1897 Open Championship
Place Player Country Score
1 James Braid Scotland 80-74=154
2 Harold Hilton ( a ) England 80-75=155
3 Freddie Tait ( a ) Scotland 79-79=158
T4 John Ball ( a ) England 78-81=159
T4 Sandy Herd Scotland 78-81=159
T4 George Pulford England 80-79=159
7 David Brown Scotland 79-82=161
T8 Ben Sayers Scotland 84-78=162
T8 J.H . Taylor England 82-80=162
T8 Tom Vardon Jersey 81-81=162
First day leaderboard
Wednesday , 19 May 1897
The 1897 Open Championship was the 37th Open Championship, held 19-20 May at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Harold Hilton, an amateur, won the Championship for the second time, a stroke ahead of James Braid. This was the second Open to be played in England after the 1894 event staged at Royal St George's. It was also the last Open Championship with no qualifying and no cut. 88 players entered including 20 amateurs. Royal Liverpool was the home club of many of the leading amateurs of the day including John Ball, Jr. and Hilton, both of whom had already won the Championship. After the first round Ball and Sandy Herd led with scores of 78, with David Brown and Freddie Tait on 79. There were two outstanding rounds in the afternoon. Braid scored 74 gave him the lead on 154 while Hilton's 75 put him second on 155. Tait was third on 158. J.H. Taylor and Harry Vardon were a disappointing 8 and 10 strokes behind the leader.