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]

1979 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates18–21 July 1979
LocationLancashire, England
Course(s)Royal Lytham & St Annes
Golf Club
Tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour
Statistics
Par71[1]
Length6,822 yards (6,238 m)[1][2]
Field152 players
82 after 1st cut
61 after 2nd cut[1]
Cut152 (+10) (1st cut)
227 (+14) (2nd cut)
Prize fund£155,000[1]
$325,000
Winner's share£15,000[1][3]
$31,500
Champion
Seve Ballesteros
283 (−1)
Lytham &
St Annes
Location in England
Lytham &
St Annes
Location in Lancashire. England

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
Main article: Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
HoleYardsPar  HoleYardsPar
12063103344
24364115425
34584122013
43934133394
52123144454
64865154684
75515163564
83944174534
91623183864
Out3,29835In3,52436
Source:[2]Total6,82271

Hole #6 was a par 4 in 2012.

7th hole green in 2009

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

  • 1974: 6,822 yards (6,238 m), par 71
  • 1969: 6,848 yards (6,262 m), par 71
  • 1963: 6,836 yards (6,251 m), par 70
  • 1958: 6,635 yards (6,067 m), par 71
  • 1952: 6,657 yards (6,087 m)

Past champions in the field

Made both cuts
PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2R3R4TotalTo parFinish
Jack Nicklaus United States1966, 1970, 197872697372286+2T2
Bob Charles New Zealand196378727072292+8T10
Lee Trevino United States1971, 197271737476294+10T17
Gary Player South Africa1959, 1968, 197477746975295+11T19
Tony Jacklin England196973747673296+12T24
Peter Thomson Australia1954, 1955,
1956, 1958, 1965		76757274297+13T26
Tom Watson United States1975, 197772687681297+13T26
Johnny Miller United States197677737776303+19T57

Source:[1][6]

Missed the first cut
PlayerCountryYear wonR1R2TotalTo par
Tom Weiskopf United States19737975154+12
Roberto De Vicenzo Argentina19677982161+19

Source:[1][8]

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 18 July 1979

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Bill Longmuir Scotland65−6
2Hale Irwin United States68−3
3Jerry Pate United States69−2
4Isao Aoki Japan70−1
T5Terry Gale Australia71E
Peter McEvoy (a) England
Orville Moody United States
Lee Trevino United States
T9Hugh Baiocchi South Africa72+1
Ken Brown Scotland
Dennis Clark New Zealand
Ben Crenshaw United States
Gary Cullen England
Jack Nicklaus United States
Tom Watson United States

Source:[9]

Second round

Thursday, 19 July 1979

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Hale Irwin United States68-68=136−6
2Seve Ballesteros Spain73-65=138−4
3Bill Longmuir Scotland65-74=139−3
4Tom Watson United States72-68=140−2
T5Dennis Clark New Zealand72-69=141−1
Jack Nicklaus United States72-69=141
7Graham Marsh Australia74-68=142E
T8Ken Brown Scotland72-71=143+1
Bob Byman United States73-70=143
Ben Crenshaw United States72-71=143
Jerry Pate United States69-74=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

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Hale Irwin United States68-68-75=211−2
2Seve Ballesteros Spain73-65-75=213E
T3Mark James England76-69-69=214+1
Jack Nicklaus United States72-69-73=214
T5Rodger Davis Australia75-70-70=215+2
Bob Byman United States73-70-72=215
Ben Crenshaw United States72-71-72=215
T8Isao Aoki Japan70-74-72=216+3
Greg Norman Australia73-71-72=216
Tom Watson United States72-68-76=216
Bill Longmuir Scotland65-74-77=216

Amateurs: McEvoy (+4), Player (+19).

Final round

Saturday, 21 July 1979

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney (£)
1Seve Ballesteros Spain73-65-75-70=283−115,000
T2Ben Crenshaw United States72-71-72-71=286+211,250
Jack Nicklaus United States72-69-73-72=286
4Mark James England76-69-69-73=287+37,500
5Rodger Davis Australia75-70-70-73=288+46,500
6Hale Irwin United States68-68-75-78=289+56,000
T7Graham Marsh Australia74-68-75-74=291+75,000
Isao Aoki Japan70-74-72-75=291
Bob Byman United States73-70-72-76=291
T10Bob Charles New Zealand78-72-70-72=292+84,000
Masashi Ozaki Japan75-69-75-73=292
Greg Norman Australia73-71-72-76=292

Source:[1][6][10][11][12]

Amateurs: McEvoy (+10)

References
  1. "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 57, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  2. "The course only tigers can tame". Glasgow Herald. 18 July 1979. p. 17.
  3. 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.
  4. Jenkins, Dan (30 July 1979). "Adios, amigos". Sports Illustrated.
  5. Lipica, Mike (22 July 1979). "Ballesteros wins British". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 4.
  6. Jacobs, Raymond (23 July 1979). "A wayward win much in character". Glasgow Herald. p. 16.
  7. "Spaniard overtakes the Yanks". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. 22 July 1979. p. 1B.
  8. Jacobs, Raymond (20 July 1979). "Sevvy has 65 – but Irwin leads". Glasgow Herald. p. 24.
  9. Jacobs, Raymond (19 July 1979). "Longmuir blazes the Open trail". Glasgow Herald. p. 16.
  10. "Leaderboard: 1979". The Open Championship. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  11. "The 108th Open Golf Championship: (1979) leaderboard". European Tour. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  12. "1979 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
Preceded by
1979 U.S. Open		 Major Championships Succeeded by
1979 PGA Championship

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