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[1]
Length	7,001 yards (6,402 m)[1]
Field	155 players 84 after 1st cut 66 after 2nd cut[1]
Cut	152 (+8) (1st cut) 226 (+10) (2nd cut)[1]
Prize fund	£75,000 $135,000
Winner's share	£7,500 $13,500
Champion
Johnny Miller
279 (−9)

 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. The championship is also well remembered for the one and only appearance of Maurice Flitcroft who posed as a professional to gain entry and carded a record 121 for his first round qualifier before being banned by the R&A.[7]

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 7 July 1976

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Seve Ballesteros	69	−3
	Christy O'Connor Jnr
	Norio Suzuki
T4	Brian Barnes	70	−2
	Tom Kite
	Jack Newton
T7	Bill Brask	71	−1
	John Fourie
	Graham Marsh
T10	Bob Charles	72	E
	Jan Dorrestein
	Hubert Green
	Johnny Miller
	Gary Player

Second round

Thursday, 8 July 1976

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Seve Ballesteros	69-69=138	−6
2	Johnny Miller	72-68=140	−4
T3	Hubert Green	72-70=142	−2
	Christy O'Connor Jnr	69-73=142
T5	Brian Barnes	70-73=143	−1
	Raymond Floyd	76-67=143
	Tommy Horton	74-69=143
T8	George Burns	75-69=144	E
	Carl Higgins	77-67=144
	Guy Hunt	76-68=144
	Tom Kite	70-74=144
	Graham Marsh	71-73=144
	Jack Newton	70-74=144
	Jack Nicklaus	74-70=144
	Jerry Pate	73-71=144
	Gary Player	72-72=144
	Norio Suzuki	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	Score	To par
1	Seve Ballesteros	69-69-73=211	−5
2	Johnny Miller	72-68-73=213	−3
3	Tommy Horton	74-69-72=215	−1
T4	Graham Marsh	71-73-72=216	E
	Jack Nicklaus	74-70-72=216
	Raymond Floyd	76-67-73=216
T7	Tom Kite	70-74-73=217	+1
	Christy O'Connor Jnr	69-73-75=217
T9	Bobby Cole	75-71-72=218	+2
	Brian Barnes	70-73-75=218

Source:[6]

Final round

Saturday, 10 July 1976

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

Source:[4][8]

• The exchange rate at the time was approximately 1.78 dollars (US) per pound sterling.[9]

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

1. "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 60, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
2. Jenkins, Dan (19 July 1976). "At last, he's out of the crowd". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
3. "Miller wins British Open". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 11 July 1976. p. 1, sec. 3.
4. "Miller turns it into runaway". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 11 July 1976. p. B1.
5. "Ballesteros is Bullish in British". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 10 July 1976. p. 1, sec. 2.
6. "Golf: British Open scores". Chicago Tribune. 10 July 1976. p. 2, sec. 2.
7. @ajcdeane (21 February 2021). "Maurice's memoirs remain tragically..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
8. "1976 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
9. "British Pound / US Dollar Historical Reference Rates from Bank of England for 1976". PoundSterling. July 1976. Retrieved 18 July 2024.

External links

• Royal Birkdale 1976 (Official site)
• 105th Open Championship – Royal Birkdale (European Tour)

53.622°N 3.033°W / 53.622; -3.033