1961 British Open: Fit For a King

The 1961 British Open was the 90th time the tournament was played. And the winner was a King.

Winner: Arnold Palmer, 284

Where it was played: Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England

Tournament dates: July 12-15, 1961

Leader after first round: Dai Rees, Harold Henning and Kel Nagle, 68

Leader after second round: Dai Rees and Harold Henning, 142

Leader after third round: Arnold Palmer, 212

Notable Notes: One year after making his British Open debut, Arnold Palmer scored his first victory in golf's oldest tournament. Welshman Dai Rees had a share of the lead the first two days, but Palmer's third-round 69 moved him one stroke in front. That was the final winning margin, Palmer by one over Rees.

Final Scores

Arnold Palmer 70-73-69-72—284
Dai Rees 68-74-71-72—285
Neil Coles 70-77-69-72—288
Christy O'Connor 71-77-67-73—288
Eric Brown 73-76-70-70—289
Kel Nagle 68-75-75-71—289
Peter Thomson 75-72-70-73—290
Ken Bousfield 71-77-75-68—291
Peter Alliss 73-75-72-71—291
Syd Scott 76-75-71-71—293
Harold Henning 68-74-75-76—293
Ramon Sota 71-76-72-76—295
Tony Coop 71-79-73-74—297
Miguel Angel Martin 73-79-74-72—298
Reg Knight 71-80-73-74—298
Sebastian Miguel 71-80-70-77—298
a-Norman Johnson 69-80-70-79—298
Paul Runyan 75-77-75-72—299
Denis Hutchinson 72-80-74-73—299
John Jacobs 71-79-76-74—300
Harry Bradshaw 73-75-78-74—300
Peter Butler 72-76-78-74—300
Dave Thomas 71-77-77-75—300
Lionel Platts 70-80-71-79—300
a-Ralph Moffitt 73-80-73-75—301
Jean Garaialde 69-81-76-75—301
Brian Huggett 72-77-75-77—301
Eric Lester 71-77-75-78—301
David Miller 69-79-80-74—302
George Will 74-75-75-78—302
Brian Wilkes 72-76-77-78—303
Guy Wolstenholme 72-80-77-75—304
Henry Cotton 76-77-74-77—304
John Panton 73-78-75-78—304
Bill McHardy 76-76-76-77—305
James Henderson 72-78-77-78—305
Sam King 70-77-79-79—305
Eric Green 75-78-77-76—306
a-Ronald White 71-79-80-76—306
a-George Low 76-76-76-78—306
David Snell 72-81-77-77—307
Frank Phillips 74-79-76-78—307
Tom Haliburton 74-79-76-78—307
Fred Boobyer 74-79-81-74—308
a-Martin Christmas 71-79-79-79—308
Willian Branch 77-76-78-78—309
Christy Greene 77-76-78-78—309

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