1978 Open Championship
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.[3] It was the fifteenth of his eighteen major championships and marked the completion of his third career grand slam.[4][5]
Tournament information | |
---|---|
Dates | 12–15 July 1978 |
Location | St Andrews, Scotland |
Course(s) | Old Course at St Andrews |
Organized by | The R&A |
Tour(s) | European Tour PGA Tour |
Statistics | |
Par | 72[1] |
Length | 6,933 yards (6,340 m)[1][2] |
Field | 155 players 80 after 1st cut 64 after 2nd cut[1] |
Cut | 148 (+4) (1st cut) 222 (+6) (2nd cut)[1] |
Prize fund | £125,000 $237,500 |
Winner's share | £12,500 $23,750 |
Champion | |
281 (−7) | |
Defending champion Tom Watson was a co-leader after 54 holes,[6][7] but four consecutive bogeys on the front nine led to a 76 (+4). Watson finished six strokes back in a tie for fourteenth place.[4][5][8]
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:[2] | Total | 6,933 | 72 |
Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):[1]
Past champions in the field
Made both cuts
Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par | Finish |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jack Nicklaus | 1966, 1970 | 71 | 72 | 69 | 69 | 281 | –7 | 1 | |
Tom Watson | 1975, 1977 | 73 | 68 | 70 | 76 | 287 | –1 | T14 | |
Tom Weiskopf | 1973 | 69 | 72 | 72 | 75 | 288 | E | T17 | |
Peter Thomson | 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965 | 72 | 70 | 72 | 76 | 290 | +2 | T24 | |
Lee Trevino | 1971, 1972 | 75 | 72 | 73 | 71 | 291 | +3 | T29 | |
Arnold Palmer | 1961, 1962 | 71 | 71 | 75 | 75 | 292 | +4 | T34 | |
Gary Player | 1959, 1968, 1974 | 74 | 71 | 76 | 71 | 292 | +4 | T34 | |
Bob Charles | 1963 | 73 | 70 | 79 | 73 | 295 | +7 | T48 |
Missed the first cut
Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | Total | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tony Jacklin | 1969 | 75 | 74 | 149 | +5 | |
Roberto De Vicenzo | 1967 | 72 | 78 | 150 | +6 | |
Johnny Miller | 1976 | 73 | 77 | 150 | +6 | |
Kel Nagle | 1960 | 76 | 83 | 159 | +15 | |
Bobby Locke | 1949, 1950, 1952, 1957 | 83 | 80 | 163 | +19 |
Round summaries
First round
Wednesday, 12 July 1978
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Isao Aoki | 68 | −4 | |
T2 | Seve Ballesteros | 69 | −3 | |
Raymond Floyd | ||||
Jack Newton | ||||
Tom Weiskopf | ||||
T6 | Howard Clark | 70 | −2 | |
Ben Crenshaw | ||||
Mark Hayes | ||||
Carl Mason | ||||
Mike Miller (a) | ||||
Tsuneyuki Nakajima | ||||
Simon Owen |
Source:[1]
Second round
Thursday, 13 July 1978
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|
T1 | Isao Aoki | 68-71=139 | −5 | |
Seve Ballesteros | 69-70=139 | |||
Ben Crenshaw | 70-69=139 | |||
T4 | Gary Cullen | 73-67=140 | −4 | |
Bob Shearer | 71-69=139 | |||
T6 | Bob Byman | 72-69=141 | −3 | |
Tom Kite | 72-69=141 | |||
Tsuneyuki Nakajima | 70-71=141 | |||
Masashi Ozaki | 72-69=141 | |||
Tom Watson | 73-68=141 | |||
Tom Weiskopf | 69-72=141 |
Amateurs: Miller (E), Brodie (+1), McEvoy (+1), Godwin (+3),
Gallagher (+6), Kuramoto (+6), Lewis (+8), Webster (+9),
Hedges (+11), Fish, (+14), McLachlan (+14), Turner (+14), Walters (+18).
Third round
Friday, 14 July 1978
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|
T1 | Peter Oosterhuis | 72-70-69=211 | −5 | |
Tom Watson | 73-68-70=211 | |||
T3 | Simon Owen | 70-75-67=212 | −4 | |
Jack Nicklaus | 71-72-69=212 | |||
Ben Crenshaw | 70-69-73=212 | |||
Isao Aoki | 68-71-73=212 | |||
T7 | Nick Faldo | 71-72-70=213 | −3 | |
John Schroeder | 74-69-70=213 | |||
Tom Kite | 72-69-72=213 | |||
Tom Weiskopf | 69-72-72=213 |
Amateurs: Miller (+2), Brodie (+4), McEvoy (+5), Godwin (+6).
Final round
Saturday, 15 July 1978
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money (£) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jack Nicklaus | 71-72-69-69=281 | −7 | 12,500 | |
T2 | Raymond Floyd | 69-75-71-68=283 | −5 | 7,255 | |
Tom Kite | 72-69-72-70=283 | ||||
Ben Crenshaw | 70-69-73-71=283 | ||||
Simon Owen | 70-75-67-71=283 | ||||
6 | Peter Oosterhuis | 72-70-69-73=284 | −4 | 4,960 | |
T7 | Bob Shearer | 71-69-74-71=285 | −3 | 3,905 | |
Nick Faldo | 71-72-70-72=285 | ||||
John Schroeder | 74-69-70-72=285 | ||||
Isao Aoki | 68-71-73-73=285 |
Amateurs: McEvoy (+5), Miller (+6), Brodie (+7), Godwin (+10).
References
- "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 58, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
- "St. Andrews–decoding British Open course". Chicago Tribune. UPI. 12 July 1978. p. 2, sec. 6.
- Lupica, Mike (16 July 1978). "Nicklaus at his best for British win". Chicago Tribune. (New York News). p. 1, sec. 3.
- Jenkins, Dan (24 July 1978). "A Bonny Victory". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
- Jacobs, Raymond (17 July 1978). "Jack Nicklaus - a superstar reborn". Glasgow Herald. p. 14.
- Jacobs, Raymond (15 July 1978). "Oosterhuis and Watson head for fascinating duel". Glasgow Herald. p. 16.
- "Watson shares lead; Nicklaus shot back". Chicago Tribune. wire services. 15 July 1978. p. 3, sec. 2.
- "Nicklaus caresses Old Course, captures Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 16 July 1978. p. 2B.
- "Open golf qualifiers". Glasgow Herald. 14 July 1978. p. 21.
- "Scoreboard: Golf". Chicago Tribune. 14 July 1978. p. 6, sec. 5.
- "1978 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
External links
- 107th Open - St Andrews 1978 (Official site)
- 107th Open Championship - St Andrews (European Tour)
- 1978 Open Championship (about.sports)