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Taylor

1895 / St Andrews

No Englishman had previously won at the Home of Golf until JH Taylor was victorious in the first 72-hole Championship played at St Andrews.

Taylor won for the second year in a row but while he had been a longtime leader at Royal St George’s a year earlier, it was his last round performance that sealed a four-stroke victory.

Poor putting led to a first round of 86 which left him six behind Harry Vardon and even though Taylor posted a 78 in the second round he was still five behind Sandy Herd, who was round in 77.

Taylor got two strokes back with an 80 on the second morning to trail by three but in the afternoon the wind and rain got up.

The stockily-built Taylor had learnt his golf on the Royal North Devon links at Westward Ho! and used to plant his feet solidly in the ground and punch the ball under the wind with a flat, low swing. Grimly determined despite the driving rain, Taylor scored another 78, which was so good that no one else managed better than an 82.

His nearest rivals certainly could not match the Englishman, with locals Herd and Andrew Kirkaldy scoring 85 and 84 to finish second and third respectively. Taylor played the Loop in three 3s and three 4s, and not even 6s at the 13th and 14th holes could disrupt his progression.

In three Opens, the 24-year-old had finished 10th, first and first, and would not be out of the top-ten until 1910. His quest for three victories in a row, however, was stymied by Vardon a year later.

Herd, who had a 7 at the fifth and only one 3, at the short eighth, was runner-up for the second time and would have to wait until 1902 to claim the Claret Jug.

Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
J.H. TAYLOR
1
86
78
80
78
322
-
2
82
77
82
85
326
-
Andrew KIRKALDY
3
81
83
84
84
332
-
George PULFORD
4
84
81
83
86
334
-
Archie SIMPSON
5
88
85
78
85
336
-
David ANDERSON JR
6
86
83
84
84
337
-
6
81
89
83
84
337
-
6
86
79
86
86
337
-
Ben SAYERS
9
84
87
85
82
338
-
Tom VARDON
9
82
83
84
89
338
-
9
80
85
85
88
338
-
Alfred TOOGOOD
9
85
84
83
86
338
-
Laurie AUCHTERLONIE
13
84
84
85
87
340
-
James ROBB
13
89
88
81
82
340
-
15
87
87
83
84
341
-
Freddie TAIT
15
87
86
82
86
341
-
John E. LAIDLAY
17
91
83
82
86
342
-
18
85
85
88
86
344
-
Laurie WATERS
18
86
83
85
90
344
-
David HERD
20
85
85
84
91
345
-
Albert TINGEY
21
83
88
87
88
346
-
21
88
86
85
87
346
-
James KINNELL
23
84
83
88
92
347
-
Jack ROSS
24
87
84
89
88
348
-
David MCEWAN
25
85
90
90
86
351
-
James KAY
25
88
85
92
86
351
-
A.M. ROSS
27
92
85
88
88
353
-
Walter TOOGOOD
27
87
91
88
87
353
-
Douglas MCEWAN
27
95
85
92
81
353
-
Willie AVESTON
27
89
86
89
89
353
-
31
91
84
90
89
354
-
H. TURPIE
31
90
85
84
95
354
-
Bob MEARNS
33
88
88
85
94
355
-
Alexander STUART
34
86
88
88
94
356
-
Charles HUTCHINGS
35
90
89
92
88
359
-
C. Ralph SMITH
35
88
87
90
94
359
-
John LOW
37
92
86
88
94
360
-
J. FORREST
38
91
85
91
95
362
-
John HUNTER
38
95
88
87
92
362
-
John CUTHBERT
40
90
90
93
91
364
-
Samuel Mure FERGUSSON
40
97
89
90
88
364
-
A.H. SCOTT
40
94
84
93
93
364
-
John DUNCAN
43
94
89
92
91
366
-
W.A. ANDERSON
44
91
90
95
95
371
-
J. TABOR
45
99
93
91
91
374
-
P.C. LIVINGSTON
46
97
86
95
97
375
-
47
107
92
96
97
392
-
Peter MCEWAN
Wd
88
84
-
-
-
M/C
David AYTON
Wd
96
89
-
-
-
M/C
C.E. DICK
Wd
92
91
-
-
-
M/C
Wd
95
93
-
-
-
M/C
Wd
88
90
-
-
-
M/C
Richard KELLY
Wd
93
87
-
-
-
M/C
Willie SMITH
Wd
86
94
-
-
-
M/C
L. GOURLAY
Wd
93
88
-
-
-
M/C
D. HERD
Wd
93
89
-
-
-
M/C
David LEITCH
Wd
91
91
-
-
-
M/C
Walter ANDERSON
Wd
97
86
-
-
-
M/C
Allan DUNCAN
Wd
93
92
-
-
-
M/C
R.B. WILSON
Wd
94
93
-
-
-
M/C
William REID
Wd
97
92
-
-
-
M/C
W. YOUNG
Wd
95
100
-
-
-
M/C
D. CLARK
Wd
103
93
-
-
-
M/C
W. BALLINGALL
Wd
104
95
-
-
-
M/C
J.M. WILLIAMSON
Wd
93
83
-
-
-
M/C
Joseph DALGLEISH
Wd
96
95
-
-
-
M/C
Bob SIMPSON
Wd
92
88
-
-
-
M/C
Charles NEAVES
Wd
104
94
-
-
-
M/C
Lindsay ROSS
Wd
91
93
-
-
-
M/C
Robert T. BOOTHBY
Wd
93
90
-
-
-
M/C
David ANDERSON
Wd
93
87
-
-
-
M/C
J.H. OUTHWAITE
Wd
85
86
-
-
-
M/C
Peter PAXTON
Scr
-
-
-
-
-
M/C
P. CLARK
Wd
-
-
-
-
-
M/C
W. MARKS
Scr
-
-
-
-
-
M/C
Douglas ROLLAND
Scr
-
-
-
-
-
M/C

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