2003 Senior British Open
The 2003 Senior British Open was a senior major golf championship and the 17th Senior British Open, held from 24–27 July at Turnberry in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It was the 5th Senior British Open played at the course and the first Senior British Open played as a senior major championship.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 24–27 July 2003 |
| Location | South Ayrshire, Scotland |
| Course(s) | Turnberry |
| Organized by | The R&A |
| Tour(s) | |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 70 |
| Length | 6,715 yd (6,140 m) |
| Field | 144 players, 77 after cut |
| Cut | 144 (+4) |
| Prize fund | $1,590,377 |
| Champion | |
 Tom Watson | |
| 263 (−17) | |
Tom Watson defeated Carl Mason in a playoff to win his first Senior British Open title. The 2003 event was Watson's second senior major championship victory.
Venue
The 2003 event was the 5th Senior British Open played at Turnberry.
Course layout
| Hole | Name | Yards | Par | Hole | Name | Yards | Par | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ailsa Craig | 358 | 4 | 10 | Dinna Fouter | 415 | 4 | |
| 2 | Mak Siccar | 381 | 4 | 11 | Maidens | 174 | 3 | |
| 3 | Blaw Wearie | 409 | 4 | 12 | Monument | 414 | 4 | |
| 4 | Woe-Be-Tide | 165 | 3 | 13 | Tickly Tap | 412 | 4 | |
| 5 | Fin Me Oot | 416 | 4 | 14 | Risk-An-Hope | 441 | 4 | |
| 6 | Tappie Toorie | 221 | 3 | 15 | Ca' Canny | 209 | 3 | |
| 7 | Roon The Ben | 475 | 5 | 16 | Wee Burn | 409 | 4 | |
| 8 | Goat Fell | 431 | 4 | 17 | Lang Whang | 497 | 5 | |
| 9 | Bruce's Castle | 454 | 4 | 18 | Duel in the Sun | 434 | 4 | |
| Out | 3,310 | 35 | In | 3,405 | 35 | |||
| Source:[1] | Total | 6,715 | 70 | |||||
Field
The field consisted of 144 competitors: 139 professionals and 5 amateurs.
Nationalities in the field
| North America (61) | South America (4) | Europe (51) | Oceania (15) | Asia (7) | Africa (6) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada (2) |  Argentina (2) |  England (21) | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia (11) |  Japan (7) |  South Africa (6) |
 Jamaica (1) |  Chile (1) |  Spain (5) |  New Zealand (4) | ||
| United States (58) |  Brazil (1) |  Scotland (12) | |||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Wales (1) | |||||
 Ireland (6) | |||||
 Netherlands (2) | |||||
 Italy (3) | |||||
 Northern Ireland (1) |
Made the cut
| Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Charles | New Zealand | 1989, 1993 | 69 | 68 | 69 | 71 | 277 | −3 | T20 |
| Noboru Sugai | Japan | 2002 | 67 | 73 | 72 | 71 | 283 | +3 | T46 |
| Gary Player | South Africa | 1988, 1990, 1997 | 73 | 70 | 69 | 72 | 284 | +4 | T51 |
| Christy O'Connor Jnr | Ireland | 1999, 2000 | 73 | 71 | 70 | 71 | 285 | +5 | T54 |
Missed the cut
| Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Fourie | South Africa | 1992 | 71 | 74 | 145 | +5 |
| Neil Coles | England | 1987 | 72 | 74 | 146 | +6 |
| Ian Stanley | Australia | 2001 | 79 | 74 | 153 | +13 |
| Bobby Verwey | South Africa | 1991 | 86 | 69 | 155 | +15 |
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, 24 July 2003
Tom Kite and Tom Watson posted four-under-par 66's on day one to lead by one shot.
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Kite | United States | 66 | −4 |
| Tom Watson | United States | |||
| T3 | Denis Durnian | England | 67 | −3 |
| Carl Mason | England | |||
| Mark McCumber | United States | |||
| Des Smyth | Ireland | |||
| Noboru Sugai | Japan | |||
| Russell Weir | Scotland | |||
| Fuzzy Zoeller | United States | |||
| T10 | Maurice Bembridge | England | 68 | −2 |
| Malcolm Gregson | England | |||
| Bill Hardwick | Canada | |||
| Bruce Summerhays | United States |
Second round
Friday 25 July 2003
Carl Mason shot a 64 (−6) to take a one-shot lead over D.A. Weibring, who shot a seven-under-par 63.
