1948 Open Championship

1948 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates	30 June – 2 July 1948
Location	Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland
Course(s)	Muirfield
Statistics
Par	71
Field	97 players, 36 after cut
Cut	148 (+6)
Prize fund	£1,000; $4,000
Winner's share	£150 ; $600
Champion
	Henry Cotton
	284 (E)
	← 1947 1949 →

Muirfield

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Location in Scotland

Muirfield

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Location in East Lothian, Scotland

The 1948 Open Championship was the 77th Open Championship, held 30 June to 2 July at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Henry Cotton, age 41, won his third and final Open title, five strokes ahead of runner-up and defending champion Fred Daly.^[2]^[3]

Qualifying took place on 28–29 June, Monday and Tuesday, with 18 holes at Muirfield and 18 holes at the number 1 course Gullane. The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100, and ties for 100th place would not qualify.^[4] Henry Cotton led on 138; the qualifying score was 152 and 97 players advanced.^[5]^[6] Cotton had led the qualification in 1935, the previous time the Open had been held at Muirfield.

Charlie Ward, Sam King, and Flory Van Donck shot 69 to share the first round lead.^[7] Cotton opened with a 71, then led by four strokes after a 66 in the second round,^[8] one off his own tournament record set in 1934. While scoring conditions in the first two rounds were ideal, with five other rounds of sub-70 in the second, the change in weather on the final day caused scores to soar. The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was again set at 40, and ties for 40th place were not included. The cut was at 148 (+6) and 36 players advanced.^[8]

Over the final two rounds, the lowest round was 70. Cotton carded rounds of 75-72 to set a clubhouse lead of 284 that no one came close to matching. Fred Daly came closest with a 289, five shots behind.^[2]^[3]

Roberto De Vicenzo made his Open Championship debut and finished in third place. Over the next two years he followed with another third and a runner-up finish. He won the title nineteen years later, in 1967.

Past champions in the field

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Henry Cotton	England	1934, 1937	71	66	75	72	284	E	1
Fred Daly	Northern Ireland	1947	72	71	73	73	289	+5	2
Alf Padgham	England	1936	73	70	71	77	291	+6	T7
Dick Burton	England	1939	74	70	74	77	295	+11	T18
Reg Whitcombe	England	1938	77	67	77	74	295	+11	T18
Alf Perry	England	1935	77	71	76	73	297	+13	T23

Source:^[1]^[2]^[3]

All past champions in the field made the cut.

Did not enter:

Sam Snead (1946), Denny Shute (1933), Gene Sarazen (1932), Tommy Armour (1931).^[5]^[9]

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 30 June 1948

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Sam King	England	69	−2
	Flory Van Donck	Belgium
	Charlie Ward	England
T4	Roberto De Vicenzo	Argentina	70	−1
T4	Frank Jowle	England	70	−1
T6	Henry Cotton	England	71	E
	Reg Horne	England
	Norman Von Nida	Australia
T10	Fred Daly	Northern Ireland	72	+1
	Arthur Lacey	England
	Lawson Little	United States
	Walter Lyle	Scotland
	Norman Sutton	England

Source:^[7]

Second round

Thursday, 1 July 1948

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Henry Cotton	England	71-66=137	−5
T2	Sam King	England	69-72=141	−1
T2	Charlie Ward	England	69-72=141	−1
T4	Arthur Lees	England	73-69=142	E
T4	Flory Van Donck	Belgium	69-73=142	E
T6	Fred Daly	Northern Ireland	72-71=143	+1
	Roberto De Vicenzo	Argentina	70-73=143
	Alf Padgham	England	73-70=143
	Norman Von Nida	Australia	71-72=143
T10	Dick Burton	England	74-70=144	+2
	Jack Hargreaves	England	76-68=144
	Dai Rees	Wales	73-71=144
	Reg Whitcombe	England	77-67=144

Source:^[8]

Third round

Friday, 2 July 1948 (morning)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Henry Cotton	England	71-66-75=212	−1
1	Alf Padgham	England	73-70-71=214	+1
T3	Roberto De Vicenzo	Argentina	70-73-72=215	+2
	Sam King	England	69-72-74=215
	Arthur Lees	England	73-69-73=215
	Flory Van Donck	Belgium	69-73-73=215
T7	Fred Daly	Northern Ireland	72-71-73=216	+3
	Charlie Ward	England	69-72-75=216
	Alan Waters	England	75-71-70=216
10	Jack Hargreaves	England	76-68-73=217	+4

Source:^[2]^[3]

Final round

Friday, 2 July 1948 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money (£)
1	Henry Cotton	England	71-66-75-72=284	E	150
2	Fred Daly	Northern Ireland	72-71-73-73=289	+5	100
T3	Roberto De Vicenzo	Argentina	70-73-72-75=290	+6	41 ¼
	Jack Hargreaves	England	76-68-73-73=290
	Norman Von Nida	Australia	71-72-76-71=290
	Charlie Ward	England	69-72-75-74=290
T7	Johnny Bulla	United States	74-72-73-72=291	+7	15
	Sam King	England	69-72-74-76=291
	Alf Padgham	England	73-70-71-77=291
	Flory Van Donck	Belgium	69-73-73-76=291

Source:^[2]^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. p. 90. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Cotton captures third British Open golf title". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 3 July 1948. p. 11. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Cotton's third Open Championship". Glasgow Herald. 3 July 1948. p. 3.
^ "Golf - The Open Championship". The Times. 15 June 1948. p. 6.
^ ^a ^b "Cotton leads qualifiers in Open". Glasgow Herald. 30 June 1948. p. 3.
^ "Golf - Open Championship qualifiers". The Times. 30 June 1948. p. 2.
^ ^a ^b "Greens baffle "Open" golfers". Glasgow Herald. 1 July 1948. p. 6.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Cotton's "royal" round to lead in "Open"". Glasgow Herald. 2 July 1948. p. 6.
^ "9 Americans qualify for British Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. Associated Press. 30 June 1948. p. 1, sec. 2.

External links

Preceded by 1948 U.S. Open	Major Championships	Succeeded by 1949 Masters Tournament

56°02′31″N 2°49′16″W / 56.042°N 2.821°W / 56.042; -2.821

[ocmg11-1] "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. p. 90. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2017.

[cctbot-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Cotton captures third British Open golf title". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 3 July 1948. p. 11. Retrieved 5 April 2013.

[ghcot-3] "Cotton's third Open Championship". Glasgow Herald. 3 July 1948. p. 3.

[4] "Golf - The Open Championship". The Times. 15 June 1948. p. 6.

[clquio-5] "Cotton leads qualifiers in Open". Glasgow Herald. 30 June 1948. p. 3.

[6] "Golf - Open Championship qualifiers". The Times. 30 June 1948. p. 2.

[grbfflo-7] "Greens baffle "Open" golfers". Glasgow Herald. 1 July 1948. p. 6.

[royrnd-8] "Cotton's "royal" round to lead in "Open"". Glasgow Herald. 2 July 1948. p. 6.

[ninamqu-9] "9 Americans qualify for British Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. Associated Press. 30 June 1948. p. 1, sec. 2.

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