1966 Open Championship

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1966 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates6–9 July 1966
LocationGullane, Scotland
Course(s)Muirfield Golf Links
Statistics
Par71[1]
Length6,887 yards (6,297 m)[1]
Field130 players, 64 after cut[1]
Cut150 (+8)[1]
Prize fund£15,000
$42,000
Winner's share£2,100
$5,880
Champion
United States Jack Nicklaus
282 (−2)
← 1965
1967 →
Muirfield is located in Scotland
Muirfield
Muirfield
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Location in Scotland
Muirfield is located in East Lothian
Muirfield
Muirfield
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Location in East Lothian, Scotland

The 1966 Open Championship was the 95th Open Championship, held 6–9 July at Muirfield Golf Links in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Jack Nicklaus won the first of his three Claret Jugs, one stroke ahead of runners-up Doug Sanders and Dave Thomas.[2][3] It was the sixth of eighteen major titles for Nicklaus and marked the completion of the first of his three career grand slams.[4][5]

This was the first Open to be scheduled over four days, with one round each day, finishing on Saturday. Previous editions had played the third and fourth rounds on Friday. The U.S. Open changed to a four-day schedule the previous year in 1965, moving its final round from Saturday afternoon to Sunday. The Open Championship operated on a Wednesday through Saturday schedule through 1979.

It was the final Open for 1964 champion Tony Lema, who died in a plane crash two weeks later, hours after the PGA Championship.[6]

Nicklaus has described Muirfield as "the best golf course in Britain."[7] He later developed a championship golf course and community in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of his hometown of Columbus. Opened in 1974, Nicklaus named it Muirfield Village and it hosts his Memorial Tournament, a top invitational event on the PGA Tour since 1976.

Course[]

Main article: Muirfield
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 429 363 385 187 516 473 187 451 495 3,486 475 363 385 154 462 407 198 528 429 3,401 6,887
Par 4 4 4 3 5 4 3 4 5 36 4 4 4 3 4 4 3 5 4 35 71

Source:[8]
Lengths of the course for previous Opens (since 1950):

  • 1959: 6,806 yards (6,223 m), par 72

Past champions in the field[]

Made the cut[]

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par Finish
Gary Player  South Africa 1959 72 74 71 69 286 +2 T4
Kel Nagle  Australia 1960 72 68 76 70 286 +2 T4
Peter Thomson  Australia 1954, 1955,
1956, 1958, 1965		 73 75 69 71 288 +4 T8
Arnold Palmer  United States 1961, 1962 73 72 69 74 288 +4 T8
Tony Lema  United States 1964 71 76 76 75 298 +14 T30
Bob Charles  New Zealand 1963 74 74 77 75 300 +16 T37

Source:[2][3][4]

Missed the cut[]

Player Country Year won R1 R2 Total To par
Max Faulkner  England 1951 82 71 153 +11

Round summaries[]

First round[]

Wednesday, 6 July 1966

Place Player Country Score To par
T1 Jimmy Hitchcock  England 70 −1
Jack Nicklaus  United States
T3 Harold Henning  South Africa 71 E
Tony Lema  United States
Doug Sanders  United States
Ronnie Shade (a)  Scotland
T7 Fred Boobyer  England 72 +1
 England
Alex Caygill  England
Christy Greene  Ireland
Kel Nagle  Australia
Gary Player  South Africa
Dave Thomas  Wales

Second round[]

Thursday, 7 July 1966

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Jack Nicklaus  United States 70-67=137 −5
2 Peter Butler  England 73-65=138 −4
T3 Harold Henning  South Africa 71-69=140 −2
Kel Nagle  Australia 72-68=140
Phil Rodgers  United States 74-66=140
T6 Doug Sanders  United States 71-70=141 −1
Ronnie Shade (a)  Scotland 71-70=141
8 Bruce Devlin  Australia 73-69=142 E
9 Alex Caygill  England 72-71=143 +1
10 Julius Boros  United States 73-71=144 +2

Amateurs: Shade (-1), Cole (+4), Townsend (+6), Bonallack (+7),
Millensted (+12), Smith (+13), Falkenburg (+22)

Third round[]

Friday, 8 July 1966

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Phil Rodgers  United States 74-66-70=210 −3
2 Jack Nicklaus  United States 70-67-75=212 −1
3 Doug Sanders  United States 71-70-72=213 E
T4 Arnold Palmer  United States 73-72-69=214 +1
Dave Thomas  Wales 72-73-69=214
6 Harold Henning  South Africa 71-69-75=215 +2
T7 Alex Caygill  England 72-71-73=216 +3
Bruce Devlin  Australia 73-69-74=216
Sebastián Miguel  Spain 74-72-70=216
Kel Nagle  Australia 72-68-76=216
Ronnie Shade (a)  Scotland 71-70-75=216

Final round[]

Saturday, 9 July 1966

Place Player Country Score To par Money (£)
1 Jack Nicklaus  United States 70-67-75-70=282 −2 2,100
T2 Doug Sanders  United States 71-70-72-70=283 −1 1,350
Dave Thomas  Wales 72-73-69-69=283
T4 Bruce Devlin  Australia 73-69-74-70=286 +2 696
Kel Nagle  Australia 72-68-76-70=286
Gary Player  South Africa 72-74-71-69=286
Phil Rodgers  United States 74-66-70-76=286
T8 Dave Marr  United States 73-76-69-70=288 +4 330
Sebastián Miguel  Spain 74-72-70-72=288
Arnold Palmer  United States 73-72-69-74=288
Peter Thomson  Australia 73-75-69-71=288

Source:[2][3][4]
Amateurs: Shade (+9), Townsend (+11), Bonallack (+13), Cole (+14)

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 70, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Nicklaus wins British Open by stroke". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 10 July 1966. p. 1, sec. 2.
  3. ^ a b c Jacobs, Raymond (11 July 1966). "Nicklaus's Open at fifth attempt". Glasgow Herald. p. 4.
  4. ^ a b c "Happy Nicklaus plans return trip". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 10 July 1966. p. 1B.
  5. ^ Wright, Alfred (18 July 1966). "Smiling Jack wins a rough one". Sports Illustrated. p. 20.
  6. ^ "Lema plane crash probed". Milwaukee Sentinel. United Press International. 26 July 1966. p. 1-sports.
  7. ^ "Muirfield club steeped in tradition". Star-Phoenix. (Saskatoon). Reuters. 14 July 1980. p. B1.
  8. ^ "Card of course". Glasgow Herald. 9 July 1966. p. 13.

External links[]

Coordinates: 56°02′35″N 2°49′23″W / 56.043°N 2.823°W / 56.043; -2.823

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