14th Open

Musselburgh Links 1874

Mungo Park wins the first Musselburgh Links Open

Mungo Park was the brother of Willie Park Snr, who had won three of the first seven Opens. Mungo had spent much of his early life at sea but when he played in The Open for the first time in 1874, he beat the four-time Champion Young Tom Morris by two strokes.

This was the first Championship played at Musselburgh Links, over four loops of the nine-hole course. Mungo Park opened with a 75 and led by four strokes. The featured pairing of Willie Park and Tommy Morris, who took a large gallery with them, returned 83s. They but were not at their best, Morris missing the second fairway, his ball finished on a road.

Mungo Park’s putting touch deserted him over the second 18 holes but an 84 established a 159 total that set a tough target for the rest. Willie Park slipped out of contention, adding an 87 for the second 18 holes to finish 11 shots behind his brother. Young Tom had a chance of catching the leader but he missed a short putt at the 17th hole and dropped two shots at the last finishing two shots behind the new Champion.

This proved to be the last appearance of Young Tom Morris in The Open. He missed the 1875 Open while grieving for his wife and baby who died in childbirth. The 4 time Open champion died only 4 months later on Christmas Day 1875 at the very young age of 24.