1979 Open Championship

1979 Open Championship

Tournament information
Dates	18–21 July 1979
Location	Lancashire, England
Course(s)	Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
Tour(s)	European Tour PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	71[1]
Length	6,822 yards (6,238 m)[1][2]
Field	152 players 82 after 1st cut 61 after 2nd cut[1]
Cut	152 (+10) (1st cut) 227 (+14) (2nd cut)
Prize fund	£155,000[1] $325,000
Winner's share	£15,000[1][3] $31,500
Champion
Seve Ballesteros
283 (−1)

Lytham &
St Annes

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Location in England

Lytham &
St Annes

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Location in Lancashire. England

The 1979 Open Championship was the 108th Open Championship, held 18–21 July at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. Seve Ballesteros, 22, won the first of his five major titles, three strokes ahead of runners-up Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw.[4] It was the first of his three Open Championship victories; he raised the Claret Jug again in 1984 and 1988.[5][6]

This was the last Open scheduled to end on Saturday;[7] in 1980 it moved to a Sunday final round, similar to the other three majors.

Course

Main article: Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club

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

Hole #6 was a par 4 in 2012.

7th hole green in 2009

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

• 1974: 6,822 yards (6,238 m), par 71
• 1969: 6,848 yards (6,262 m), par 71
• 1963: 6,836 yards (6,251 m), par 70
• 1958: 6,635 yards (6,067 m), par 71
• 1952: 6,657 yards (6,087 m)

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 18 July 1979

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Bill Longmuir	65	−6
2	Hale Irwin	68	−3
3	Jerry Pate	69	−2
4	Isao Aoki	70	−1
T5	Terry Gale	71	E
	Peter McEvoy (a)
	Orville Moody
	Lee Trevino
T9	Hugh Baiocchi	72	+1
	Ken Brown
	Dennis Clark
	Ben Crenshaw
	Gary Cullen
	Jack Nicklaus
	Tom Watson

Source:[8]

Second round

Thursday, 19 July 1979

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Hale Irwin	68-68=136	−6
2	Seve Ballesteros	73-65=138	−4
3	Bill Longmuir	65-74=139	−3
4	Tom Watson	72-68=140	−2
T5	Dennis Clark	72-69=141	−1
	Jack Nicklaus	72-69=141
7	Graham Marsh	74-68=142	E
T8	Ken Brown	72-71=143	+1
	Bob Byman	73-70=143
	Ben Crenshaw	72-71=143
	Jerry Pate	69-74=143

Source:[9]

Amateurs: McEvoy (+3), Player (+8), Hallberg (+14), Hoad (+15),
                 Bennett (+17), Myers (+18), Guy (+20), Whelan (+23).

Third round

Friday, 20 July 1979

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Hale Irwin	68-68-75=211	−2
2	Seve Ballesteros	73-65-75=213	E
T3	Mark James	76-69-69=214	+1
	Jack Nicklaus	72-69-73=214
T5	Rodger Davis	75-70-70=215	+2
	Bob Byman	73-70-72=215
	Ben Crenshaw	72-71-72=215
T8	Isao Aoki	70-74-72=216	+3
	Greg Norman	73-71-72=216
	Tom Watson	72-68-76=216
	Bill Longmuir	65-74-77=216

Amateurs: McEvoy (+4), Player (+19).

Final round

Saturday, 21 July 1979

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (£)
1	Seve Ballesteros	73-65-75-70=283	−1	15,000
T2	Ben Crenshaw	72-71-72-71=286	+2	11,250
	Jack Nicklaus	72-69-73-72=286
4	Mark James	76-69-69-73=287	+3	7,500
5	Rodger Davis	75-70-70-73=288	+4	6,500
6	Hale Irwin	68-68-75-78=289	+5	6,000
T7	Graham Marsh	74-68-75-74=291	+7	5,000
	Isao Aoki	70-74-72-75=291
	Bob Byman	73-70-72-76=291
T10	Bob Charles	78-72-70-72=292	+8	4,000
	Masashi Ozaki	75-69-75-73=292
	Greg Norman	73-71-72-76=292

Source:[1][6][10][11][12]

• Amateurs: McEvoy (+10)
• The exchange rate at the time was approximately 2.30 dollars (US) per pound sterling.[13]

References

1. "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 57, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
2. "The course only tigers can tame". Glasgow Herald. 18 July 1979. p. 17.
3. Bonk, Thomas (14 July 1988). "There's nothing like it: British Open course set apart by history and other factors". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
4. Jenkins, Dan (30 July 1979). "Adios, amigos". Sports Illustrated.
5. Lipica, Mike (22 July 1979). "Ballesteros wins British". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 4.
6. Jacobs, Raymond (23 July 1979). "A wayward win much in character". Glasgow Herald. p. 16.
7. "Spaniard overtakes the Yanks". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. 22 July 1979. p. 1B.
8. Jacobs, Raymond (19 July 1979). "Longmuir blazes the Open trail". Glasgow Herald. p. 16.
9. Jacobs, Raymond (20 July 1979). "Sevvy has 65 – but Irwin leads". Glasgow Herald. p. 24.
10. "Leaderboard: 1979". The Open Championship. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
11. "The 108th Open Golf Championship: (1979) leaderboard". European Tour. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
12. "1979 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
13. "British Pound / US Dollar Historical Reference Rates from Bank of England for 1979". PoundSterling. July 1979. Retrieved 18 July 2024.

External links

• Royal Lytham & St Annes 1979 (Official site)
• 108th Open Championship - Royal Lytham & St Annes (European Tour)

53.7495°N 3.018°W / 53.7495; -3.018