1956 Open Championship
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The 1956 Open Championship was the 85th Open Championship, held 4–6 July at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Two-time defending champion Peter Thomson of Australia won his third consecutive Open, three strokes ahead of runner-up Flory Van Donck of Belgium. It was the third of five Open titles for the 26-year-old Thomson.
Qualifying took place on 2–3 July. Entries played 18 holes on the Championship course and 18 holes at Wallasey. With a record 360 entries it was decided that, for the first time, qualifying would be in groups of three rather than the usual two. The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100. Ties for 100th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 152 and 96 players qualified. Gary Player and Peter Thomson led the qualifiers on 140. The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was set at 50. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut. Prize money was unchanged with £1,000 for the winner out of a total purse of £3,750.
Round summaries
First round
Wednesday, 4 July 1956
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wales Dennis Smalldon | 68 | −3 |
| 2 | Argentina Enrique Bertolino | 69 | −2 |
| T3 | Canada Al Balding | 70 | −1 |
| England Eric Lester | |||
| Wales Dave Thomas | |||
| Australia Peter Thomson | |||
| T7 | Spain Carlos Celles | 71 | E |
| Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo | |||
| Spain Ángel Miguel | |||
| South Africa Gary Player | |||
| Belgium Flory Van Donck |
Second round
Thursday, 5 July 1956
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia Peter Thomson | 70-70=140 | −2 |
| T2 | Argentina Enrique Bertolino | 69-72=141 | −1 |
| Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo | 71-70=141 | ||
| T4 | Spain Ángel Miguel | 71-74=145 | +3 |
| Belgium Flory Van Donck | 71-74=145 | ||
| 6 | England Eric Lester | 70-76=146 | +4 |
| T7 | South Africa Gary Player | 71-76=147 | +5 |
| Wales Dennis Smalldon | 68-79=147 | ||
| T9 | England Henry Cotton | 72-76=148 | +6 |
| England Bernard Hunt | 75-73=148 | ||
| United States Mike Souchak | 74-74=148 | ||
| United States Frank Stranahan | 72-76=148 | ||
| Wales Dave Thomas | 70-78=148 | ||
| England Charlie Ward | 73-75=148 | ||
| England Harry Weetman | 72-76=148 |
Amateurs: Carr (+8), Sharp (+12), Jones (+12), Tate (+14), Shepperson (+17), Thirlwell (+18), Fogarty (+21).
Third round
Friday, 6 July 1956 - (morning)
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia Peter Thomson | 70-70-72=212 | −1 |
| 2 | Belgium Flory Van Donck | 71-74-70=215 | +2 |
| 3 | Argentina Enrique Bertolino | 69-72-76=217 | +4 |
| 4 | England Henry Cotton | 72-76-71=219 | +6 |
| T5 | Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo | 71-70-79=220 | +7 |
| Spain Ángel Miguel | 71-74-75=220 | ||
| South Africa Gary Player | 71-76-73=220 | ||
| United States Frank Stranahan | 72-76-72=220 | ||
| 9 | Argentina Antonio Cerdá | 72-81-68=221 | +8 |
| T10 | Scotland John Panton | 74-76-72=222 | +9 |
| United States Mike Souchak | 74-74-74=222 |
Final round
Friday, 6 July 1956 - (afternoon)
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia Peter Thomson | 70-70-72-74=286 | +2 | 1,000 |
| 2 | Belgium Flory Van Donck | 71-74-70-74=289 | +5 | 500 |
| 3 | Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo | 71-70-79-70=290 | +6 | 350 |
| 4 | South Africa Gary Player | 71-76-73-71=291 | +7 | 200 |
| 5 | Scotland John Panton | 74-76-72-70=292 | +8 | 150 |
| T6 | Argentina Enrique Bertolino | 69-72-76-76=293 | +9 | 87 |
| England Henry Cotton | 72-76-71-74=293 | |||
| T8 | Argentina Antonio Cerdá | 72-81-68-73=294 | +10 | 62 |
| United States Mike Souchak | 74-74-74-72=294 | |||
| T10 | Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr | 73-78-74-70=295 | +11 | 40 |
| England Harry Weetman | 72-76-75-72=295 |
Amateur: Carr (+22).
External links
53°23′06″N 3°11′24″W/53.385°N 3.190°W/ 53.385; -3.190