1983 British Open Winner and Scores

The 1983 British Open was the 112th time the tournament was played. Tom Watson was the "Champion Golfer of the Year" for the fifth and final time.

Winner: Tom Watson, 275

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

Tournament dates: July 14-17, 1983

Leader after first round: Craig Stadler, 64

Leader after second round: Craig Stadler, 134

Leader after third round: Tom Watson, 205

What Happened at the 1983 Open Championship

It was Open Championship win No. 5 for Tom Watson at the 1983 British Open, his eighth career victory in a major. And, it turned out, his last win in any of the majors. The 1983 British Open also marked the last time Arnold Palmer made the cut in this tournament.

And then there was "The Whiff." In the third round, Hale Irwin was on the leaderboard when he reached the 14th green. He barely missed a putt, and wasn't too happy about it — Irwin rushed to the cup and jabbed at his golf ball, which was sitting two inches from the hole. But he missed the ball. Completely whiffed.

Would that whiff come back to haunt Irwin? Do you think we'd be mentioning if it didn't?

Watson had a 1-stroke lead going into the final round, with plenty of big names close behind. A young Nick Faldo was briefly in the mix, as was an old(er) Lee Trevino. Graham Marsh shot a final-round 64 to take the clubhouse lead at 7-under. Then Irwin and Andy Bean, playing together, each posted 8-under (both shooting 67s in the last round).

With Watson on the 18th tee at 9-under, Bean and Irwin were left hoping for a Watson bogey to produce a three-way playoff.

But Watson didn't accommodate. He striped a drive right down the center of Royal Birkdale's home hole, a 473-yard par-4. Then he hit a 2-iron from just over 210 yards that headed straight at the flag its entire flight — Watson later called it the best 2-iron of his life.

The ball rolled onto the green to within 15 feet. Watson 2-putted for par and his fifth, and final, Open Championship victory.

And the whiffer, Irwin, was left in second place, one stroke short of a playoff. Irwin won three U.S. Opens, but never the British Open.

Tony Jacklin, 1969 British Open winner, tied for 39th in what was the last time he made a cut in any of the majors. And 2-time Open champion Arnold Palmer made the cut for the last time in this major, finishing 56th.

1983 British Open Final Scores

Tom Watson 67-68-70-70—275
Andy Bean 70-69-70-67—276
Hale Irwin 69-68-72-67—276
Graham Marsh 69-70-74-64—277
Lee Trevino 69-66-73-70—278
Harold Henning 71-69-70-69—279
Seve Ballesteros 71-71-69-68—279
Christy O'Connor Jr. 72-69-71-68—280
Bill Rogers 67-71-73-69—280
Nick Faldo 68-68-71-73—280
Denis Durnian 73-66-74-67—280
Peter Jacobsen 72-69-70-70—281
Craig Stadler 64-70-72-75—281
Fuzzy Zoeller 71-71-67-73—282
Mike Sullivan 72-68-74-68—282
David Graham 71-69-67-75—282
Raymond Floyd 72-66-69-75—282
Gary Koch 75-71-66-70—282
Bernard Gallacher 72-71-70-70—283
Brian Waites 70-70-73-70—283
Simon Hobday 70-73-70-70—283
Jay Haas 73-72-68-70—283
Hubert Green 69-74-72-68—283
Tienie Britz 71-74-69-69—283
Greg Norman 75-71-70-67—283
Howard Clark 71-72-69-72—284
Rodger Davis 70-71-70-73—284
Eamonn Darcy 69-72-74-69—284
Tom Kite 71-72-72-70—285
Jack Nicklaus 71-72-72-70—285
Lanny Wadkins 72-73-72-68—285
Toru Nakamura 73-69-72-71—285
Mark James 70-70-74-71—285
Lu Chien Soon 71-72-74-68—285
Curtis Strange 74-68-70-73—285
Mike McCullough 74-69-72-70—285
Hal Sutton 68-71-75-71—285
Terry Gale 72-66-72-75—285
Vicente Fernandez 70-72-72-72—286
Chris Moody 74-69-70-73—286
Ian Collins 70-75-68-73—286
Tony Jacklin 71-75-71-69—286
Kikuo Arai 74-67-75-70—286
Bob Gilder 70-76-70-70—286
Tim Simpson 73-69-72-73—287
Tom Weiskopf 73-73-69-72—287
Clive Tucker 73-71-73-70—287
Massy Kuramoto 70-74-73-70—287
Graham Burroughs 71-74-71-71—287
Manuel Pinero 74-72-71-70—287
Vaughan Somers 68-75-71-73—287
Mark McNulty 72-69-68-78—287
Larry Nelson 70-73-73-72—288
Sam Torrance 68-73-74-73—288
Bobby Clampett 74-72-71-71—288
Arnold Palmer 72-74-68-75—289
Bernhard Langer 67-72-76-74—289
Mark E. Johnson 70-72-71-76—289
Manuel Calero 70-75-69-76—290
John O'Leary 74-68-69-79—290
Ronan Rafferty 75-67-73-76—291
Mike Ingham 71-73-70-78—292
Hsieh Yu Shu 71-72-74-78—295

Previous and next:
1982 British Open - 1984 British Open

Popular posts from this blog