1966 Open Championship

The 1966 Open Championship was the 95th Open Championship, held 6–9 July at Muirfield Golf Links in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Jack Nicklaus won the first of his three Claret Jugs, one stroke ahead of runners-up Doug Sanders and Dave Thomas.[2][3] It was the sixth of eighteen major titles for Nicklaus and marked the completion of the first of his three career grand slams.[4][5]

1966 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates6–9 July 1966
LocationGullane, Scotland
Course(s)Muirfield Golf Links
Statistics
Par71[1]
Length6,887 yards (6,297 m)[1]
Field130 players, 64 after cut[1]
Cut150 (+8)[1]
Prize fund£15,000
$42,000
Winner's share£2,100
$5,880
Champion
United States Jack Nicklaus
282 (−2)
← 1965
1967 →
Muirfield is located in Scotland
Muirfield
Muirfield
Muirfield is located in East Lothian
Muirfield
Muirfield
Location in East Lothian, Scotland

This was the first Open to be scheduled over four days, with one round each day, finishing on Saturday. Previous editions had played the third and fourth rounds on Friday. The U.S. Open changed to a four-day schedule the previous year in 1965, moving its final round from Saturday afternoon to Sunday. The Open Championship operated on a Wednesday through Saturday schedule through 1979.

It was the final Open for 1964 champion Tony Lema, who died in a plane crash two weeks later, hours after the PGA Championship.[6]

Nicklaus has described Muirfield as "the best golf course in Britain."[7] He later developed a championship golf course and community in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of his hometown of Columbus. Opened in 1974, Nicklaus named it Muirfield Village and it hosts his Memorial Tournament, a top invitational event on the PGA Tour since 1976.

Course

edit
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 429 363 385 187 516 473 187 451 495 3,486 475 363 385 154 462 407 198 528 429 3,401 6,887
Par 4 4 4 3 5 4 3 4 5 36 4 4 4 3 4 4 3 5 4 35 71

Source:[8]
Lengths of the course for previous Opens (since 1950):

  • 1959: 6,806 yards (6,223 m), par 72

Round summaries

edit

First round

edit

Wednesday, 6 July 1966

Place Player Score To par
T1   Jimmy Hitchcock 70 −1
  Jack Nicklaus
T3   Harold Henning 71 E
  Tony Lema
  Doug Sanders
  Ronnie Shade (a)
T7   Fred Boobyer 72 +1
  John Carter
  Alex Caygill
  Christy Greene
  Kel Nagle
  Gary Player
  Dave Thomas

Second round

edit

Thursday, 7 July 1966

Place Player Score To par
1   Jack Nicklaus 70-67=137 −5
2   Peter Butler 73-65=138 −4
T3   Harold Henning 71-69=140 −2
  Kel Nagle 72-68=140
  Phil Rodgers 74-66=140
T6   Doug Sanders 71-70=141 −1
  Ronnie Shade (a) 71-70=141
8   Bruce Devlin 73-69=142 E
9   Alex Caygill 72-71=143 +1
10   Julius Boros 73-71=144 +2

Amateurs: Shade (-1), Cole (+4), Townsend (+6), Bonallack (+7),
Millensted (+12), Smith (+13), Falkenburg (+22)

Third round

edit

Friday, 8 July 1966

Place Player Score To par
1   Phil Rodgers 74-66-70=210 −3
2   Jack Nicklaus 70-67-75=212 −1
3   Doug Sanders 71-70-72=213 E
T4   Arnold Palmer 73-72-69=214 +1
  Dave Thomas 72-73-69=214
6   Harold Henning 71-69-75=215 +2
T7   Alex Caygill 72-71-73=216 +3
  Bruce Devlin 73-69-74=216
  Sebastián Miguel 74-72-70=216
  Kel Nagle 72-68-76=216
  Ronnie Shade (a) 71-70-75=216

Final round

edit

Saturday, 9 July 1966

Place Player Score To par Money (£)
1   Jack Nicklaus 70-67-75-70=282 −2 2,100
T2   Doug Sanders 71-70-72-70=283 −1 1,350
  Dave Thomas 72-73-69-69=283
T4   Bruce Devlin 73-69-74-70=286 +2 696
  Kel Nagle 72-68-76-70=286
  Gary Player 72-74-71-69=286
  Phil Rodgers 74-66-70-76=286
T8   Dave Marr 73-76-69-70=288 +4 330
  Sebastián Miguel 74-72-70-72=288
  Arnold Palmer 73-72-69-74=288
  Peter Thomson 73-75-69-71=288

Source:[2][3][4]
Amateurs: Shade (+9), Townsend (+11), Bonallack (+13), Cole (+14)

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 70, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Nicklaus wins British Open by stroke". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 10 July 1966. p. 1, sec. 2.
  3. ^ a b Jacobs, Raymond (11 July 1966). "Nicklaus's Open at fifth attempt". Glasgow Herald. p. 4.
  4. ^ a b "Happy Nicklaus plans return trip". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 10 July 1966. p. 1B.
  5. ^ Wright, Alfred (18 July 1966). "Smiling Jack wins a rough one". Sports Illustrated. p. 20.
  6. ^ "Lema plane crash probed". Milwaukee Sentinel. United Press International. 26 July 1966. p. 1-sports.
  7. ^ "Muirfield club steeped in tradition". Star-Phoenix. (Saskatoon). Reuters. 14 July 1980. p. B1.
  8. ^ "Card of course". Glasgow Herald. 9 July 1966. p. 13.
edit

56°02′35″N 2°49′23″W / 56.043°N 2.823°W / 56.043; -2.823