Course), Scotland with 295, by 1 stroke over Walter Hagen.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1923 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 14 June 1923 to 15 June 1923
- Course
- Troon Golf Club (Old Course), Scotland
- Edition
- 58th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Field
- 88
- Purse
- £225
- Trophy
- Claret Jug
- Champion
- Arthur Havers · age 25 · England · born Norwich, England
- Champion's title
- 1st Open title
- Winning score
- 73-73-73-76 = 295 · won by 1 stroke
- Runner-up
- Walter Hagen (296)
- 54-hole leader
- Arthur Havers (219)
- Deciding hole
- No. 18, round 4
- Final-day weather
- windy (championship-wide): Havers was "not best equipped for the windy conditions of Troon's first Open" (not tied to a day)
- Low amateur
- Robert Scott Jr. (307)
Top 11 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur Havers | 73 | 73 | 73 | 76 | 295 |
| 2 | Walter Hagen | 76 | 71 | 74 | 75 | 296 |
| 3 | Macdonald Smith | 80 | 73 | 69 | 75 | 297 |
| 4 | Joe Kirkwood | 72 | 79 | 69 | 78 | 298 |
| 5 | Tom Fernie | 73 | 78 | 74 | 75 | 300 |
| T6 | Charles Whitcombe | 70 | 76 | 74 | 82 | 302 |
| T6 | George Duncan | 79 | 75 | 74 | 74 | 302 |
| T8 | Abe Mitchell | 77 | 77 | 72 | 77 | 303 |
| T8 | Herbert Jolly | 79 | 75 | 75 | 74 | 303 |
| T8 | James McKenzie | 76 | 78 | 74 | 75 | 303 |
| T8 | Willie Watt | 76 | 77 | 72 | 78 | 303 |
What happened at the 1923 Open Championship
Havers holed his bunker shot at the 72nd hole; Hagen found the same bunker and narrowly missed holing out to tie.
Several Americans' deep-punched iron faces were ruled illegal and filed down overnight with files from the Glasgow shipyards; Sarazen then failed to qualify.
Havers bunkered his second at the 18th and holed the bunker shot for 295; Hagen found the same bunker and narrowly failed to hole out 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).