What are the largest margins of victory at The Open?
Wonder no more…
8 strokes – JH Taylor, 1900
England’s John Henry Taylor had scored a four-shot victory in the 1894 Open and then defended it when winning a playoff in 1895. His hat-trick bid was denied by the great Harry Vardon.
From 1872 to 1899 no-one had won the tournament by more than five. But in 1900 at St Andrews Taylor couldn’t be denied and blitzed the 81-man field to win by eight.
To reflect his dominance, Taylor shot the lowest or joint-lowest score in all four rounds.
8 strokes – JH Taylor 1913
Taylor won a fourth Open in 1906 by another chunky margin (six shots) at Royal Cinque Ports but in 1913 he matched his eight-shot victory of 13 years earlier.
This was the fifth and final of Taylor’s five Claret Jugs and he did it in style, cruising to victory at Royal Liverpool in a field of 65.
Defending champion Ted Ray held a narrow one-shot lead at halfway but in high winds, Taylor’s scores of 77 and 79 saw him kick clear and win with a total of 304.
8 strokes – James Braid, 1908
Like Taylor, James Braid also wrote his name into the history books by winning the Open on five occasions. They came in a dominant period between 1901 and 1910.
The Scotsman’s most decisive win was his fourth in 1908 as he fired a 72-hole total of 291 on home soil at Prestwick to run away from the field.
Braid opened with rounds of 70-72 to lead by five after 36 holes and then extended his advantage on the last two laps to beat England’s Tom Ball by eight.
8 strokes – Tiger Woods, 2000
Tiger’s eight-shot win at St Andrews in 2000 remains the most dominant Open win of the modern era.
A Millennium Open on the Old Course was the perfect stage and Tiger arrived in Scotland having just won the US Open at Pebble Beach by a record 15 shots.
Woods didn’t find a bunker all week and his 19-under total – eight clear of David Duval and Thomas Bjorn – was a then record for any major.
11 strokes – Young Tom Morris, 1869
Back in 1869 at the 10th Open Championship, there was no stopping Young Tom Morris.
He’d won his first Claret Jug a year earlier via a three-shot win and back at Prestwick he increased that margin to a whopping 11 shots.
To ice the cake, he even registered the Open’s first ever hole-in-one – draining his tee-shot at the 166-yard 8th hole in round one.
12 strokes – Young Tom Morris, 1870
A year later, the Scot, still just 19 years old, went one better at Prestwick and won by 12!
Perhaps that winning margin is even more impressive given that the format at the time was just three rounds of golf played over 12 holes.
Young Tom shot 47-51-51 to win the third of his four Open titles and leave the field trailing in his wake. Fellow Scots Bob Kirk and Davie Strath finished 12 back with the former winning a play-off for second.
13 strokes – Old Tom Morris, 1862
The first dozen Open Championships were played at Prestwick in Scotland and in the third of those in 1862, Old Tom Morris set a record that may never be beaten.
A winner by four the previous year, Old Tom took advantage of good weather and already had a seven-shot lead after the first round (12 holes).
The field featured just eight players back then but to win by 13 from Willie Park, Sr. over only three rounds was still an incredible display.
Like his son, Young Tom, Old Tom ended his career as a four-time Open champion. He won his final Claret Jug in 1867, aged 46, and to this day remains the tournament’s oldest winner.
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