1976 Open Championship

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]

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
Location in Southport, Merseyside,
north of Liverpool, England

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

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First round

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Wednesday, 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

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Thursday, 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

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Friday, 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

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Saturday, 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

Source:[4][8]

Scorecard

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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
  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

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  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 "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 "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.
  9. ^ "British Pound / US Dollar Historical Reference Rates from Bank of England for 1976". PoundSterling. July 1976. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
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53°37′19″N 3°01′59″W / 53.622°N 3.033°W / 53.622; -3.033