1974 Open Championship

1974 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates10–13 July 1974
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]
Field154 players
81 after 1st cut
60 after 2nd cut[1]
Cut156 (+14) (1st cut)
231 (+18) (2nd cut)[1]
Prize fund£50,000[1]
$120,000
Winner's share£5,500[1]
$13,200
Champion
South Africa Gary Player
282 (−2)
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Lytham & St Annes is located in England
Lytham & St Annes
Lytham &
St Annes
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Location in England
Lytham & St Annes is located in Lancashire
Lytham & St Annes
Lytham &
St Annes
class=notpageimage|
Location in Lancashire. England

The 1974 Open Championship was the 103rd Open Championship, held from 10 to 13 July at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. Gary Player won his third Open Championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Peter Oosterhuis.[2][3] It was the eighth of his nine major titles and second of the year; he won the Masters in April.[4] In the other two majors in 1974, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship, Player had top ten finishes.

The use of the larger "American ball" (diameter 1.68 in, 42.67 mm) was made compulsory. In previous Opens, players could use the smaller "British ball" (1.62 in, 41.15 mm).[5][6][7]

Course layout

Main article: Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 206 436 458 393 212 486 551 394 162 3,298 334 542 201 339 445 468 356 453 386 3,524 6,822
Par 3 4 4 4 3 5 5 4 3 35 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 36 71

Source:[8]
Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):[1]

  • 1969: 6,848 yards (6,262 m)
  • 1963: 6,836 yards (6,251 m)
  • 1958: 6,635 yards (6,067 m)
  • 1952: 6,657 yards (6,087 m)

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 10 July 1974

Place Player Score To par
T1 England John Morgan 69 −2
South Africa Gary Player
T3 South Africa Bobby Cole 70 −1
United States Danny Edwards
T5 United States Hubert Green 71 E
Republic of Ireland John O'Leary
England Peter Oosterhuis
T8 Scotland David Chillas 72 +1
England Neil Coles
Taiwan Lu Liang-Huan
United States Johnny Miller
United States Tom Weiskopf

Source:[9]

Second round

Thursday, 11 July 1974

Place Player Score To par
1 South Africa Gary Player 69-68=137 −5
T2 South Africa Bobby Cole 70-72=142 E
England Peter Oosterhuis 71-71=142
4 United States Danny Edwards 70-73=143 +1
T5 Taiwan Lu Liang-Huan 72-72=144 +2
England John Morgan 69-75=144
United States Tom Weiskopf 72-72=144
8 United States Hubert Green 71-74=145 +3
T9 United States Al Geiberger 76-70=146 +4
England Noel Hunt 73-73=146
United States Jack Nicklaus 74-72=146

Amateurs: Lyle (+10), James (+16), Clark (+21), Burch (+22), Homer (+23), Shaw (+31).

Third round

Friday, 12 July 1974

Place Player Score To par
1 South Africa Gary Player 69-68-75=212 −1
2 England Peter Oosterhuis 71-71-73=215 +2
3 United States Jack Nicklaus 74-72-70=216 +3
4 United States Hubert Green 71-74-72=217 +4
T5 South Africa Bobby Cole 70-72-76=218 +5
United States Tom Weiskopf 72-72-74=218
T7 United States Danny Edwards 70-73-76=219 +6
Taiwan Lu Liang-Huan 72-72-75=219
T9 United States Johnny Miller 72-75-73=220 +7
England John Morgan 69-75-76=220

Source:[10]
Amateurs: Lyle (+23), James (+24).

Final round

Saturday, 13 July 1974

Place Player Score To par Money (£)
1 South Africa Gary Player 69-68-75-70=282 −2 5,500
2 England Peter Oosterhuis 71-71-73-71=286 +2 4,000
3 United States Jack Nicklaus 74-72-70-71=287 +3 3,250
4 United States Hubert Green 71-74-72-71=288 +4 2,750
T5 United States Danny Edwards 70-73-76-73=292 +8 2,300
Taiwan Lu Liang-Huan 72-72-75-73=292
T7 South Africa Bobby Cole 70-72-76-75=293 +9 1,717
Belgium Donald Swaelens 77-73-74-69=293
United States Tom Weiskopf 72-72-74-75=293
10 United States Johnny Miller 72-75-73-74=294 +10 1,500

Source:[3][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 62, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  2. ^ Jenkins, Dan (22 July 1974). "Gary Player's Expo". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
  3. ^ a b "Player wins Open, sets sights on Jack". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 14 July 1974. p. 1B.
  4. ^ "Player determined to be No. 1". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. 15 July 2012. p. 3, sec 2.
  5. ^ "R&A made bigger ball compulsory". The Times. 22 January 1974. p. 10.
  6. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (22 January 1974). "American-size ball compulsory in Open". Glasgow Herald. p. 4.
  7. ^ "Manufacturers criticize Open ball decision". Glasgow Herald. 23 January 1974. p. 4.
  8. ^ "Card of course". Glasgow Herald. 13 July 1974. p. 4.
  9. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (11 July 1974). "Unknown shares lead with Gary". Glasgow Herald. p. 4.
  10. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (13 July 1974). "Oosterhuis cuts the gap to three". Glasgow Herald. p. 4.
  11. ^ "1974 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  12. ^ "Foreign exchange". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 13 July 1974. p. 11.

53°44′58″N 3°01′05″W / 53.7495°N 3.0180°W / 53.7495; -3.0180