1956 Open Championship

1956 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates 4–6 July 1956
Location Hoylake, England
Course(s) Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Statistics
Par 71[1]
Length 6,960 yards (6,364 m)[2]
Field 96 players, 49 after cut[3]
Cut 153 (+11)
Prize fund £3,750
$10,500
Winner's share £1,000
$2,800
Champion
Australia Peter Thomson
286 (+2)
«1955
1957»
Hoylake
Location in England

The 1956 Open Championship was the 85th Open Championship, held 4–6 July at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Two-time defending champion Peter Thomson of Australia won his third consecutive Open, three strokes ahead of runner-up Flory Van Donck of Belgium. It was the third of five Open titles for the 26-year-old Thomson.[1]

Qualifying took place on 2–3 July. Entries played 18 holes on the Championship course and 18 holes at Wallasey. With a record 360 entries it was decided that, for the first time, qualifying would be in groups of three rather than the usual two.[4] The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100. Ties for 100th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 152 and 96 players qualified. Gary Player and Peter Thomson led the qualifiers on 140.[5] The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was set at 50. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut. Prize money was unchanged with £1,000 for the winner out of a total purse of £3,750.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par Finish
Peter Thomson  Australia 1954, 1955 70 70 72 74 286 +2 1
Henry Cotton  England 1934, 1937, 1948 72 76 71 74 293 +9 T6
Gene Sarazen  United States 1932 78 74 WD

Missed the cut

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 Total To par
Bobby Locke  South Africa 1949, 1950, 1952 76 79 155 +13
Fred Daly  Northern Ireland 1947 77 81 158 +16
Dick Burton  England 1939 83 79 162 +20

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 4 July 1956

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Dennis Smalldon Wales68–3
2Enrique Bertolino Argentina69–2
T3Al Balding Canada70–1
Eric Lester England
Dave Thomas Wales
Peter Thomson Australia
T7Carlos Celles Spain71E
Roberto De Vicenzo Argentina
Ángel Miguel Spain
Gary Player South Africa
Flory Van Donck Belgium

Second round

Thursday, 5 July 1956

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Peter Thomson Australia70-70=140–2
T2Enrique Bertolino Argentina69-72=141–1
Roberto De Vicenzo Argentina71-70=141
T4Ángel Miguel Spain71-74=145+3
Flory Van Donck Belgium71-74=145
6Eric Lester England70-76=146+4
T7Gary Player South Africa71-76=147+5
Dennis Smalldon Wales68-79=147
T9Henry Cotton England72-76=148+6
Bernard Hunt England75-73=148
Mike Souchak United States74-74=148
Frank Stranahan United States72-76=148
Dave Thomas Wales70-78=148
Charlie Ward England73-75=148
Harry Weetman England72-76=148

Amateurs: Carr (+8), Sharp (+12), Jones (+12), Tate (+14), Shepperson (+17), Thirlwell (+18), Fogarty (+21).

Third round

Friday, 6 July 1956 - (morning)

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Peter Thomson Australia70-70-72=212–1
2Flory Van Donck Belgium71-74-70=215+2
3Enrique Bertolino Argentina69-72-76=217+4
4Henry Cotton England72-76-71=219+6
T5Roberto De Vicenzo Argentina71-70-79=220+7
Ángel Miguel Spain71-74-75=220
Gary Player South Africa71-76-73=220
Frank Stranahan United States72-76-72=220
9Antonio Cerdá Argentina72-81-68=221+8
T10John Panton Scotland74-76-72=222+9
Mike Souchak United States74-74-74=222

Final round

Friday, 6 July 1956 - (afternoon)

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ()
1 Peter Thomson  Australia 70-70-72-74=286 +2 1,000
2 Flory Van Donck  Belgium 71-74-70-74=289 +5 500
3 Roberto De Vicenzo  Argentina 71-70-79-70=290 +6 350
4 Gary Player  South Africa 71-76-73-71=291 +7 200
5 John Panton  Scotland 74-76-72-70=292 +8 150
T6 Enrique Bertolino  Argentina 69-72-76-76=293 +9 87
Henry Cotton  England 72-76-71-74=293
T8 Antonio Cerdá  Argentina 72-81-68-73=294 +10 62
Mike Souchak  United States 74-74-74-72=294
T10 Christy O'Connor Snr  Ireland 73-78-74-70=295 +11 40
Harry Weetman  England 72-76-75-72=295

Amateur: Carr (+22).

References

  1. 1 2 "Thomson wins third straight British Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 7 July 1956. p. 11. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  2. "Smalldon leads British Open, Al Balding tied for third". Montreal Gazette. Canadian Press. 5 July 1956. p. 34.
  3. "Media Guide". The Open Championship. 2011. p. 80. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  4. "New measure in Open golf - Threesomes in two qualifying rounds". The Times. 7 June 1956. p. 3.
  5. "Player and Thomson lead qualifiers in Open - Unexpected failure of Mills". The Times. 4 July 1956. p. 5.

External links

Preceded by
1956 U.S. Open
Major Championships Succeeded by
1956 PGA Championship

Coordinates: 53°23′06″N 3°11′24″W / 53.385°N 3.190°W / 53.385; -3.190

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