1979 Open Championship
The 1979 Open Championship was the 108th Open Championship, held 18–21 July at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. Seve Ballesteros, 22, won the first of his five major titles, three strokes ahead of runners-up Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw.[4] It was the first of his three Open Championship victories; he raised the Claret Jug again in 1984 and 1988.[5][6]
Tournament information | |
---|---|
Dates | 18–21 July 1979 |
Location | Lancashire, England |
Course(s) | Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club |
Tour(s) | European Tour PGA Tour |
Statistics | |
Par | 71[1] |
Length | 6,822 yards (6,238 m)[1][2] |
Field | 152 players 82 after 1st cut 61 after 2nd cut[1] |
Cut | 152 (+10) (1st cut) 227 (+14) (2nd cut) |
Prize fund | £155,000[1] $325,000 |
Winner's share | £15,000[1][3] $31,500 |
Champion | |
![]() | |
283 (−1) | |
![](../I/England_relief_location_map.jpg.webp)
![](../I/Red_pog.svg.png.webp)
St Annes
![](../I/Lancashire_UK_location_map.svg.png.webp)
![](../I/Red_pog.svg.png.webp)
St Annes
This was the last Open scheduled to end on Saturday;[7] in 1980 it moved to a Sunday final round, similar to the other three majors.
Course
Hole | Yards | Par | Hole | Yards | Par | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 206 | 3 | 10 | 334 | 4 | |
2 | 436 | 4 | 11 | 542 | 5 | |
3 | 458 | 4 | 12 | 201 | 3 | |
4 | 393 | 4 | 13 | 339 | 4 | |
5 | 212 | 3 | 14 | 445 | 4 | |
6 | 486 | 5 | 15 | 468 | 4 | |
7 | 551 | 5 | 16 | 356 | 4 | |
8 | 394 | 4 | 17 | 453 | 4 | |
9 | 162 | 3 | 18 | 386 | 4 | |
Out | 3,298 | 35 | In | 3,524 | 36 | |
Source:[2] | Total | 6,822 | 71 |
Hole #6 was a par 4 in 2012.
![](../I/2009_Women's_British_Open_-_Royal_Lytham_%2526_St_Annes_Golf_Course_(34).jpg.webp)
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, 1978 | 72 | 69 | 73 | 72 | 286 | +2 | T2 |
Bob Charles | ![]() | 1963 | 78 | 72 | 70 | 72 | 292 | +8 | T10 |
Lee Trevino | ![]() | 1971, 1972 | 71 | 73 | 74 | 76 | 294 | +10 | T17 |
Gary Player | ![]() | 1959, 1968, 1974 | 77 | 74 | 69 | 75 | 295 | +11 | T19 |
Tony Jacklin | ![]() | 1969 | 73 | 74 | 76 | 73 | 296 | +12 | T24 |
Peter Thomson | ![]() | 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965 | 76 | 75 | 72 | 74 | 297 | +13 | T26 |
Tom Watson | ![]() | 1975, 1977 | 72 | 68 | 76 | 81 | 297 | +13 | T26 |
Johnny Miller | ![]() | 1976 | 77 | 73 | 77 | 76 | 303 | +19 | T57 |
Missed the first cut
Player | Country | Year won | R1 | R2 | Total | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tom Weiskopf | ![]() | 1973 | 79 | 75 | 154 | +12 |
Roberto De Vicenzo | ![]() | 1967 | 79 | 82 | 161 | +19 |
Round summaries
First round
Wednesday, 18 July 1979
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bill Longmuir | ![]() | 65 | −6 |
2 | Hale Irwin | ![]() | 68 | −3 |
3 | Jerry Pate | ![]() | 69 | −2 |
4 | Isao Aoki | ![]() | 70 | −1 |
T5 | Terry Gale | ![]() | 71 | E |
Peter McEvoy (a) | ![]() | |||
Orville Moody | ![]() | |||
Lee Trevino | ![]() | |||
T9 | Hugh Baiocchi | ![]() | 72 | +1 |
Ken Brown | ![]() | |||
Dennis Clark | ![]() | |||
Ben Crenshaw | ![]() | |||
Gary Cullen | ![]() | |||
Jack Nicklaus | ![]() | |||
Tom Watson | ![]() |
Source:[9]
Second round
Thursday, 19 July 1979
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hale Irwin | ![]() | 68-68=136 | −6 |
2 | Seve Ballesteros | ![]() | 73-65=138 | −4 |
3 | Bill Longmuir | ![]() | 65-74=139 | −3 |
4 | Tom Watson | ![]() | 72-68=140 | −2 |
T5 | Dennis Clark | ![]() | 72-69=141 | −1 |
Jack Nicklaus | ![]() | 72-69=141 | ||
7 | Graham Marsh | ![]() | 74-68=142 | E |
T8 | Ken Brown | ![]() | 72-71=143 | +1 |
Bob Byman | ![]() | 73-70=143 | ||
Ben Crenshaw | ![]() | 72-71=143 | ||
Jerry Pate | ![]() | 69-74=143 |
Source:[8]
Amateurs: McEvoy (+3), Player (+8), Hallberg (+14), Hoad (+15),
Bennett (+17), Myers (+18), Guy (+20), Whelan (+23).
