1977 Open Championship

The 1977 Open Championship was the 106th Open Championship, held 6–9 July on the Ailsa Course at Turnberry, Scotland. Tom Watson won the second of his five Open titles by one stroke over runner-up Jack Nicklaus.[2] The two played together in the final two rounds and had separated themselves from the field under clear skies, leading this Open to be remembered as the "Duel in the Sun." This was the first Open ever held at Turnberry, which renamed its 18th hole after the duel.[3][4] Three months earlier, Watson had held off Nicklaus to win his first green jacket at the Masters.

1977 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates6–9 July 1977
LocationAyrshire, Scotland
Course(s)Ailsa Course, Turnberry
Tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70[1]
Length6,875 yards (6,286 m)[1]
Field156 players
87 after 1st cut
64 after 2nd cut[1]
Cut150 (+10) (1st cut)
221 (+11) (2nd cut)[1]
Prize fund£100,000[1]
$170,000
Winner's share£10,000
$17,000
Champion
Tom Watson
268 (−12)
 Turnberry
Location in Scotland
Turnberry
Location in South Ayrshire, Scotland

In the second round, Mark Hayes rebounded from his opening 76 (+6) with 63 to establish a new single round record at The Open Championship by two strokes. The previous record of 65 was set by Henry Cotton in the second round in 1934 at Royal St. George's and later equaled by nine others.[5][6] Lightning briefly interrupted play in the third round on Friday.[7]

Americans dominated the final leaderboard, filling the top eight spots and eleven of the first twelve.[8][9] The first page of the leaderboard was loaded with future members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

The leader after 36 holes, Roger Maltbie, finished with 80 for 289 (+9), in a tie for 26th place.

The previous year, Watson was defending champion, but missed the 54-hole cut after an 80 in the third round, while Nicklaus finished in a tie for second.

Duel in the Sun

Watson's victory is considered by many to be the finest tournament played in the latter half of the 20th century. After two rounds, he and Nicklaus were one shot out of the lead, in a four-way tie for second, and were paired for the third round on Friday.[6] Both shot five-under 65 for 203 (−7), three shots clear of Ben Crenshaw and six ahead of the remainder of the field after 54 holes.[10][11][12]

Paired again for the final round on Saturday afternoon, Nicklaus birdied twice and was up by three strokes after four holes. Watson birdied three of the next four to pull even at two-under for the round, then bogeyed the ninth hole to fall one back at the turn. Nicklaus birdied the 12th hole to go two strokes ahead, then Watson birdied 13 and the par-3 15th, rolling in a putt from off the green to even up the round at three-under.[13]

After halving the 16th with pars, it was on to the reachable par-5 17th, where Nicklaus missed the green to the right but chipped his third to four feet (1.2 m) from the cup. Watson missed an eagle putt and tapped in for birdie, but then Nicklaus two-putted for par to go a stroke down with one hole remaining. On the 18th tee, Watson drove to an ideal position in the fairway, but Nicklaus went right and into the rough. Watson's 7-iron approach stopped pin-high and two feet left of the flag, and with Nicklaus in trouble, appeared to seal the victory. But Nicklaus slashed his 8-iron recovery onto the front of the green and sank his 35-foot (11 m) putt for a remarkable birdie and a bogey-free 66. Now needing a seventh birdie of the round to avoid an 18-hole playoff, Watson sank the two-footer for his second straight 65, second Open, and third major title. With birdies on four of the final six holes, his total of 268 was eight strokes better than the previous best score ever in the Open.[3][4]

Watson and Nicklaus finished well ahead of the other challengers, and shot the same score every day, except on Saturday. The third place finisher, reigning U.S. Open champion Hubert Green, shot a final round 67 and was a distant ten strokes behind Nicklaus, who won his third Open (and third career grand slam) the following year at St. Andrews.[13]

Course
Main article: Turnberry (golf course)

Ailsa Course

HoleNameYardsParHoleNameYardsPar
1Ailsa Craig355410Dinna Fouter4524
2Mak Siccar428411Maidens1773
3Blaw Wearie462412Monument3914
4Woe-Be-Tide167313Tickly Tap4114
5Fin Me Oot411414Risk-An-Hope4404
6Tappie Toorie222315Ca' Canny2093
7Roon The Ben528516Wee Burn4094
8Goat Fell427417Lang Whang5005
9Bruce's Castle455418Ailsa Hame ^4314
Out3,45535In3,42035
Source:[14]Total6,87570

^ The 18th hole was renamed "Duel in the Sun" in 2003.

