1961 Open Championship

1961 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates	12–15 July 1961
Location	Southport, England
Course(s)	Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Statistics
Par	72 ^[1]
Length	6,844 yards (6,258 m)
Field	108 players, 48 after cut^[2]
Cut	153 (+9)
Prize fund	£8,500 $23,800
Winner's share	£1,400 $3,920
Champion
Arnold Palmer
284 (−4)
«1960 1962»

Southport

Location in England

The 1961 Open Championship was the 90th Open Championship, played 12–15 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Arnold Palmer won the first of two consecutive Open Championships, one stroke ahead of Dai Rees.^[1] It was the second Open for Palmer, the runner-up in his first in 1960, and the fourth of his seven major titles. He was the first American to win the Claret Jug since Ben Hogan in 1953. This was the second Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, which hosted in 1954.

Qualifying took place on 10–11 July. Entries played 18 holes on the Championship course and 18 holes at Hillside Golf Club. The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 120. Ties for 120th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 151 and 108 players qualified. There were 22 players on 152. Bob Charles led the qualifiers on 136, two ahead of Gary Player.^[3]^[4]^[5] A maximum of 50 players could make the cut after 36 holes. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut.

Gale-force winds caused scores to soar during the second round on Thursday,^[6] followed by heavy rains which washed out both rounds on Friday.^[7] Cancellation was a possibility, but the weather cooperated enough to play the third and fourth rounds in showers on Saturday.^[1]^[8]

1959 Open champion and reigning Masters champion Gary Player withdrew early in the third round due to a stomach ailment.^[1]

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Kel Nagle	Australia	1960	68	75	75	71	289	+1	T5
Peter Thomson	Australia	1954, 1955, 1956, 1958	75	72	70	73	290	+2	7
Henry Cotton	England	1934, 1937, 1948	76	77	74	77	304	+16	T32
Gary Player	South Africa	1959	73	77	WD

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Dick Burton	England	1939	80	77	157	+13
Bobby Locke	South Africa	1949, 1950, 1952, 1957	75	84	159	+15

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 12 July 1961

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Harold Henning	South Africa	68	−4
	Kel Nagle	Australia
	Dai Rees	Wales
T4	Jean Garaïalde	France	69	−3
	Norman Johnson	England
	David Miller	England
T7	Alan Brookes	South Africa	70	−2
	Neil Coles	England
	Sam King	England
	John MacDonald	Scotland
	Arnold Palmer	United States
	Lionel Platts	England

Second round

Thursday, 13 July 1961

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Harold Henning	South Africa	68-74=142	−2
T1	Dai Rees	Wales	68-74=142	−2
T3	Kel Nagle	Australia	68-75=143	−1
T3	Arnold Palmer	United States	70-73=143	−1
T5	Neil Coles	England	70-77=147	+3
	Sam King	England	70-77=147
	Ramón Sota	Spain	71-76=147
	Peter Thomson	Australia	75-72=147
T9	Peter Alliss	England	73-75=148	+4
	Ken Bousfield	England	71-77=148
	Harry Bradshaw	Ireland	73-75=148
	Peter Butler	England	72-76=148
	Eric Lester	England	71-77=148
	David Miller	England	69-79=148
	Christy O'Connor Snr	Ireland	71-77=148
	Dave Thomas	Wales	71-77=148
	Brian Wilkes	South Africa	72-76=148

Amateurs: Christmas (+6), White (+6), Chapman (+11), Bonallack (+15), Carr (+17), Reece (+18), Pearson (+25)

Third round

Saturday, 15 July 1961 - (morning)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Arnold Palmer	United States	70-73-69=212	−4
2	Dai Rees	Wales	68-74-71=213	−3
3	Christy O'Connor Snr	Ireland	71-77-67=215	−1
4	Neil Coles	England	70-77-69=216	E
T5	Harold Henning	South Africa	68-74-75=217	+1
T5	Peter Thomson	Australia	75-72-70=217	+1
7	Kel Nagle	Australia	68-75-75=218	+2
T8	Eric Brown	Scotland	73-76-70=219	+3
	Norman Johnson	England	69-80-70=219
	Ramón Sota	Spain	71-76-72=219

Final round

Saturday, 15 July 1961 - (afternoon)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money (£)
1	Arnold Palmer	United States	70-73-69-72=284	−4	1,400
2	Dai Rees	Wales	68-74-71-72=285	−3	1,000
T3	Neil Coles	England	70-77-69-72=288	E	710
T3	Christy O'Connor Snr	Ireland	71-77-67-73=288	E	710
T5	Eric Brown	Scotland	73-76-70-70=289	+1	400
T5	Kel Nagle	Australia	68-75-75-71=289	+1	400
7	Peter Thomson	Australia	75-72-70-73=290	+2	275
T8	Peter Alliss	England	73-75-72-71=291	+3	190
T8	Ken Bousfield	England	71-77-75-68=291	+3	190
T10	Harold Henning	South Africa	68-74-75-76=293	+5	140
T10	Syd Scott	England	76-75-71-71=293	+5	140

Amateurs: White (+18), Christmas (+20)

References

1 2 3 4 "Palmer takes British crown". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. 16 July 1961. p. 1B.
↑ "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 75, 203–8. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
↑ "Player's controlled power an Open golf hint - Charles leading qualifier". The Times. 12 July 1961. p. 12.
↑ "Palmer fires opening 71 in British Open tourney". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. 10 July 1961. p. 3B.
↑ "Trick-shooting Ezar fires 70". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. 11 July 1961. p. 3B.
↑ "Palmer trailing by one in British". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 14 July 1961. p. 15.
↑ "British weather may halt open tourney". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 15 July 1961. p. 9.
↑ Longhurst, Henry (24 July 1961). "Arnie gets the one he wanted". Sports Illustrated. p. 20.

External links

Preceded by 1961 U.S. Open	Major Championships	Succeeded by 1961 PGA Championship

1961 Men's Major Golf Championships

The Masters U.S. Open The Open Championship PGA Championship

The Open Championship

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Coordinates: 53°37′19″N 3°01′59″W / 53.622°N 3.033°W / 53.622; -3.033

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