1978 Open Championship
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The 1978 Open Championship was the 107th Open Championship, held 12–15 July over the Old Course at St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Jack Nicklaus won his third and final Open championship, two strokes ahead of runners-up Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd, Tom Kite, and Simon Owen. It was the fifteenth of his eighteen major championships and marked the completion of his third career grand slam.
Defending champion Tom Watson was a co-leader after 54 holes, but four consecutive bogeys on the front nine led to a 76 (+4). Watson finished six strokes back in a tie for fourteenth place.
Course
| Hole | Name | Yards | Par | Hole | Name | Yards | Par | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burn | 370 | 4 | 10 | Bobby Jones | 342 | 4 | |
| 2 | Dyke | 411 | 4 | 11 | High (In) | 172 | 3 | |
| 3 | Cartgate (Out) | 371 | 4 | 12 | Heathery (In) | 316 | 4 | |
| 4 | Ginger Beer | 463 | 4 | 13 | Hole O'Cross (In) | 425 | 4 | |
| 5 | Hole O'Cross (Out) | 564 | 5 | 14 | Long | 567 | 5 | |
| 6 | Heathery (Out) | 416 | 4 | 15 | Cartgate (In) | 413 | 4 | |
| 7 | High (Out) | 372 | 4 | 16 | Corner of the Dyke | 382 | 4 | |
| 8 | Short | 178 | 3 | 17 | Road | 461 | 4 | |
| 9 | End | 356 | 4 | 18 | Tom Morris | 354 | 4 | |
| Out | 3,501 | 36 | In | 3,432 | 36 | |||
| Source: | Total | 6,933 | 72 |
Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):
Round summaries
First round
Wednesday, 12 July 1978
Source:
Second round
Thursday, 13 July 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Japan Isao Aoki | 68-71=139 | −5 |
| Spain Seve Ballesteros | 69-70=139 | ||
| United States Ben Crenshaw | 70-69=139 | ||
| T4 | England Gary Cullen | 73-67=140 | −4 |
| Australia Bob Shearer | 71-69=139 | ||
| T6 | United States Bob Byman | 72-69=141 | −3 |
| United States Tom Kite | 72-69=141 | ||
| Japan Tsuneyuki Nakajima | 70-71=141 | ||
| Japan Masashi Ozaki | 72-69=141 | ||
| United States Tom Watson | 73-68=141 | ||
| United States Tom Weiskopf | 69-72=141 |
Source:
Third round
Friday, 14 July 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | England Peter Oosterhuis | 72-70-69=211 | −5 |
| United States Tom Watson | 73-68-70=211 | ||
| T3 | New Zealand Simon Owen | 70-75-67=212 | −4 |
| United States Jack Nicklaus | 71-72-69=212 | ||
| United States Ben Crenshaw | 70-69-73=212 | ||
| Japan Isao Aoki | 68-71-73=212 | ||
| T7 | England Nick Faldo | 71-72-70=213 | −3 |
| United States John Schroeder | 74-69-70=213 | ||
| United States Tom Kite | 72-69-72=213 | ||
| United States Tom Weiskopf | 69-72-72=213 |
Source:
Amateurs: Miller (+2), Brodie (+4), McEvoy (+5), Godwin (+6).
Final round
Saturday, 15 July 1978
| Champion |
| Silver Medal winner (low amateur) |
| (a) = amateur |
| (c) = past champion |
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States Jack Nicklaus (c) | 71-72-69-69=281 | −7 | 17,500 |
| T2 | United States Ben Crenshaw | 70-69-73-71=283 | −5 | 10,237 |
| United States Raymond Floyd | 69-75-71-68=283 | |||
| United States Tom Kite | 72-69-72-70=283 | |||
| New Zealand Simon Owen | 70-75-67-71=283 | |||
| 6 | England Peter Oosterhuis | 72-70-69-73=284 | −4 | 7,000 |
| T7 | Japan Isao Aoki | 68-71-73-73=285 | −3 | 5,512 |
| England Nick Faldo | 71-72-70-72=285 | |||
| United States John Schroeder | 74-69-70-72=285 | |||
| Australia Bob Shearer | 71-69-74-71=285 |
| Leaderboard below the top 10 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
| T11 | Australia Michael Cahill | 71-72-75-68=286 | −2 | 3,905 |
| South Africa Dale Hayes | 74-70-71-71=286 | |||
| United States Orville Moody | 73-69-74-70=286 | |||
| T14 | United States Mark Hayes | 70-75-75-67=287 | −1 | 3,360 |
| Japan Jumbo Ozaki | 72-69-75-71=287 | |||
| United States Tom Watson (c) | 73-68-70-76=287 | |||
| T17 | Spain Seve Ballesteros | 69-70-76-73=288 | E | 2,240 |
| United States Bob Byman | 72-69-74-73=288 | |||
| England Guy Hunt | 71-73-71-73=288 | |||
| Japan Tommy Nakajima | 70-71-76-71=288 | |||
| United States Tom Weiskopf (c) | 69-72-72-75=288 | |||
| T22 | Scotland Bernard Gallacher | 72-71-76-70=289 | +1 | 1,330 |
| England Nick Job | 73-75-68-73=289 | |||
| T24 | Spain Antonio Garrido | 73-71-76-70=290 | +2 | 959 |
| United States Hale Irwin | 75-71-76-68=290 | |||
| England Carl Mason | 70-74-72-74=290 | |||
| Australia Jack Newton | 69-76-71-74=290 | |||
| Australia Peter Thomson (c) | 72-70-72-76=290 |
Amateurs: McEvoy (+5), Miller (+6), Brodie (+7), Godwin (+10). Source:
- The exchange rate at the time was approximately 1.88 dollars (US) per pound sterling.
External links
56°20′35″N 2°48′11″W/56.343°N 2.803°W/ 56.343; -2.803