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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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1961 Open Championship

The 1961 Open Championship was the 90th Open Championship, played 12–15 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Arnold Palmer won the first of two consecutive Open Championships, one stroke ahead of Dai Rees. It was the second Open for Palmer, the runner-up in his first in 1960, and the fourth of his seven major titles. He was the first American to win the Claret Jug since Ben Hogan in 1953. This was the second Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, which hosted in 1954.

Qualifying took place on 10–11 July. Entries played 18 holes on the Championship course and 18 holes at Hillside Golf Club. The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 120. Ties for 120th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 151 and 108 players qualified. There were 22 players on 152. Bob Charles led the qualifiers on 136, two ahead of Gary Player. A maximum of 50 players could make the cut after 36 holes. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut.

Gale-force winds caused scores to soar during the second round on Thursday, followed by heavy rains which washed out both rounds on Friday. Cancellation was a possibility, but the weather cooperated enough to play the third and fourth rounds in showers on Saturday.

1959 Open champion and reigning Masters champion Gary Player withdrew early in the third round due to a stomach ailment.

Course layout

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 520 427 416 212 315 468 158 434 418 3,368 390 368 452 202 517 381 510 186 470 3,476 6,844
Par 5 4 4 3 4 5 3 4 4 36 4 4 4 3 5 4 5 3 4 36 72

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 12 July 1961

Place Player Score To par
T1 South Africa Harold Henning 68 −4
Australia Kel Nagle
Wales Dai Rees
T4 France Jean Garaïalde 69 −3
England Norman Johnson
England David Miller
T7 South Africa Alan Brookes 70 −2
England Neil Coles
England Sam King
Scotland John MacDonald
United States Arnold Palmer
England Lionel Platts

Second round

Thursday, 13 July 1961

Place Player Score To par
T1 South Africa Harold Henning 68-74=142 −2
Wales Dai Rees 68-74=142
T3 Australia Kel Nagle 68-75=143 −1
United States Arnold Palmer 70-73=143
T5 England Neil Coles 70-77=147 +3
England Sam King 70-77=147
Spain Ramón Sota 71-76=147
Australia Peter Thomson 75-72=147
T9 England Peter Alliss 73-75=148 +4
England Ken Bousfield 71-77=148
Republic of Ireland Harry Bradshaw 73-75=148
England Peter Butler 72-76=148
England Eric Lester 71-77=148
England David Miller 69-79=148
Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr 71-77=148
Wales Dave Thomas 71-77=148
South Africa Brian Wilkes 72-76=148

Amateurs: Christmas (+6), White (+6), Chapman (+11), Bonallack (+15), Carr (+17), Reece (+18), Pearson (+25)

Third round

Saturday, 15 July 1961 - (morning)

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Arnold Palmer 70-73-69=212 −4
2 Wales Dai Rees 68-74-71=213 −3
3 Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr 71-77-67=215 −1
4 England Neil Coles 70-77-69=216 E
T5 South Africa Harold Henning 68-74-75=217 +1
Australia Peter Thomson 75-72-70=217
7 Australia Kel Nagle 68-75-75=218 +2
T8 Scotland Eric Brown 73-76-70=219 +3
England Norman Johnson 69-80-70=219
Spain Ramón Sota 71-76-72=219

Final round

Saturday, 15 July 1961 - (afternoon)

Place Player Score To par Money (£)
1 United States Arnold Palmer 70-73-69-72=284 −4 1,400
2 Wales Dai Rees 68-74-71-72=285 −3 1,000
T3 England Neil Coles 70-77-69-72=288 E 710
Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr 71-77-67-73=288
T5 Scotland Eric Brown 73-76-70-70=289 +1 400
Australia Kel Nagle 68-75-75-71=289
7 Australia Peter Thomson 75-72-70-73=290 +2 275
T8 England Peter Alliss 73-75-72-71=291 +3 190
England Ken Bousfield 71-77-75-68=291
T10 South Africa Harold Henning 68-74-75-76=293 +5 140
England Syd Scott 76-75-71-71=293

Amateurs: White (+18), Christmas (+20)

References

  1. ^ "Palmer takes British crown". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. 16 July 1961. p. 1B.
  2. ^ "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 75, 203–8. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  3. ^ "Player's controlled power an Open golf hint - Charles leading qualifier". The Times. 12 July 1961. p. 12.
  4. ^ "Palmer fires opening 71 in British Open tourney". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. 10 July 1961. p. 3B.
  5. ^ "Trick-shooting Ezar fires 70". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. 11 July 1961. p. 3B.
  6. ^ "Palmer trailing by one in British". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 14 July 1961. p. 15.
  7. ^ "British weather may halt open tourney". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 15 July 1961. p. 9.
  8. ^ Longhurst, Henry (24 July 1961). "Arnie gets the one he wanted". Sports Illustrated. p. 20. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.

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