1973 Open Championship
The 1973 Open Championship was the 102nd Open Championship, played 11–14 July at Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland. Tom Weiskopf won his only major championship by three strokes over runners-up Neil Coles and Johnny Miller, the winner of the U.S. Open a month earlier. Weiskopf was a wire-to-wire winner and his four-round total of 12-under-par 276 matched the then-existing Open Championship record set by Arnold Palmer on the same course in 1962.
Gene Sarazen, 71, made a hole-in-one in the first round at the famous 8th hole, a 126-yard (115 m) par-3 named the "Postage Stamp," due to its small green. Lee Trevino's bid for a third straight Open fell short, thirteen strokes back in a tie for tenth place.
This was the course's last Open Championship under the name Troon Golf Club; it became Royal Troon Golf Club five years later in 1978, and next hosted in 1982.
Course
Old Course
| Hole | Name | Yards | Par | Hole | Name | Yards | Par | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seal | 362 | 4 | 10 | Sandhills | 437 | 4 | |
| 2 | Black Rock | 391 | 4 | 11 | The Railway | 481 | 5 | |
| 3 | Gyaws | 381 | 4 | 12 | The Fox | 432 | 4 | |
| 4 | Dunure | 556 | 5 | 13 | Burmah | 468 | 4 | |
| 5 | Greenan | 210 | 3 | 14 | Alton | 180 | 3 | |
| 6 | Turnberry | 577 | 5 | 15 | Crosbie | 457 | 4 | |
| 7 | Tel-el-Kebir | 389 | 4 | 16 | Well | 542 | 5 | |
| 8 | Postage Stamp | 126 | 3 | 17 | Rabbit | 223 | 3 | |
| 9 | The Monk | 427 | 4 | 18 | Craigend | 425 | 4 | |
| Out | 3,419 | 36 | In | 3,645 | 36 | |||
| Source: | Total | 7,064 | 72 | |||||
Lengths of the course for previous Opens (since 1950):
Opens from 1962 through 1989 played the 11th hole as a par-5.
Round summaries
First round
Wednesday, 11 July 1973
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tom Weiskopf |
68 | −4 |
| T2 | Jack Nicklaus |
69 | −3 |
| Bert Yancey
| |||
| 4 | Johnny Miller |
70 | −2 |
| T5 |  Peter Butler |
71 | −1 |
| Neil Coles
| |||
 Bruce Crampton
| |||
| Lanny Wadkins
| |||
| Peter Wilcock
| |||
| T10 |  Vin Baker |
72 | E |
 Roberto De Vicenzo
| |||
| Bruce Devlin
| |||
| Arnold Palmer
| |||
| Chi-Chi Rodríguez
| |||
| David J. Russell (a)
|
Second round
Thursday, 12 July 1973
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Weiskopf |
68-67=135 | −9 |
| T2 | Johnny Miller |
70-68=138 | −6 |
| Bert Yancey |
69-69=138 | ||
| 4 | Jack Nicklaus |
69-70=139 | −5 |
| 5 |  Christy O'Connor Snr |
73-68=141 | −3 |
| 6 |  Bernard Gallacher |
73-69=142 | −2 |
| T7 | Brian Barnes |
76-67=143 | −1 |
| Peter Butler |
71-72=143 | ||
| Neil Coles |
71-72=143 | ||
| T10 |  Bob Charles |
73-71=144 | E |
| Lanny Wadkins |
71-73=144 |
Amateurs: Edwards (+6), Homer (+7), Russell (+7), R. Foster (+8),
Stuart (+9), Milne (+10), Hedges (+13), Bonallack (+15), Sym (+15), Burch (+16), Eyles (+18), James (+24)
Third round
Friday, 13 July 1973
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Weiskopf |
68-67-71=206 | −10 |
| 2 | Johnny Miller |
70-68-69=207 | −9 |
| 3 | Bert Yancey |
69-69-73=211 | −5 |
| T4 | Brian Barnes |
76-67-70=213 | −3 |
| Neil Coles |
71-72-70=213 | ||
| 6 | Lanny Wadkins |
71-73-70=214 | −2 |
| T7 | Jack Nicklaus |
69-70-76=215 | −1 |
| Christy O'Connor Snr |
73-68-74=215 | ||
| 9 | Doug McClelland |
76-71-69=216 | E |
| T10 | Peter Butler |
71-72-74=217 | +1 |
| Bob Charles |
73-71-73=217 | ||
| Bernard Gallacher |
73-69-75=217 |
Amateurs: Edwards (+5), R. Foster (+10), Russell (+12), Homer (+16)
Final round
Saturday, 14 July 1973
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Weiskopf |
68-67-71-70=276 | −12 | 5,500 |
| T2 | Neil Coles |
71-72-70-66=279 | −9 | 3,625 |
| Johnny Miller |
70-68-69-72=279 | |||
| 4 | Jack Nicklaus |
69-70-76-65=280 | −8 | 2,750 |
| 5 | Bert Yancey |
69-69-73-70=281 | −7 | 2,450 |
| 6 | Peter Butler |
71-72-74-69=286 | −2 | 2,150 |
| T7 | Bob Charles |
73-71-73-71=288 | E | 1,717 |
| Christy O'Connor Snr |
73-68-74-73=288 | |||
| Lanny Wadkins |
71-73-70-74=288 | |||
| T10 | Brian Barnes |
76-67-70-76=289 | +1 | 1,350 |
| Gay Brewer |
76-71-72-70=289 | |||
| Harold Henning |
73-73-73-70=289 | |||
| Lee Trevino |
75-73-73-68=289 |
Amateurs: Edwards (+8)
Source:
- The exchange rate at the time was approximately 2.54 dollars (US) per pound sterling.
References
- ^ "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 63, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ "Nicklaus favored in Open". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. 11 July 1973. p. 16.
- ^ "Course card". Glasgow Herald. Scotland. 12 July 1973. p. 4.
- ^ "Weiskopf arrives with British Open win". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. 15 July 1973. p. 1C.
- ^ "Postage Stamp, hole #8". Royal Troon Golf Club. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
- ^ "Gene Sarazen gets ace in British Open golf". The Day. New London, Connecticut. Associated Press. 12 July 1973. p. 28.
- ^ Archer, Ian (12 July 1973). "Gene Sarazen gives Open Championship a touch of class". Glasgow Herald. Scotland. p. 4.
- ^ Jenkins, Dan (23 July 1973). "His first hurrah". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
- ^ "Now it's Royal Troon". Glasgow Herald. Scotland. 5 June 1978. p. 16.
- ^ "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 33, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
- ^ "1973 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
- ^ "Foreign exchange". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 14 July 1973. p. 11.