1923 Open Championship

The 1923 Open Championship was the 58th Open Championship, held 14–15 June at Troon Golf Club in Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Arthur Havers holed a bunker shot on the 72nd hole to win his only major title, one stroke ahead of defending champion Walter Hagen, who won the following year.

Contents

• Venue
• First day leaderboard
• Final leaderboard
• References

Under the rotation system then in place, the Open should have been held at Muirfield. However some doubt existed "as to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers being desirous of their course being used for the event" and the Championship was moved to Troon, the first Open Championship to be played there. Troon hosted the Open for the second time in 1950, the first time the Open had been held in south-west Scotland since 1925.

Qualifying took place on 11–12 June. Entries played 18 holes on the New (Portland) Course at Troon Golf Club and 18 holes on Troon Municipal Course number 2 (now called Lochgreen). The top 80 and ties qualified. The qualifying score was 159 and 88 players qualified. Albert Tingey, Jr., Syd Wingate and Charles Whitcombe led the qualifiers on 146. Walter Hagen was among the 11 players who just qualified on 159 while Gene Sarazen and Jim Barnes both scored 160 and missed out. On the second day Sarazen had been in the first group out on the New Course and had had the worst of the weather scoring 85 after a first day 75. Sarazen had won the Daily Dispatch Northern Professional Championship just 10 days earlier.

Havers opened with three consecutive rounds of 73 and carried a two-stroke lead over Hagen into the final round on Friday afternoon. Hagen threatened the lead throughout the round, and when Havers found a bunker on his approach shot at the 18th it appeared as if the door was open for Hagen. Havers, however, chipped in from the bunker to post a 76 and 295 total. Hagen found the same bunker and needed to hole out to force a 36-hole playoff on Saturday, but his shot narrowly missed and he finished a shot behind Havers. Macdonald Smith finished a stroke behind Hagen in third place.

After his win here, Havers made a tour of the United States and defeated both Bobby Jones and Gene Sarazen in match play contests.