Past champions in the field

Made both cuts
PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2R3R4TotalTo parFinish
Tom Watson United States197568706565268−121
Jack Nicklaus United States1966, 197068706566269−112
Lee Trevino United States1971, 197268707270280E4
Arnold Palmer United States1961, 196273736769282+27
Johnny Miller United States197669746774284+4T9
Peter Thomson Australia1954, 1955,
1956, 1958, 1965		74726773286+6T13
Gary Player South Africa1959, 1968, 197471747469288+8T22
Tom Weiskopf United States197374717172288+8T22
Bob Charles New Zealand196373727078293+13T43
Roberto De Vicenzo Argentina196776717078295+15T48

Source:[15]

Missed the first cut
PlayerCountryYears wonR1R2
Henry Cotton England1934, 1937, 19489382
Bobby Locke South Africa1949, 1950, 1952, 195784WD

Source:[16]

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 6 July 1977

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1John Schroeder United States66−4
2Martin Foster England67−3
T3Jack Nicklaus United States68−2
Lee Trevino United States
Tom Watson United States
T6Seve Ballesteros Spain69−1
Gaylord Burrows United States
Johnny Miller United States
T9George Burns United States70E
Raymond Floyd United States
Tommy Horton England
Hsu Chi-san Taiwan
Hale Irwin United States
Ian Stanley Australia

Source:[17]

Second round

Thursday, 7 July 1977

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Roger Maltbie United States71-66=137−3
T2Hubert Green United States72-66=138−2
Jack Nicklaus United States68-70=138
Lee Trevino United States68-70=138
Tom Watson United States68-70=138
T6Peter Butler England71-68=139−1
Mark Hayes United States76-63=139
T8Seve Ballesteros Spain69-71=140E
George Burns United States70-70=140
Howard Clark England72-68=140
Ben Crenshaw United States71-69=140
Hsu Chi-san Taiwan70-70=140
John Schroeder United States66-74=140

Source:[6][16]
Amateurs: Garner (+13), McEvoy (+13), Powell (+13), Carrick (+15), Lyle (+15), Pierse (+16), Wilson (+16), Cosh (+21), Chapman (+25).

Third round

Friday, 8 July 1977

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Jack Nicklaus United States68-70-65=203−7
Tom Watson United States68-70-65=203
3Ben Crenshaw United States71-69-66=206−4
T4Tommy Horton England70-74-65=209−1
Gaylord Burrows United States69-72-68=209
Roger Maltbie United States71-66-72=209
T7Johnny Miller United States69-74-67=210E
Lee Trevino United States68-70-72=210
T9Raymond Floyd United States70-73-68=211+1
Mark Hayes United States76-63-72=211

Source:[10][11]

Final round

Saturday, 9 July 1977

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney (£)
1Tom Watson United States68-70-65-65=268−1210,000
2Jack Nicklaus United States68-70-65-66=269−118,000
3Hubert Green United States72-66-74-67=279−16,000
4Lee Trevino United States68-70-72-70=280E5,000
T5George Burns United States70-70-72-69=281+14,250
Ben Crenshaw United States71-69-66-75=281
7Arnold Palmer United States73-73-67-69=282+23,750
8Raymond Floyd United States70-73-68-72=283+33,500
T9John Schroeder United States66-74-73-71=284+42,875
Mark Hayes United States76-63-72-73=284
Johnny Miller United States69-74-67-74=284
Tommy Horton England70-74-65-75=284

Source:[8][15]

Scorecard

Final round

Hole  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10  11 12131415161718
Par444343544434443454
Watson−7−6−6−6−7−7−8−9−8−8−8−8−9−9−10−10−11−12
Nicklaus−7−8−8−9−9−9−9−9−9−9−9−10−10−10−10−10−10−11
Green+2+1+1+1EEEE−1−1−1−1EEEE−1−1

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey

Source:[9]

References
  1. "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 59, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  2. Jenkins, Dan (18 July 1977). "A braw brawl for Tom and Jack". Sports Illustrated. p. 28.
  3. Deford, Frank (14 July 1986). "The best against the best". Sports Illustrated. p. 58.
  4. Garrity, John (28 July 2008). "The Duel in the Sun: Watson vs. Nicklaus at Turnberry in 1977". Golf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  5. "Hayes' 63 an Open record". Glasgow Herald. 8 July 1977. p. 24.
  6. "Hayes shoots Open record". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. 8 July 1977. p. 19.
  7. Ritche, Murray (9 July 1977). "Lee Trevino relives his nightmare as lightning storm sweeps Open". Glasgow Herald. p. 1.
  8. "1977 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  9. "Jack's best shot not good enough". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (wire services). 10 July 1977. p. 1B.
  10. "Classic duel set in British Open". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. 9 July 1977. p. 33.
  11. Jacobs, Raymond (9 July 1977). "Nicklaus, Watson in a two-man tussle". Glasgow Herald. p. 16.
  12. "Battle of Britain: Nicklaus vs. Watson". Chicago Tribune. wire services. 9 July 1977. p. 1, sec. 2.
  13. "Tom Watson wins; Jack Nicklaus' best one stroke short". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. 10 July 1977. p. D1.
  14. "British Open bywords: 'lang whang, tickly tap'". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 6 July 1977. p. 2, sec. 4.
  15. "How they finished". Glasgow Herald. 11 July 1977. p. 20.
  16. Jacobs, Raymond (8 July 1977). "An All-American drive for Open". Glasgow Herald. p. 24.
  17. "Longshot U.K. Open leader blasts 'star' system". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. 7 July 1977. p. 23.

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