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 | 6,882 yards (6,293 m)[1] |
| 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][2] $31,500 |
| Champion | |
|
| |
| 283 (−1) | |
|
«1978 1980» | |

St Annes
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.[3] It was the first of his three Open Championship victories; he raised the Claret Jug again in 1984 and 1988. This was the last Open scheduled to end on Saturday;[4] in 1980 it moved to a Sunday final round, similar to the other three majors.
Past champions in the field
Made both cuts
| Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Nicklaus | 1966, 1970, 1978 | 72 | 69 | 73 | 72 | 286 | +2 | T2 | |
| Bob Charles | 1963 | 78 | 72 | 70 | 72 | 292 | +8 | T10 | |
| Lee Trevino | 1971, 1972 | 71 | 73 | 74 | 76 | 294 | +10 | T17 | |
| Gary Player | 1959, 1968, 1974 | 77 | 74 | 69 | 75 | 295 | +11 | T19 | |
| Tony Jacklin | 1969 | 73 | 74 | 76 | 73 | 296 | +12 | T24 | |
| Peter Thomson | 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965 | 76 | 75 | 72 | 74 | 297 | +13 | T26 | |
| Tom Watson | 1975, 1977 | 72 | 68 | 76 | 81 | 297 | +13 | T26 | |
| Johnny Miller | 1976 | 77 | 73 | 77 | 76 | 303 | +19 | T57 |
Missed the first cut
| Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Weiskopf | 1973 | 79 | 75 | 149 | +7 | |
| Roberto De Vicenzo | 1967 | 79 | 82 | 163 | +19 |
Round summaries
First round
Wednesday, 18 July 1979
| Place | Player | Country | 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 |
Second round
Thursday, 19 July 1979
| Place | Player | Country | 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 |
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 | Country | 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 | Country | 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 |
Amateurs: McEvoy (+10)
Source:[1][5][6][7]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 57, 203. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Jenkins, Dan (30 July 1979). "Adios, amigos". Sports Illustrated.
- ↑ "Spaniard overtakes the Yanks". Eugene Register-Guard (Oregon). wire services. 22 July 1979. p. 1B.
- ↑ "Leaderboard: 1979". The Open Championship. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ↑ "The 108th Open Golf Championship: (1979) leaderboard". European Tour. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ↑ "1979 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
External links
| Preceded by 1979 U.S. Open |
Major Championships | Succeeded by 1979 PGA Championship |
Coordinates: 53°44′58″N 3°01′05″W / 53.7495°N 3.0180°W