The 1996 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 125th Open Championship, held from 18–21 July at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England. Tom Lehman won his only major championship by two strokes over runners-up Mark McCumber and Ernie Els.[2] Lehman built a six-stroke lead after 54 holes and became the first American to win at Lytham since Bobby Jones seventy years earlier.[3][4]
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 18–21 July 1996 |
| Location | Lytham St Annes, England |
| Course(s) | Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club |
| Tour(s) | European Tour PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 71[1] |
| Length | 6,892 yards (6,302 m)[1] |
| Field | 156 players, 77 after cut[1] |
| Cut | 143 (+1)[1] |
| Prize fund | £1,500,000 €1,987,720 $2,200,000 |
| Winner's share | £200,000 €280,000 $310,000 |
| Champion | |
 Tom Lehman | |
| 271 (−13) | |
St Annes
Tiger Woods, age 20, was the only amateur to make the cut and finished tied for 22nd; he turned professional six weeks later. Jack Nicklaus, 56, was one stroke out of the lead after 36 holes, but fell back on the weekend and tied for 45th.
Course layout edit
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 206 | 437 | 457 | 393 | 212 | 490 | 553 | 418 | 164 | 3,330 | 334 | 542 | 198 | 342 | 445 | 463 | 357 | 467 | 414 | 3,562 | 6,892 |
| Par | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 35 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 71 |
Source:[5]
Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):[1]
Round summaries edit
First round edit
Thursday, 18 July 1996
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Paul Broadhurst |
65 | −6 |
| T2 | Mark Brooks |
67 | −4 |
| Fred Couples
| |||
| Brad Faxon
| |||
| Tom Lehman
| |||
| Mark McCumber
| |||
| Mark O'Meara
| |||
| Loren Roberts
| |||
 Hidemichi Tanaka
| |||
| T10 |  Ernie Els |
68 | −3 |
 Klas Eriksson
| |||
| Nick Faldo
| |||
| Jim Furyk
| |||
 Pádraig Harrington
| |||
| Shigeki Maruyama
| |||
| Carl Mason
| |||
 Nick Price
|
Second round edit
Friday, 19 July 1996
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Tom Lehman |
67-67=134 | −8 |
| Paul McGinley |
69-65=134 | ||
| T3 | Ernie Els |
68-67=135 | −7 |
| Peter Hedblom |
70-65=135 | ||
| Jack Nicklaus |
69-66=135 | ||
| T6 | Nick Faldo |
68-68=136 | −6 |
| Pádraig Harrington |
68-68=136 | ||
| Mark McCumber |
67-69=136 | ||
| Mark O'Meara |
67-69=136 | ||
| Corey Pavin |
70-66=136 | ||
| Loren Roberts |
67-69=136 | ||
 Vijay Singh |
69-67=136 |
Amateurs (a): Woods (−1), Bladon (+4), Allan (+5), García (+7).
Third round edit
Saturday, 20 July 1996
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Lehman |
67-67-64=198 | −15 |
| 2 | Nick Faldo |
68-68-68=204 | −9 |
| T3 | Mark Brooks |
67-70-68=205 | −8 |
| Vijay Singh |
69-67-69=205 | ||
| T5 | Fred Couples |
67-70-69=206 | −7 |
| Ernie Els |
68-67-71=206 | ||
| T7 |  Darren Clarke |
70-68-69=207 | −6 |
| Mark McCumber |
67-69-71=207 | ||
| Shigeki Maruyama |
68-70-69=207 | ||
| Steve Stricker |
71-70-66=207 |
Final round edit
Sunday, 21 July 1996
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Lehman |
67-67-64-73=271 | −13 | 200,000 |
| T2 | Ernie Els |
68-67-71-67=273 | −11 | 125,000 |
| Mark McCumber |
67-69-71-66=273 | |||
| 4 | Nick Faldo |
68-68-68-70=274 | −10 | 75,000 |
| T5 | Mark Brooks |
67-70-68-71=276 | −8 | 50,000 |
| Jeff Maggert |
69-70-72-65=276 | |||
| T7 | Fred Couples |
67-70-69-71=277 | −7 | 35,000 |
| Peter Hedblom |
70-65-75-67=277 | |||
 Greg Norman |
71-68-71-67=277 | |||
 Greg Turner |
72-69-68-68=277 |
Amateurs: Woods (−3).
Source:[6]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 34, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
- ^ Parascenzo, Marino (22 July 1996). "The big one". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. D1.
- ^ Diaz, Jaime (29 July 1996). "Tour de force". Sports Illustrated. [dead link]
- ^ Reilly, Rick (29 July 1996). "The anti-Shark". Sports Illustrated. [dead link]
- ^ "British Open: course". Southeast Missourian. 18 July 1996. p. 3B.
- ^ "1996 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 3 July 2012.