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1956 Open Championship

Coordinates: 53°23′06″N 3°11′24″W / 53.385°N 3.190°W / 53.385; -3.190
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1956 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates4–6 July 1956
LocationHoylake, England
Course(s)Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Statistics
Par71[1]
Length6,960 yards (6,364 m)[2]
Field96 players, 49 after cut[3]
Cut153 (+11)
Prize fund£3,750
$10,500
Winner's share£1,000
$2,800
Champion
Australia Peter Thomson
286 (+2)
← 1955
1957 →
Hoylake is located in England
Hoylake
Hoylake
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Location in England

The 1956 Open Championship was the 85th Open Championship, held 4–6 July at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Two-time defending champion Peter Thomson of Australia won his third consecutive Open, three strokes ahead of runner-up Flory Van Donck of Belgium. It was the third of five Open titles for the 26-year-old Thomson.[1]

Qualifying took place on 2–3 July. Entries played 18 holes on the Championship course and 18 holes at Wallasey. With a record 360 entries it was decided that, for the first time, qualifying would be in groups of three rather than the usual two.[4] The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100. Ties for 100th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 152 and 96 players qualified. Gary Player and Peter Thomson led the qualifiers on 140.[5] The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was set at 50. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut. Prize money was unchanged with £1,000 for the winner out of a total purse of £3,750.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par Finish
Peter Thomson  Australia 1954, 1955 70 70 72 74 286 +2 1
Henry Cotton  England 1934, 1937, 1948 72 76 71 74 293 +9 T6
Gene Sarazen  United States 1932 78 74 WD

Missed the cut

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 Total To par
Bobby Locke  South Africa 1949, 1950, 1952 76 79 155 +13
Fred Daly  Northern Ireland 1947 77 81 158 +16
Dick Burton  England 1939 83 79 162 +20

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 4 July 1956

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Dennis Smalldon  Wales 68 –3
2 Enrique Bertolino  Argentina 69 –2
T3 Al Balding  Canada 70 –1
Eric Lester  England
Dave Thomas  Wales
Peter Thomson  Australia
T7 Carlos Celles  Spain 71 E
Roberto De Vicenzo  Argentina
Ángel Miguel  Spain
Gary Player  South Africa
Flory Van Donck  Belgium

Second round

Thursday, 5 July 1956

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Peter Thomson  Australia 70-70=140 –2
T2 Enrique Bertolino  Argentina 69-72=141 –1
Roberto De Vicenzo  Argentina 71-70=141
T4 Ángel Miguel  Spain 71-74=145 +3
Flory Van Donck  Belgium 71-74=145
6 Eric Lester  England 70-76=146 +4
T7 Gary Player  South Africa 71-76=147 +5
Dennis Smalldon  Wales 68-79=147
T9 Henry Cotton  England 72-76=148 +6
Bernard Hunt  England 75-73=148
Mike Souchak  United States 74-74=148
Frank Stranahan  United States 72-76=148
Dave Thomas  Wales 70-78=148
Charlie Ward  England 73-75=148
Harry Weetman  England 72-76=148

Amateurs: Carr (+8), Sharp (+12), Jones (+12), Tate (+14), Shepperson (+17), Thirlwell (+18), Fogarty (+21).

Third round

Friday, 6 July 1956 - (morning)

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Peter Thomson  Australia 70-70-72=212 –1
2 Flory Van Donck  Belgium 71-74-70=215 +2
3 Enrique Bertolino  Argentina 69-72-76=217 +4
4 Henry Cotton  England 72-76-71=219 +6
T5 Roberto De Vicenzo  Argentina 71-70-79=220 +7
Ángel Miguel  Spain 71-74-75=220
Gary Player  South Africa 71-76-73=220
Frank Stranahan  United States 72-76-72=220
9 Antonio Cerdá  Argentina 72-81-68=221 +8
T10 John Panton  Scotland 74-76-72=222 +9
Mike Souchak  United States 74-74-74=222

Final round

Friday, 6 July 1956 - (afternoon)

Place Player Country Score To par Money (£)
1 Peter Thomson  Australia 70-70-72-74=286 +2 1,000
2 Flory Van Donck  Belgium 71-74-70-74=289 +5 500
3 Roberto De Vicenzo  Argentina 71-70-79-70=290 +6 350
4 Gary Player  South Africa 71-76-73-71=291 +7 200
5 John Panton  Scotland 74-76-72-70=292 +8 150
T6 Enrique Bertolino  Argentina 69-72-76-76=293 +9 87
Henry Cotton  England 72-76-71-74=293
T8 Antonio Cerdá  Argentina 72-81-68-73=294 +10 62
Mike Souchak  United States 74-74-74-72=294
T10 Christy O'Connor Snr  Ireland 73-78-74-70=295 +11 40
Harry Weetman  England 72-76-75-72=295

Amateur: Carr (+22).

References

  1. ^ a b "Thomson wins third straight British Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 7 July 1956. p. 11. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Smalldon leads British Open, Al Balding tied for third". Montreal Gazette. Canadian Press. 5 July 1956. p. 34.
  3. ^ "Media Guide". The Open Championship. 2011. p. 80. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  4. ^ "New measure in Open golf - Threesomes in two qualifying rounds". The Times. 7 June 1956. p. 3.
  5. ^ "Player and Thomson lead qualifiers in Open - Unexpected failure of Mills". The Times. 4 July 1956. p. 5.
Preceded by Major Championships Succeeded by

53°23′06″N 3°11′24″W / 53.385°N 3.190°W / 53.385; -3.190

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