1978 Open Championship

1978 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates12–15 July 1978
LocationSt Andrews, Scotland
Course(s)Old Course at St Andrews
Organized byThe Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews
Tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72[1]
Length6,933 yards (6,340 m)[1][2]
Field155 players
80 after 1st cut
64 after 2nd cut[1]
Cut148 (+4) (1st cut)
222 (+6) (2nd cut)[1]
Prize fund£125,000
$237,500
Winner's share£12,500
$23,750
Champion
United States Jack Nicklaus
281 (−7)
← 1977
1979 →
St Andrews  is located in Scotland
St Andrews 
St Andrews 
class=notpageimage|
Location in Scotland
St Andrews is located in Fife
St Andrews
St Andrews
class=notpageimage|
Location in Fife, Scotland

The 1978 Open Championship was the 107th Open Championship, held 12–15 July over the Old Course at St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Jack Nicklaus won his third and final Open championship, two strokes ahead of runners-up Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd, Tom Kite, and Simon Owen.[3] It was the fifteenth of his eighteen major championships and marked the completion of his third career grand slam.[4][5]

Defending champion Tom Watson was a co-leader after 54 holes,[6][7] but four consecutive bogeys on the front nine led to a 76 (+4). Watson finished six strokes back in a tie for fourteenth place.[4][5][8]

Course

Main article: Old Course at St Andrews
Hole Name Yards Par Hole Name Yards Par
1 Burn 370 4 10 Bobby Jones 342 4
2 Dyke 411 4 11 High (In) 172 3
3 Cartgate (Out) 371 4 12 Heathery (In) 316 4
4 Ginger Beer 463 4 13 Hole O'Cross (In) 425 4
5 Hole O'Cross (Out) 564 5 14 Long 567 5
6 Heathery (Out) 416 4 15 Cartgate (In) 413 4
7 High (Out) 372 4 16 Corner of the Dyke 382 4
8 Short 178 3 17 Road 461 4
9 End 356 4 18 Tom Morris 354 4
Out 3,501 36 In 3,432 36
Source:[2] Total 6,933 72

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

  • 6,957 yards (6,361 m) - 1970:
  • 6,926 yards (6,333 m) - 1964
  • 6,936 yards (6,342 m) - 1960, 1955

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 12 July 1978

Place Player Score To par
1 Japan Isao Aoki 68 −4
T2 Spain Seve Ballesteros 69 −3
United States Raymond Floyd
Australia Jack Newton
United States Tom Weiskopf
T6 England Howard Clark 70 −2
United States Ben Crenshaw
United States Mark Hayes
England Carl Mason
Scotland Mike Miller (a)
Japan Tsuneyuki Nakajima
New Zealand Simon Owen

Source:[1]

Second round

Thursday, 13 July 1978

Place Player Score To par
T1 Japan Isao Aoki 68-71=139 −5
Spain Seve Ballesteros 69-70=139
United States Ben Crenshaw 70-69=139
T4 England Gary Cullen 73-67=140 −4
Australia Bob Shearer 71-69=139
T6 United States Bob Byman 72-69=141 −3
United States Tom Kite 72-69=141
Japan Tsuneyuki Nakajima 70-71=141
Japan Masashi Ozaki 72-69=141
United States Tom Watson 73-68=141
United States Tom Weiskopf 69-72=141

Source:[1][9][10]

Amateurs: Miller (E), Brodie (+1), McEvoy (+1), Godwin (+3), Gallagher (+6), Kuramoto (+6), Lewis (+8), Webster (+9), Hedges (+11), Fish, (+14), McLachlan (+14), Turner (+14), Walters (+18).

Third round

Friday, 14 July 1978

Place Player Score To par
T1 England Peter Oosterhuis 72-70-69=211 −5
United States Tom Watson 73-68-70=211
T3 New Zealand Simon Owen 70-75-67=212 −4
United States Jack Nicklaus 71-72-69=212
United States Ben Crenshaw 70-69-73=212
Japan Isao Aoki 68-71-73=212
T7 England Nick Faldo 71-72-70=213 −3
United States John Schroeder 74-69-70=213
United States Tom Kite 72-69-72=213
United States Tom Weiskopf 69-72-72=213

Source:[6][7]

Amateurs: Miller (+2), Brodie (+4), McEvoy (+5), Godwin (+6).

Final round

Saturday, 15 July 1978

Place Player Score To par Money (£)
1 United States Jack Nicklaus 71-72-69-69=281 −7 12,500
T2 United States Raymond Floyd 69-75-71-68=283 −5 7,255
United States Tom Kite 72-69-72-70=283
United States Ben Crenshaw 70-69-73-71=283
New Zealand Simon Owen 70-75-67-71=283
6 England Peter Oosterhuis 72-70-69-73=284 −4 4,960
T7 Australia Bob Shearer 71-69-74-71=285 −3 3,905
England Nick Faldo 71-72-70-72=285
United States John Schroeder 74-69-70-72=285
Japan Isao Aoki 68-71-73-73=285

Amateurs: McEvoy (+5), Miller (+6), Brodie (+7), Godwin (+10). Source:[1][5][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 58, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b "St. Andrews–decoding British Open course". The Chicago Tribune. UPI. 12 July 1978. p. 2, sec. 6.
  3. ^ Lupica, Mike (16 July 1978). "Nicklaus at his best for British win". The Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  4. ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (24 July 1978). "A Bonny Victory". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
  5. ^ a b c Jacobs, Raymond (17 July 1978). "Jack Nicklaus - a superstar reborn". Glasgow Herald. p. 14.
  6. ^ a b Jacobs, Raymond (15 July 1978). "Oosterhuis and Watson head for fascinating duel". Glasgow Herald. p. 16.
  7. ^ a b "Watson shares lead; Nicklaus shot back". The Chicago Tribune. wire services. 15 July 1978. p. 3, sec. 2.
  8. ^ "Nicklaus caresses Old Course, captures Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 16 July 1978. p. 2B.
  9. ^ "Open golf qualifiers". Glasgow Herald. 14 July 1978. p. 21.
  10. ^ "Scoreboard: Golf". The Chicago Tribune. 14 July 1978. p. 6, sec. 5.
  11. ^ "1978 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  12. ^ "British Pound / US Dollar Historical Reference Rates from Bank of England for 1978". PoundSterling. July 1978. Retrieved 18 July 2024.

56°20′35″N 2°48′11″W / 56.343°N 2.803°W / 56.343; -2.803