1976 Open Championship

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1976 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates7–10 July 1976
LocationSouthport, England
Course(s)Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72[1]
Length7,001 yards (6,402 m)[1]
Field155 players
84 after 1st cut
66 after 2nd cut[1]
Cut152 (+8) (1st cut)
226 (+10) (2nd cut)[1]
Prize fund£75,000
$135,000
Winner's share£7,500
$13,500
Champion
United States Johnny Miller
279 (−9)
← 1975
1977 →
 Royal Birkdale  Golf Club is located in Merseyside
 Royal Birkdale  Golf Club
 Royal Birkdale
 Golf Club
class=notpageimage|
Location in Southport, Merseyside,
north of Liverpool, England

The 1976 Open Championship was the 105th Open Championship, played 7–10 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Johnny Miller won his only Open championship, six strokes ahead of runners-up Seve Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus. It was Miller's second and last major championship title; his first was the U.S. Open in 1973.[2][3][4]

Ballesteros, age 19, was the 54-hole leader at 211 (−5), two strokes ahead of Miller.[5] In the final round, he was seven over par after twelve holes, which included a triple-bogey at the eleventh. Ballesteros rallied on the final six holes, with three birdies and an eagle, to tie Nicklaus for second place.

Defending champion Tom Watson carded an 80 (+8) in the third round for 227 (+11) and missed the second cut by a stroke. U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate was level par after two rounds, but also missed the second cut with an 87 for 231.[6] Masters winner Raymond Floyd finished in fourth at 286 (−2), a stroke behind Ballesteros and Nicklaus. The championship is also well remembered for the one and only appearance of Maurice Flitcroft who posed as a professional to gain entry and carded a record 121 for his first round before being banned by the R&A.[7]

Past champions in the field[]

Made both cuts[]

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par Finish
Jack Nicklaus  United States 1966, 1970 74 70 72 69 285 −3 T2
Tom Weiskopf  United States 1973 73 72 76 71 292 +4 T17
Gary Player  South Africa 1959, 1968, 1974 72 72 79 71 294 +6 T28
Roberto De Vicenzo  Argentina 1967 77 71 76 72 296 +8 T32
Tony Jacklin  England 1969 73 77 76 72 298 +10 T42
Arnold Palmer  United States 1961, 1962 75 72 76 77 300 +12 T55

Source:[4]

Missed the second cut[]

Player Country Year won R1 R2 R3 Total To par
Tom Watson  United States 1975 75 72 80 227 +11
Bob Charles  New Zealand 1963 72 76 81 229 +13

Source:[6]

Missed the first cut[]

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 Total To par
Sam Snead  United States 1946 79 75 154 +10
Peter Thomson  Australia 1954, 1955,
1956, 1958, 1965		 75 79 154 +10
Kel Nagle  Australia 1960 81 74 155 +11
Bobby Locke  South Africa 1949, 1950,
1952, 1957		 83 81 164 +20
Fred Daly  Northern Ireland 1947 86 89 175 +31
Gene Sarazen  United States 1932 WD

Round summaries[]

First round[]

Wednesday, 7 July 1976

Place Player Country Score To par
T1 Seve Ballesteros  Spain 69 −3
Christy O'Connor Jnr  Ireland
Norio Suzuki  Japan
T4 Brian Barnes  Scotland 70 −2
Tom Kite  United States
Jack Newton  Australia
T7 Bill Brask  United States 71 −1
John Fourie  South Africa
Graham Marsh  Australia
T10 Bob Charles  New Zealand 72 E
Jan Dorrestein  Netherlands
Hubert Green  United States
Johnny Miller  United States
Gary Player  South Africa

Second round[]

Thursday, 8 July 1976

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Seve Ballesteros  Spain 69-69=138 −6
2 Johnny Miller  United States 72-68=140 −4
T3 Hubert Green  United States 72-70=142 −2
Christy O'Connor Jnr  Ireland 69-73=142
T5 Brian Barnes  Scotland 70-73=143 −1
Raymond Floyd  United States 76-67=143
Tommy Horton  England 74-69=143
T8 George Burns  United States 75-69=144 E
 United States 77-67=144
Guy Hunt  Wales 76-68=144
Tom Kite  United States 70-74=144
Graham Marsh  Australia 71-73=144
Jack Newton  Australia 70-74=144
Jack Nicklaus  United States 74-70=144
Jerry Pate  United States 73-71=144
Gary Player  South Africa 72-72=144
Norio Suzuki  Japan 69-75=144

Amateurs: McEvoy (+12), Squires (+12), Powell (+14), Poxon (+14), McNally (+15), McLean (+17), Ridley (+22).

Third round[]

Friday, 9 July 1976

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Seve Ballesteros  Spain 69-69-73=211 −5
2 Johnny Miller  United States 72-68-73=213 −3
3 Tommy Horton  England 74-69-72=215 −1
T4 Graham Marsh  Australia 71-73-72=216 E
Jack Nicklaus  United States 74-70-72=216
Raymond Floyd  United States 76-67-73=216
T7 Tom Kite  United States 70-74-73=217 +1
Christy O'Connor Jnr  Ireland 69-73-75=217
T9 Bobby Cole  South Africa 75-71-72=218 +2
Brian Barnes  Scotland 70-73-75=218

Source:[6]

Final round[]

Saturday, 10 July 1976

Place Player Country Score To par Money (£)
1 Johnny Miller  United States 72-68-73-66=279 −9 7,500
T2 Jack Nicklaus  United States 74-70-72-69=285 −3 5,250
Seve Ballesteros  Spain 69-69-73-74=285
4 Raymond Floyd  United States 76-67-73-70=286 −2 3,800
T5 Mark James  England 76-72-74-66=288 E 2,820
Hubert Green  United States 72-70-78-68=288
Tom Kite  United States 70-74-73-71=288
Christy O'Connor Jnr  Ireland 69-73-75-71=288
Tommy Horton  England 74-69-72-73=288
T10 George Burns  United States 75-69-75-70=289 +1 1,975
Peter Butler  England 74-72-73-70=289
Vicente Fernández  Argentina 79-71-69-70=289
Norio Suzuki  Japan 69-75-75-70=289

Source:[4][8]

Scorecard[]

Final round

Hole 1 2 3 4; 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 3 5 4 5 5
United States Miller −2 −3 −3 −3 −3 −3 −3 −4 −4 −4 −4 −5 −7 −7 −7 −7 −8 −9
Spain Ballesteros −5 −4 −4 −4 −4 −2 −2 −1 −1 −2 +1 +2 +1 E E E −2 −3
United States Nicklaus E E −1 −2 −2 E E E E E E +1 E 1 −1 −1 −2 −3
United States Floyd E E E E −1 −2 −1 −1 E −1 −1 E −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −2

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+

Source:[4]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 60, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  2. ^ Jenkins, Dan (19 July 1976). "At last, he's out of the crowd". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
  3. ^ "Miller wins British Open". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 11 July 1976. p. 1, sec. 3.
  4. ^ a b c d "Miller turns it into runaway". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 11 July 1976. p. B1.
  5. ^ "Ballesteros is Bullish in British". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 10 July 1976. p. 1, sec. 2.
  6. ^ a b c "Golf: British Open scores". Chicago Tribune. 10 July 1976. p. 2, sec. 2.
  7. ^ @ajcdeane (21 February 2021). "Maurice's memoirs remain tragically..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ "1976 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.

External links[]

Coordinates: 53°37′19″N 3°01′59″W / 53.622°N 3.033°W / 53.622; -3.033

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