Troon, June 15.
The british Open Golf Championship was continued to-day in fine weather. The course, which was in excellent condition, was j; crowded with spectators. The first} couple stated off at 8.30.
Whitcombe (Lansdowne), who was one of the best qualifiers on Tuesday with 146, maintained his wonderful form, and broke the course record. He led the field in} the first round with 70, and at the, conclusion of the day jointly headed the list with Havers (Coombe Hill), with 146.
The American, Hagen, took 147; Gordon Lockhart—(Gleneagles), 19: Robert Scott (Glasgow), 150; ton (Lytham), Fernie (Turn-berry) and the Australian, Kirkwood, 151: the Americans, Farrell and Macdonald-Smith, 152 and 153 the British players, Duncan, Ray and Mitchell, 154; Tolly 156; the South Afri ican, Brews, and Sandy! Herd 15: taylor, 158: the American, Diegel, 160: Braid, 164; andj the American Aulbach, 174.
The final,' over 36 holes, will be played to-morrow.—Reuter, Troon, June 15.
The (British "Open Golf Championship was won to-day by A. G. Havers, the Coombe ill professional, with am aggregate of 295 for the four rounds, The Americans, Walter Hagen (the holder) and Macdonald-Smith, took 296 and 297 respectively andj the Australian, Kirwood, 298, The match was played in ideal conditions, The third round provided a series of sensations. Macdonald-Snrith, breaking the course record with 69, took the lead with an aggregate of 222. Then Kirkwood, with 69, led with 220, but) Havers, with another 73, headed the field at the end of the round with 219, followed by Whitcombe and Kirkwood with 220, Hagen 9291 and Macdonald-Smith 222.
The final struggle was very exciting. A crowd of 15,000 spectators followed Hagen, who wanted 73 to win. He turned at 38 and made a great effort on the way home, but threw his chance away by. a poor approach at the last hole.
Haver's the performance was "most meritorious, as he was not blessed with luck. He frequently found the rough, overran the green or got into a difficult lie but he recovered splendidly.
Fernie of Turnberry finished fifth with 300, Duncan and Whitcombe took 302, Mitchell bracketed with four others with 203, Ray took 304. the American, Farrell, 306, TolJey (fi2, Taylor 316, Braid 317 and the American, Aulbach, 329.
Tt is estimated that 40,000 people were present.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.