1976 Open Championship

1976 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates	7–10 July 1976
Location	Southport, England
Course(s)	Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Tour(s)	European Tour; PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	7,001 yards (6,402 m)
Field	155 players; 84 after 1st cut; 66 after 2nd cut
Cut	152 (+8) (1st cut) ; 226 (+10) (2nd cut)
Prize fund	£75,000; $135,000
Winner's share	£7,500; $13,500
Champion
	Johnny Miller
	279 (−9)
	← 1975 1977 →

Southport

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Location in England

Royal Birkdale
Golf Club

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Location in Southport, Merseyside,
north of Liverpool, England

The 1976 Open Championship was the 105th Open Championship, played 7–10 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Johnny Miller won his only Open championship, six strokes ahead of runners-up Seve Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus. It was Miller's second and last major championship title; his first was the U.S. Open in 1973.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Ballesteros, age 19, was the 54-hole leader at 211 (−5), two strokes ahead of Miller.^[5] In the final round, he was seven over par after twelve holes, which included a triple-bogey at the eleventh. Ballesteros rallied on the final six holes, with three birdies and an eagle, to tie Nicklaus for second place.

Defending champion Tom Watson carded an 80 (+8) in the third round for 227 (+11) and missed the second cut by a stroke. U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate was level par after two rounds, but also missed the second cut with an 87 for 231.^[6] Masters winner Raymond Floyd finished in fourth at 286 (−2), a stroke behind Ballesteros and Nicklaus.

Past champions in the field

Made both cuts

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Jack Nicklaus	United States	1966, 1970	74	70	72	69	285	−3	T2
Tom Weiskopf	United States	1973	73	72	76	71	292	+4	T17
Gary Player	South Africa	1959, 1968, 1974	72	72	79	71	294	+6	T28
Roberto De Vicenzo	Argentina	1967	77	71	76	72	296	+8	T32
Tony Jacklin	England	1969	73	77	76	72	298	+10	T42
Arnold Palmer	United States	1961, 1962	75	72	76	77	300	+12	T55

Source:^[4]

Missed the second cut

Player	Country	Year won	R1	R2	R3	Total	To par
Tom Watson	United States	1975	75	72	80	227	+11
Bob Charles	New Zealand	1963	72	76	81	229	+13

Source:^[6]

Missed the first cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Sam Snead	United States	1946	79	75	154	+10
Peter Thomson	Australia	1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965	75	79	154	+10
Kel Nagle	Australia	1960	81	74	155	+11
Bobby Locke	South Africa	1949, 1950, 1952, 1957	83	81	164	+20
Fred Daly	Northern Ireland	1947	86	89	175	+31
Gene Sarazen	United States	1932	WD

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 7 July 1976

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	69	−3
	Christy O'Connor Jnr	Ireland
	Norio Suzuki	Japan
T4	Brian Barnes	Scotland	70	−2
	Tom Kite	United States
	Jack Newton	Australia
T7	Bill Brask	United States	71	−1
	John Fourie	South Africa
	Graham Marsh	Australia
T10	Bob Charles	New Zealand	72	E
	Jan Dorrestein	Netherlands
	Hubert Green	United States
	Johnny Miller	United States
	Gary Player	South Africa

Second round

Thursday, 8 July 1976

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	69-69=138	−6
2	Johnny Miller	United States	72-68=140	−4
T3	Hubert Green	United States	72-70=142	−2
T3	Christy O'Connor Jnr	Ireland	69-73=142	−2
T5	Brian Barnes	Scotland	70-73=143	−1
	Raymond Floyd	United States	76-67=143
	Tommy Horton	England	74-69=143
T8	George Burns	United States	75-69=144	E
	Carl Higgins	United States	77-67=144
	Guy Hunt	Wales	76-68=144
	Tom Kite	United States	70-74=144
	Graham Marsh	Australia	71-73=144
	Jack Newton	Australia	70-74=144
	Jack Nicklaus	United States	74-70=144
	Jerry Pate	United States	73-71=144
	Gary Player	South Africa	72-72=144
	Norio Suzuki	Japan	69-75=144

Amateurs: McEvoy (+12), Squires (+12), Powell (+14), Poxon (+14), McNally (+15), McLean (+17), Ridley (+22).

Third round

Friday, 9 July 1976

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	69-69-73=211	−5
2	Johnny Miller	United States	72-68-73=213	−3
3	Tommy Horton	England	74-69-72=215	−1
T4	Graham Marsh	Australia	71-73-72=216	E
	Jack Nicklaus	United States	74-70-72=216
	Raymond Floyd	United States	76-67-73=216
T7	Tom Kite	United States	70-74-73=217	+1
T7	Christy O'Connor Jnr	Ireland	69-73-75=217	+1
T9	Bobby Cole	South Africa	75-71-72=218	+2
T9	Brian Barnes	Scotland	70-73-75=218	+2

Source:^[6]

Final round

Saturday, 10 July 1976

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money (£)
1	Johnny Miller	United States	72-68-73-66=279	−9	7,500
T2	Jack Nicklaus	United States	74-70-72-69=285	−3	5,250
T2	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	69-69-73-74=285	−3	5,250
4	Raymond Floyd	United States	76-67-73-70=286	−2	3,800
T5	Mark James	England	76-72-74-66=288	E	2,820
	Hubert Green	United States	72-70-78-68=288
	Tom Kite	United States	70-74-73-71=288
	Christy O'Connor Jnr	Ireland	69-73-75-71=288
	Tommy Horton	England	74-69-72-73=288
T10	George Burns	United States	75-69-75-70=289	+1	1,975
	Peter Butler	England	74-72-73-70=289
	Vicente Fernández	Argentina	79-71-69-70=289
	Norio Suzuki	Japan	69-75-75-70=289

Source:^[4]^[7]

Scorecard

Final round

Hole	1	2	3	4;	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	4	4	3	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	5	3	5	4	5	5
Miller	−2	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−4	−4	−4	−4	−5	−7	−7	−7	−7	−8	−9
Ballesteros	−5	−4	−4	−4	−4	−2	−2	−1	−1	−2	+1	+2	+1	E	E	E	−2	−3
Nicklaus	E	E	−1	−2	−2	E	E	E	E	E	E	+1	E	1	−1	−1	−2	−3
Floyd	E	E	E	E	−1	−2	−1	−1	E	−1	−1	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−2

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

	Eagle		Birdie		Bogey		Double bogey		Triple bogey+

Source:^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 60, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
^ Jenkins, Dan (19 July 1976). "At last, he's out of the crowd". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
^ "Miller wins British Open". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 11 July 1976. p. 1, sec. 3.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Miller turns it into runaway". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 11 July 1976. p. B1.
^ "Ballesteros is Bullish in British". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 10 July 1976. p. 1, sec. 2.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Golf: British Open scores". Chicago Tribune. 10 July 1976. p. 2, sec. 2.
^ "1976 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.

External links

53°37′19″N 3°01′59″W / 53.622°N 3.033°W / 53.622; -3.033

[ocmg11-1] "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 60, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.

[sijl76-2] Jenkins, Dan (19 July 1976). "At last, he's out of the crowd". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.

[ctmwbrop-3] "Miller wins British Open". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 11 July 1976. p. 1, sec. 3.

[erg76brord4-4] "Miller turns it into runaway". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 11 July 1976. p. B1.

[bbllbr-5] "Ballesteros is Bullish in British". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 10 July 1976. p. 1, sec. 2.

[ct76opsc-6] "Golf: British Open scores". Chicago Tribune. 10 July 1976. p. 2, sec. 2.

[dbg1976oc-7] "1976 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.

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