| 1934 British Open | |
Henry Cotton won his first British Open in 1934 in the midst of a remarkable streak of success in the Open Championship. From 1930 through 1948, Cotton finished in the Top 10 in all but one British Open played (and he finished 13th in the other one). From 1930 through 1952, Cotton finished in the Top 10 of every British Open but one that he played.
Cotton began the 1934 British Open with rounds of 67 and a then-record 65, opening a 10-stroke lead at the halfway mark. Cotton still led by 10 after Round 3, so a nervous, final-round 79 didn't hurt too much. He won by five strokes with a total of 283, tying the then-tournament record set two years earlier by Gene Sarazen.
Here's some trivia for you, courtesy of the R&A: Back in the day, one of the better-known balls in golf was the Dunlop 65. That golf ball was named in honor of Cotton's second-round 65 here.
Cotton, who later became Sir Henry Cotton, ended 10 years of American rule. The previous 10 winners of the British Open were either native-born Americans (Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Denny Shute), or America-based golfers (Jim Barnes, Tommy Armour).
1934 British Open Golf Tournament Scores
Results from the 1934 British Open golf tournament played at Royal St. George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England (x-won playoff; a-amateur):
| Henry Cotton | 67-65-72-79--283 |
| Sid Brews | 76-71-70-71--288 |
| Alf Padgham | 71-70-75-74--290 |
| Marcel Dallemagne | 71-73-71-77--292 |
| Joe Kirkwood | 74-69-71-78--292 |
| Macdonald Smith | 77-71-72-72--292 |
| Bert Hodson | 71-74-74-76--295 |
| Charles Whitcombe | 71-72-74-78--295 |
| Percy Alliss | 73-75-71-77--296 |
| Ernest Whitcombe | 72-77-73-74--296 |
| William Twine | 72-76-75-74--297 |
| John Burton | 80-72-72-74--298 |
| William H. Davies | 76-68-73-82--299 |
| Edward Jarman | 74-76-74-75--299 |
| Charlie Ward | 76-71-72-80--299 |
| Allan Dailey | 74-73-78-75--300 |
| James McDowall | 73-74-77-76--300 |
| a-Jack McLean | 77-76-69-78--300 |
| Reg Whitcombe | 75-76-74-75--300 |
| Denny Shute | 71-72-80-78--301 |
| Alfred Beck | 78-72-78-74--302 |
| Bert Gadd | 76-74-74-78--302 |
| William Nolan | 73-71-75-83--302 |
| Gene Sarazen | 75-73-74-80--302 |
| Percy Weston | 72-76-77-77--302 |
| Jimmy Adams | 73-78-73-79--303 |
| Tom Green | 75-73-74-81--303 |
| Alf Perry | 76-76-74-77--303 |
| Auguste Boyer | 78-75-77-74--304 |
| Leslie Cotton | 76-73-79-76--304 |
| Don Curtis | 77-75-74-79--305 |
| Syd Easterbrook | 77-72-79-77--305 |
| Duncan McCulloch | 73-74-75-83--305 |
| Fred Taggart | 70-76-82-77--305 |
| Herbert Jolly | 73-77-76-80--306 |
| William Laidlaw | 71-77-83-75--306 |
| Tom Pierpoint | 77-73-79-77--306 |
| Mark Seymour | 78-75-78-75--306 |
| Dick Burton | 76-71-79-81--307 |
| Fred Jarman | 76-76-79-76--307 |
| a-A.S.G. Thompson | 76-75-75-81--307 |
| Laurie Ayton | 76-75-78-79--308 |
| Tom Collinge | 73-76-81-78--308 |
| William Davis | 78-73-77-80--308 |
| Cecil Denny | 71-74-83-80--308 |
| a-J.A. Flaherty | 80-70-80-78--308 |
| a-W.L. Hartley | 76-77-77-78--308 |
| Nicasic Sagardia | 76-75-74-83--308 |
| Tom Williamson | 80-70-79-79--308 |
| Angel De la Torre | 79-74-77-79--309 |
| Frank Dennis | 74-78-78-79--309 |
| George Gadd | 75-72-80-82--309 |
| A.G. Matthews | 75-72-81-81--309 |
| John McMillan | 74-75-79-81--309 |
| Edward Musty | 76-77-78-78--309 |
| Firmin Cavalo | 79-71-76-84--310 |
| Sydney Fairweather | 80-72-80-78--310 |
| James Forrester | 79-72-80-80--311 |
| a-Leslie Garnett | 73-76-80-82--311 |
| Hubert Prowse | 80-72-81-78--311 |
| Fred Robson | 75-78-78-80--311 |
| a-E.F. Storey | 77-76-76-82--311 |
| John Donaldson | 75-77-82-79--313 |
| Gordon Good | 72-80-79-82--313 |
| a-F. Ricardo | 78-75-76-84--313 |
| A.E. Whiting | 78-74-83-80--315 |
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More on the British Open
• Masters Winners
• U.S. Open Winners
• PGA Championship Winners
• British Open Index on About.com