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carl Mason | England | 67-64=131 | −9 |
| 2 | D. A. Weibring | United States | 69-63=132 | −8 |
| T3 | Tom Kite | United States | 66-67=133 | −7 |
| Bruce Summerhays | United States | 68-65=133 | ||
| Tom Watson | United States | 66-67=133 | ||
| T6 | Jim Colbert | United States | 72-62=134 | −6 |
| Russell Weir | Scotland | 67-67=134 | ||
| 8 | Denis Durnian | England | 67-68=135 | −5 |
| T9 | Bob Cameron | England | 69-67=136 | −4 |
| Terry Gale | Australia | 70-66=136 | ||
| Mark McCumber | United States | 67-69=136 | ||
| Dana Quigley | United States | 71-65=136 | ||
| Bobby Wadkins | United States | 71-65=136 | ||
| Fuzzy Zoeller | United States | 67-69=136 |
Amateurs: Pierse (−1), Reynolds (+5), Boles (+9), Baldwin (+11), MacNamara (+15)
Third round
Saturday, 26 July 2003
Mason and Weibring shot matching rounds of 65 (−5) as Mason maintained his one shot lead. Kite, Summerhays, and Watson all shot rounds of 66 (−4) to trail Mason by three shots. Jim Colbert backed up his eight-under-par 62 with a 66 (−4) in the third round, trailing Mason by 4 strokes.
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carl Mason | England | 67-64-65=196 | −14 |
| 2 | D. A. Weibring | United States | 69-63-65=197 | −13 |
| T3 | Tom Kite | United States | 66-67-66=199 | −11 |
| Bruce Summerhays | United States | 68-65-66=199 | ||
| Tom Watson | United States | 66-67-66=199 | ||
| 6 | Jim Colbert | United States | 72-62-66=200 | −10 |
| 7 | Mark McCumber | United States | 67-69-65=201 | −9 |
| 8 | Brian Jones | Australia | 69-69-65=203 | −7 |
| T9 | Isao Aoki | Japan | 66-67-66=204 | −6 |
| Bob Cameron | England | 69-67-68=204 | ||
| Denis Durnian | England | 67-68-69=204 | ||
| Jack Nicklaus | United States | 70-67-67=204 | ||
| Fuzzy Zoeller | United States | 67-69-68=204 |
Amateurs: Pierse (+2)
Final round
Sunday, 27 July 2003
Tom Watson trailed Carl Mason by one stroke heading into the 72nd hole. Needing birdie to tie Mason, Watson bogeyed the par-4 18th hole to fall two shots behind the leader. Mason, now leading by 2 strokes, double bogeyed the 18th hole and fell into a playoff with Watson.
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Carl Mason | England | 67-64-65-67=263 | −17 | Playoff |
| Tom Watson | United States | 66-67-66-64=263 | |||
| 3 | Bruce Summerhays | United States | 68-65-66-65=264 | −16 | 83,648 |
| 4 | Tom Kite | United States | 66-67-66-67=266 | −14 | 66,848 |
| 5 | D. A. Weibring | United States | 69-63-65-73=270 | −10 | 56,641 |
| T6 | Brian Jones | Australia | 69-69-65-68=271 | −9 | 43,440 |
| Mark McCumber | United States | 67-69-65-70=271 | |||
| T8 | Denis Durnian | United States | 67-68-69-68=272 | −8 | 31,673 |
| David Eger | United States | 71-68-66-67=272 | |||
| T10 | Jim Colbert | United States | 72-62-66-73=273 | −7 | 24,734 |
| Graham Marsh | Australia | 71-68-66-68=273 | |||
| Dana Quigley | United States | 71-65-70-67=273 |
Playoff
Sunday, 27 July 2003
Tom Watson and Carl Mason both parred the first playoff hole. Watson won with par on the second playoff hole as Mason made bogey.
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Watson | United States | 4-4=8 | E | 222,779 |
| 2 | Carl Mason | England | 4-5=9 | +1 | 148,590 |
Notes and references
- http://www.europeantour.com/staysuretour/season=2003/tournamentid=2003824/venue/index.html
- "The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex". Golf Channel. 27 July 2017. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- http://www.europeantour.com/staysuretour/season=2003/tournamentid=2003824/leaderboard/index.html#/results
External links
| Preceded by 2003 Senior Players Championship |
Senior Major Championships | Succeeded by 2003 JELD-WEN Tradition |