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]

1978 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates12–15 July 1978
LocationSt Andrews, Scotland
Course(s)Old Course at St Andrews
Organized byThe R&A
Tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72[1]
Length6,933 yards (6,340 m)[1][2]
Field155 players
80 after 1st cut
64 after 2nd cut[1]
Cut148 (+4) (1st cut)
222 (+6) (2nd cut)[1]
Prize fund£125,000
$237,500
Winner's share£12,500
$23,750
Champion
Jack Nicklaus
281 (−7)
St Andrews 
Location in Scotland
St Andrews
Location in Fife, Scotland

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
Main article: Old Course at St Andrews
HoleNameYardsParHoleNameYardsPar
1Burn370410Bobby Jones3424
2Dyke411411High (In)1723
3Cartgate (Out)371412Heathery (In)3164
4Ginger Beer463413Hole O'Cross (In)4254
5Hole O'Cross (Out)564514Long5675
6Heathery (Out)416415Cartgate (In)4134
7High (Out)372416Corner of the Dyke3824
8Short178317Road4614
9End356418Tom Morris3544
Out3,50136In3,43236
Source:[2]Total6,93372

Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):[1]

  • 6,957 yards (6,361 m) - 1970:
  • 6,926 yards (6,333 m) - 1964
  • 6,936 yards (6,342 m) - 1960, 1955

Past champions in the field

Made both cuts
PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2R3R4TotalTo parFinish
Jack Nicklaus United States1966, 197071726969281–71
Tom Watson United States1975, 197773687076287–1T14
Tom Weiskopf United States197369727275288ET17
Peter Thomson Australia1954, 1955,
1956, 1958, 1965		72707276290+2T24
Lee Trevino United States1971, 197275727371291+3T29
Arnold Palmer United States1961, 196271717575292+4T34
Gary Player South Africa1959, 1968, 197474717671292+4T34
Bob Charles New Zealand196373707973295+7T48

Source:[1][5]

Missed the first cut
PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2TotalTo par
Tony Jacklin England19697574149+5
Roberto De Vicenzo Argentina19677278150+6
Johnny Miller United States19767377150+6
Kel Nagle Australia19607683159+15
Bobby Locke South Africa1949, 1950,
1952, 1957		8380163+19

Source:[1][9]

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 12 July 1978

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Isao Aoki Japan68−4
T2Seve Ballesteros Spain69−3
Raymond Floyd United States
Jack Newton Australia
Tom Weiskopf United States
T6Howard Clark England70−2
Ben Crenshaw United States
Mark Hayes United States
Carl Mason England
Mike Miller (a) Scotland
Tsuneyuki Nakajima Japan
Simon Owen New Zealand

Source:[1]

Second round

Thursday, 13 July 1978

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Isao Aoki Japan68-71=139−5
Seve Ballesteros Spain69-70=139
Ben Crenshaw United States70-69=139
T4Gary Cullen England73-67=140−4
Bob Shearer Australia71-69=139
T6Bob Byman United States72-69=141−3
Tom Kite United States72-69=141
Tsuneyuki Nakajima Japan70-71=141
Masashi Ozaki Japan72-69=141
Tom Watson United States73-68=141
Tom Weiskopf United States69-72=141

Source:[1][9][10]

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

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Peter Oosterhuis England72-70-69=211−5
Tom Watson United States73-68-70=211
T3Simon Owen New Zealand70-75-67=212−4
Jack Nicklaus United States71-72-69=212
Ben Crenshaw United States70-69-73=212
Isao Aoki Japan68-71-73=212
T7Nick Faldo England71-72-70=213−3
John Schroeder United States74-69-70=213
Tom Kite United States72-69-72=213
Tom Weiskopf United States69-72-72=213

Source:[6][7]

Amateurs: Miller (+2), Brodie (+4), McEvoy (+5), Godwin (+6).

Final round

Saturday, 15 July 1978

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney (£)
1Jack Nicklaus United States71-72-69-69=281−712,500
T2Raymond Floyd United States69-75-71-68=283−57,255
Tom Kite United States72-69-72-70=283
Ben Crenshaw United States70-69-73-71=283
Simon Owen New Zealand70-75-67-71=283
6Peter Oosterhuis England72-70-69-73=284−44,960
T7Bob Shearer Australia71-69-74-71=285−33,905
Nick Faldo England71-72-70-72=285
John Schroeder United States74-69-70-72=285
Isao Aoki Japan68-71-73-73=285

Amateurs: McEvoy (+5), Miller (+6), Brodie (+7), Godwin (+10).

Source:[1][5][11]

References
  1. "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 58, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  2. "St. Andrews–decoding British Open course". Chicago Tribune. UPI. 12 July 1978. p. 2, sec. 6.
  3. Lupica, Mike (16 July 1978). "Nicklaus at his best for British win". Chicago Tribune. (New York News). p. 1, sec. 3.
  4. Jenkins, Dan (24 July 1978). "A Bonny Victory". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
  5. Jacobs, Raymond (17 July 1978). "Jack Nicklaus - a superstar reborn". Glasgow Herald. p. 14.
  6. Jacobs, Raymond (15 July 1978). "Oosterhuis and Watson head for fascinating duel". Glasgow Herald. p. 16.
  7. "Watson shares lead; Nicklaus shot back". Chicago Tribune. wire services. 15 July 1978. p. 3, sec. 2.
  8. "Nicklaus caresses Old Course, captures Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 16 July 1978. p. 2B.
  9. "Open golf qualifiers". Glasgow Herald. 14 July 1978. p. 21.
  10. "Scoreboard: Golf". Chicago Tribune. 14 July 1978. p. 6, sec. 5.
  11. "1978 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.

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