Third round
Friday, 20 July 1979
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hale Irwin | ![]() | 68-68-75=211 | −2 |
2 | Seve Ballesteros | ![]() | 73-65-75=213 | E |
T3 | Mark James | ![]() | 76-69-69=214 | +1 |
Jack Nicklaus | ![]() | 72-69-73=214 | ||
T5 | Rodger Davis | ![]() | 75-70-70=215 | +2 |
Bob Byman | ![]() | 73-70-72=215 | ||
Ben Crenshaw | ![]() | 72-71-72=215 | ||
T8 | Isao Aoki | ![]() | 70-74-72=216 | +3 |
Greg Norman | ![]() | 73-71-72=216 | ||
Tom Watson | ![]() | 72-68-76=216 | ||
Bill Longmuir | ![]() | 65-74-77=216 |
Amateurs: McEvoy (+4), Player (+19).
Final round
Saturday, 21 July 1979
Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money (£) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Seve Ballesteros | ![]() | 73-65-75-70=283 | −1 | 15,000 |
T2 | Ben Crenshaw | ![]() | 72-71-72-71=286 | +2 | 11,250 |
Jack Nicklaus | ![]() | 72-69-73-72=286 | |||
4 | Mark James | ![]() | 76-69-69-73=287 | +3 | 7,500 |
5 | Rodger Davis | ![]() | 75-70-70-73=288 | +4 | 6,500 |
6 | Hale Irwin | ![]() | 68-68-75-78=289 | +5 | 6,000 |
T7 | Graham Marsh | ![]() | 74-68-75-74=291 | +7 | 5,000 |
Isao Aoki | ![]() | 70-74-72-75=291 | |||
Bob Byman | ![]() | 73-70-72-76=291 | |||
T10 | Bob Charles | ![]() | 78-72-70-72=292 | +8 | 4,000 |
Masashi Ozaki | ![]() | 75-69-75-73=292 | |||
Greg Norman | ![]() | 73-71-72-76=292 |
Amateurs: McEvoy (+10)
References
- "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 57, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- "The course only tigers can tame". Glasgow Herald. 18 July 1979. p. 17.
- Bonk, Thomas (14 July 1988). "There's nothing like it: British Open course set apart by history and other factors". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- Jenkins, Dan (30 July 1979). "Adios, amigos". Sports Illustrated.
- Lipica, Mike (22 July 1979). "Ballesteros wins British". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 4.
- Jacobs, Raymond (23 July 1979). "A wayward win much in character". Glasgow Herald. p. 16.
- "Spaniard overtakes the Yanks". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. 22 July 1979. p. 1B.
- Jacobs, Raymond (20 July 1979). "Sevvy has 65 – but Irwin leads". Glasgow Herald. p. 24.
- Jacobs, Raymond (19 July 1979). "Longmuir blazes the Open trail". Glasgow Herald. p. 16.
- "Leaderboard: 1979". The Open Championship. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- "The 108th Open Golf Championship: (1979) leaderboard". European Tour. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- "1979 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
External links
- 108th Open - Royal Lytham & St Annes 1979 (Official site)
- 108th Open Championship - Royal Lytham & St Annes (European Tour)
- 1979 Open Championship (about.sports)
Preceded by 1979 U.S. Open |
Major Championships | Succeeded by 1979 PGA Championship |