1926 Open Championship: Bobby Jones wins at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
Bobby Jones (an amateur) won the 1926 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, England with 291, by 2 strokes over Al Watrous.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1926 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 23 June 1926 to 25 June 1926
- Course
- Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, England
- Edition
- 61st Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Field
- 117
- Made the cut
- 52 (cut at 158)
- Purse
- £225
- Trophy
- Claret Jug
- Champion
- Bobby Jones · age 24 · USA · amateur · born Atlanta, USA
- Champion's title
- 1st Open title
- How he got in
- qualifier (regional qualifying, Sunningdale)
- Winning score
- 72-72-73-74 = 291 · won by 2 strokes
- Runner-up
- Al Watrous (293)
- 54-hole leader
- Al Watrous (215) · Bobby Jones was 2 strokes back
- Deciding hole
- No. 17, round 4
- Low amateur
- Bobby Jones (winner) (291)
Top 10 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bobby Jones (a) | 72 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 291 |
| 2 | Al Watrous | 71 | 75 | 69 | 78 | 293 |
| T3 | George Von Elm (a) | 75 | 72 | 76 | 72 | 295 |
| T3 | Walter Hagen | 68 | 77 | 74 | 76 | 295 |
| T5 | Tom Barber | 77 | 73 | 78 | 71 | 299 |
| T5 | Abe Mitchell | 78 | 78 | 72 | 71 | 299 |
| 7 | Fred McLeod | 71 | 75 | 76 | 79 | 301 |
| T8 | Bill Mehlhorn | 70 | 74 | 79 | 80 | 303 |
| T8 | Emmet French | 76 | 75 | 74 | 78 | 303 |
| T8 | José Jurado | 77 | 76 | 74 | 76 | 303 |
What happened at the 1926 Open Championship
At the 71st, Jones hit a 175-yard mashie-niblick from sandy scrub onto the green inside Watrous, who then three-putted.
This was the first three-day Open and the first with a spectator admission fee.
Level with Al Watrous, Jones played a 175-yard mashie-niblick from a sandy scrub area blind behind a dune onto the 17th green inside Watrous, who was shaken and three-putted.
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).