1976 Open Championship
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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.
Ballesteros, age 19, was the 54-hole leader at 211 (−5), two strokes ahead of Miller. 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. 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.
Round summaries
First round
Wednesday, 7 July 1976
Second round
Thursday, 8 July 1976
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain Seve Ballesteros | 69-69=138 | −6 |
| 2 | United States Johnny Miller | 72-68=140 | −4 |
| T3 | United States Hubert Green | 72-70=142 | −2 |
| Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Jnr | 69-73=142 | ||
| T5 | Scotland Brian Barnes | 70-73=143 | −1 |
| United States Raymond Floyd | 76-67=143 | ||
| England Tommy Horton | 74-69=143 | ||
| T8 | United States George Burns | 75-69=144 | E |
| United States Carl Higgins | 77-67=144 | ||
| Wales Guy Hunt | 76-68=144 | ||
| United States Tom Kite | 70-74=144 | ||
| Australia Graham Marsh | 71-73=144 | ||
| Australia Jack Newton | 70-74=144 | ||
| United States Jack Nicklaus | 74-70=144 | ||
| United States Jerry Pate | 73-71=144 | ||
| South Africa Gary Player | 72-72=144 | ||
| Japan Norio Suzuki | 69-75=144 |
Amateurs: McEvoy (+12), Squires (+12), Powell (+14), Poxon (+14), McNally (+15), McLean (+17), Ridley (+22).
Third round
Friday, 9 July 1976
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain Seve Ballesteros | 69-69-73=211 | −5 |
| 2 | United States Johnny Miller | 72-68-73=213 | −3 |
| 3 | England Tommy Horton | 74-69-72=215 | −1 |
| T4 | Australia Graham Marsh | 71-73-72=216 | E |
| United States Jack Nicklaus | 74-70-72=216 | ||
| United States Raymond Floyd | 76-67-73=216 | ||
| T7 | United States Tom Kite | 70-74-73=217 | +1 |
| Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Jnr | 69-73-75=217 | ||
| T9 | South Africa Bobby Cole | 75-71-72=218 | +2 |
| Scotland Brian Barnes | 70-73-75=218 |
Source:
Final round
Saturday, 10 July 1976
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States Johnny Miller | 72-68-73-66=279 | −9 | 7,500 |
| T2 | United States Jack Nicklaus | 74-70-72-69=285 | −3 | 5,250 |
| Spain Seve Ballesteros | 69-69-73-74=285 | |||
| 4 | United States Raymond Floyd | 76-67-73-70=286 | −2 | 3,800 |
| T5 | England Mark James | 76-72-74-66=288 | E | 2,820 |
| United States Hubert Green | 72-70-78-68=288 | |||
| United States Tom Kite | 70-74-73-71=288 | |||
| Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Jnr | 69-73-75-71=288 | |||
| England Tommy Horton | 74-69-72-73=288 | |||
| T10 | United States George Burns | 75-69-75-70=289 | +1 | 1,975 |
| England Peter Butler | 74-72-73-70=289 | |||
| Argentina Vicente Fernández | 79-71-69-70=289 | |||
| Japan Norio Suzuki | 69-75-75-70=289 |
Source:
- The exchange rate at the time was approximately 1.78 dollars (US) per pound sterling.
Scorecard
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 |
| United States Miller | −2 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −5 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −9 |
| Spain Ballesteros | −5 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −2 | −2 | −1 | −1 | −2 | +1 | +2 | +1 | E | E | E | −2 | −3 |
| United States Nicklaus | E | E | −1 | −2 | −2 | E | E | E | E | E | E | +1 | E | −1 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −3 |
| United States 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:
External links
53°37′19″N 3°01′59″W/53.622°N 3.033°W/ 53.622; -3.033