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]
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 7–10 July 1976 |
| Location | Southport, England |
| Course(s) | Royal Birkdale Golf Club |
| Tour(s) | European Tour PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 72[1] |
| Length | 7,001 yards (6,402 m)[1] |
| Field | 155 players 84 after 1st cut 66 after 2nd cut[1] |
| Cut | 152 (+8) (1st cut) 226 (+10) (2nd cut)[1] |
| Prize fund | £75,000 $135,000 |
| Winner's share | £7,500 $13,500 |
| Champion | |
 Johnny Miller | |
| 279 (−9) | |
Golf Club
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 qualifier before being banned by the R&A.[7]
Round summaries
editFirst round
editWednesday, 7 July 1976
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 |  Seve Ballesteros |
69 | −3 |
 Christy O'Connor Jnr
| |||
 Norio Suzuki
| |||
| T4 |  Brian Barnes |
70 | −2 |
| Tom Kite
| |||
 Jack Newton
| |||
| T7 | Bill Brask |
71 | −1 |
 John Fourie
| |||
| Graham Marsh
| |||
| T10 |  Bob Charles |
72 | E |
 Jan Dorrestein
| |||
| Hubert Green
| |||
| Johnny Miller
| |||
| Gary Player
|
Second round
editThursday, 8 July 1976
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seve Ballesteros |
69-69=138 | −6 |
| 2 | Johnny Miller |
72-68=140 | −4 |
| T3 | Hubert Green |
72-70=142 | −2 |
| Christy O'Connor Jnr |
69-73=142 | ||
| T5 | Brian Barnes |
70-73=143 | −1 |
| Raymond Floyd |
76-67=143 | ||
 Tommy Horton |
74-69=143 | ||
| T8 | George Burns |
75-69=144 | E |
| Carl Higgins |
77-67=144 | ||
 Guy Hunt |
76-68=144 | ||
| Tom Kite |
70-74=144 | ||
| Graham Marsh |
71-73=144 | ||
| Jack Newton |
70-74=144 | ||
| Jack Nicklaus |
74-70=144 | ||
| Jerry Pate |
73-71=144 | ||
| Gary Player |
72-72=144 | ||
| Norio Suzuki |
69-75=144 |
Amateurs: McEvoy (+12), Squires (+12), Powell (+14), Poxon (+14), McNally (+15), McLean (+17), Ridley (+22).
Third round
editFriday, 9 July 1976
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seve Ballesteros |
69-69-73=211 | −5 |
| 2 | Johnny Miller |
72-68-73=213 | −3 |
| 3 | Tommy Horton |
74-69-72=215 | −1 |
| T4 | Graham Marsh |
71-73-72=216 | E |
| Jack Nicklaus |
74-70-72=216 | ||
| Raymond Floyd |
76-67-73=216 | ||
| T7 | Tom Kite |
70-74-73=217 | +1 |
| Christy O'Connor Jnr |
69-73-75=217 | ||
| T9 | Bobby Cole |
75-71-72=218 | +2 |
| Brian Barnes |
70-73-75=218 |
Source:[6]
Final round
editSaturday, 10 July 1976
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Miller |
72-68-73-66=279 | −9 | 7,500 |
| T2 | Jack Nicklaus |
74-70-72-69=285 | −3 | 5,250 |
| Seve Ballesteros |
69-69-73-74=285 | |||
| 4 | Raymond Floyd |
76-67-73-70=286 | −2 | 3,800 |
| T5 | Mark James |
76-72-74-66=288 | E | 2,820 |
| Hubert Green |
72-70-78-68=288 | |||
| Tom Kite |
70-74-73-71=288 | |||
| Christy O'Connor Jnr |
69-73-75-71=288 | |||
| Tommy Horton |
74-69-72-73=288 | |||
| T10 | George Burns |
75-69-75-70=289 | +1 | 1,975 |
| Peter Butler |
74-72-73-70=289 | |||
 Vicente Fernández |
79-71-69-70=289 | |||
| Norio Suzuki |
69-75-75-70=289 |
- The exchange rate at the time was approximately 1.78 dollars (US) per pound sterling.[9]
Scorecard
editFinal 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 |
| Miller |
−2 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −5 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −9 |
| Ballesteros |
−5 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −2 | −2 | −1 | −1 | −2 | +1 | +2 | +1 | E | E | E | −2 | −3 |
| Nicklaus |
E | E | −1 | −2 | −2 | E | E | E | E | E | E | +1 | E | −1 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −3 |
| 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
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ Jenkins, Dan (19 July 1976). "At last, he's out of the crowd". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
- ^ "Miller wins British Open". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 11 July 1976. p. 1, sec. 3.
- ^ a b c "Miller turns it into runaway". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 11 July 1976. p. B1.
- ^ "Ballesteros is Bullish in British". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 10 July 1976. p. 1, sec. 2.
- ^ a b "Golf: British Open scores". Chicago Tribune. 10 July 1976. p. 2, sec. 2.
- ^ @ajcdeane (21 February 2021). "Maurice's memoirs remain tragically..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "1976 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
- ^ "British Pound / US Dollar Historical Reference Rates from Bank of England for 1976". PoundSterling. July 1976. Retrieved 18 July 2024.