The 1920 Open Championship was the 55th

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

, held 30 June to 1 July at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club in

Deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. George Duncan erased a 13-stroke deficit after 36 holes to win his only major title, two strokes ahead of runner-up

Sandy Herd Alexander "Sandy" Herd (24 April 1868 – 18 February 1944) was a Scottish professional golfer from St Andrews. He won The Open Championship in 1902 at Hoylake. Early life Born in St Andrews, Scotland, on 24 April 1868, to a golfing family, He ...

, the

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world' ...

champion. Royal Cinque Ports had been planned as the location for the Open Championship in 1915, but in early in that year it was decided that there would be no championships during the remainder of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

; the next Open Championship after the war would be held at Royal Cinque Ports. Although the war was over in November 1918, it was decided that there would be no championship in 1919. During the war, six of the greens were involved in a scheme to build a rifle range. This raised fears about the state of the course, but in late 1919 it was decided that there would be no difficulty in getting the course ready for the 1920 championship. Qualification for the professionals took place the week before on 23 and 24 June at Burhill and Saint George's Hill in Surrey; the leading 72 players and ties qualified.

Abe Mitchell Henry Abraham Mitchell (18 January 1887 – 11 June 1947) was an English professional golfer. Mitchell had eight top-10 finishes out of 17 appearances in the Open Championship, his best performance being fourth in 1920. He was runner-up in the ...

led the field at 139; three tied on the qualifying score of 159 and 74 professionals advanced. The amateurs qualified separately, playing 36 holes on 23 June at

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. Eight places were allotted to the amateurs with

Cyril Tolley Major Cyril James Hastings Tolley MC (14 September 1895 – 18 May 1978) was a British amateur golf champion and briefly a Liberal Party politician. He died in Eastbourne. Background Tolley was the son of James T. Tolley and Christiana Mary Pas ...

, the Amateur Champion, given an automatic entry. Prize money was increased sixty percent to £200 with a winner's share of £75; the winner also received a gold medal valued at £25. Herd and Ted Ray, the 1912 winner, shared the first round lead at 72 on Wednesday morning. Both faltered in the afternoon's second round while

shot a 73 for a 147 to open up a six-stroke lead over Herd and

Jim Barnes James Martin Barnes (April 8, 1886 – May 24, 1966) was an English golfer and a leading figure in the early years of professional golf in the United States. He is one of three native Britons (with Tommy Armour and Rory McIlroy) to win three di ...

. Ray was eight back,

Len Holland Leonard Holland (born c. 1888) was an English professional golfer. He finished in the top-10 in the Open Championship in 1920 and 1924. He was brought up in Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk and was later professional at Northamptonshire County Golf Clu ...

eleven behind, while Duncan was thirteen back after consecutive rounds of 80 for 160. Duncan played himself back into contention with a 71 in the third round on Thursday morning. Mitchell began that round with three bogeys, made a seven at the 5th hole, and finished with an 84. After 54 holes, Holland was at 229 and led by one over Herd and Barnes, with Mitchell, Duncan, and Syd Wingate one behind in fourth. Duncan carded a final round 72 for 303, while Holland and Barnes both shot 79 for a 308 and 309, respectively. Mitchell rebounded with a 76 which left him at 307. Only Herd could match Duncan's score, but he found trouble on the 16th and settled for 305, two strokes back of Duncan. Six-time and defending champion

Harry Vardon Henry William Vardon (9 May 1870 – 20 March 1937) was a professional golfer from Jersey. He was a member of the Great Triumvirate with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. Vardon won The Open Championship a record six times, and also won the ...

, age 50, finished at 318, 15 strokes back in a tie for 14th place. Two future champions from the

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Walter Hagen Walter Charles Hagen (December 21, 1892 – October 6, 1969) was an American professional golfer and a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of 11 professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tig ...

and Scottish-born

Tommy Armour Thomas Dickson Armour (24 September 1896 – 11 September 1968) was a Scottish-American professional golfer. He was nicknamed The Silver Scot. He was the winner of three of golf's major championships: 1927 U.S. Open, 1930 PGA, and 1931 Open C ...

, both made their Open Championship debuts this year and both finished at 329, 26 strokes back in a tie for 53rd. Armour was an amateur at the time. This was the second and final Open Championship held at Royal Cinque Ports, which also hosted in

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Jan ...

. Further Open Championships at Royal Cinque Ports were planned for 1938 and 1949. In both cases the course was flooded during the previous winter prior and the venue was moved to Royal St George's. Thus, only one of the four Opens planned for Royal Cinque Ports actually took place in the year originally intended. Near the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

, the course is directly south of Royal St George's, which became the sole Open venue in southern England in the course rota. An exception was in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...

, when Prince's Golf Club hosted its only Open, won by Gene Sarazen. All three courses are adjacent, with Prince's the furthest north.

Past champions in the field

Source: Did not advance past qualifying rounds (previous week): *

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

(

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library syst ...

) 170.

Course

Round summaries

First round

''Wednesday, 30 June 1920 (morning)'' Source:

Second round

''Wednesday, 30 June 1920 (afternoon)'' Source:

Third round

''Thursday, 1 July 1920 (morning)'' Source:

Final round

''Thursday, 1 July 1920 (afternoon)'' Source: Amateurs: Hunter (322), Grant (324), Harris (325), Hope (326),
Tolley (326), Armour (329), Scott (331), Bretherton (335).

References

External links

Royal Cinque Ports 1920 (Official site)
{{coord, 51.2395, 1.3965, type:event, display=title The Open Championship Golf tournaments in England