1953 British Open Winner and Scores
The 1953 British Open was the 82nd time the tournament was played. Ben Hogan played The Open only one time. This was the year, and he won the trophy.
Winner: Ben Hogan, 282
Where it was played: Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland
Tournament dates: July 8-10, 1953
Leader after first round: Frank Stranahan, 70
Leader after second round: Eric Brown and Dai Rees, 142
Leader after third round: Roberto De Vicenzo and Ben Hogan, 214
What Happened in the 1953 Open Championship
Ben Hogan played the Open Championship exactly once. That one appearance was here, at Carnoustie, and Hogan made it count, winning by four strokes.It wasn't easy. Hogan got to Scotland two weeks early to practice with the smaller British golf ball, and to play qualifying rounds. Hogan's decision to play this tournament also meant he had to miss the 1953 PGA Championship: Qualifying rounds in the Open took place on dates the PGA Championship was under way, and the PGA ended one day prior to the Open's start.
That's significant, because Hogan won every major he played in 1953, three of them. But he had no opportunity to try for the Grand Slam because of the British Open/PGA Championship scheduling conflict. (It's important to note, though, that Hogan was skipping the PGA Championship at this point in his career anyway. With lingering leg pain from his automobile crash several years earlier, Hogan didn't want to play multiple, 36-hole days as could happen in the then-match play PGA.)
Hogan opened with a 73 and improved his score each day, closing with a 68 for a 282 total. That 68 was a course record at Carnoustie, bettering the mark of 69 set in the third round by Antonio Cerda.
Cerda wound up sharing second place with Dai Rees, amateur Frank Stranahan and Peter Thomson. This was one of two times Stranahan finished runner-up in an Open as an amateur. He was also second in the 1947 Open (as well as the 1947 Masters). No amateur has won the Open since Bobby Jones in 1930. As for Cerda, he was in the midst of a seven-year stretch in which he never finished lower than ninth in the Open, a stretch that included two seconds and five Top 5 finishes. But the run Thomson was in was even more impressive. Thomson won the first of his five British Open titles the following year. From 1952-58, Thomson won The Open four times and was runner-up the other three years.
Robert de Vicenzo, winner of the 1967 Open Championship, was tied with Hogan after three rounds, but closed with a 73 and fell to sixth place.
The Scotland crowds, begrudgingly at first (Hogan insulted the course conditions upon his arrival), gave Hogan due respect, dubbing him the "Wee Ice Mon" as he conquered Carnoustie. Hogan's methodical and precise approach led to one hole at Carnoustie forever being associated with him. The sixth hole came to be called "Hogan's Alley," and is today officially named that.
That sixth hole is a par-5 with a split fairway. The safer play is to go up the wider right side, but the line that results in a better approach into the green is to play to the narrower left side, which is abutted by bunkers on one side and out of bounds on the other. Hogan played to the dangerous left fairway all four rounds, and hit the landing area all four times.
Hall of Famer Lloyd Mangrum also played the British Open for the only time this year, finishing tied for 24th.
1953 British Open Final Scores
| Ben Hogan | 73-71-70-68—282 |
| Antonio Cerda | 75-71-69-71—286 |
| Dai Rees | 72-70-73-71—286 |
| a-Frank Stranahan | 70-74-73-69—286 |
| Peter Thomson | 72-72-71-71—286 |
| Roberto De Vicenzo | 72-71-71-73—287 |
| Sam King | 74-73-72-71—290 |
| Bobby Locke | 72-73-74-72—291 |
| Peter Alliss | 75-72-74-71—292 |
| Eric Brown | 71-71-75-75—292 |
| Fred Daly | 73-75-71-75—294 |
| Max Faulkner | 74-71-73-77—295 |
| Arthur Lees | 76-76-72-72—296 |
| T.H.T. Fairbairn | 74-71-73-79—297 |
| John Jacobs | 79-74-71-73—297 |
| Harry Weetman | 80-73-72-72—297 |
| Hassan Hassanein | 78-71-73-76—298 |
| Eric Lester | 83-70-72-73—298 |
| Charlie Ward | 78-71-76-73—298 |
| Reg Horne | 76-74-75-74—299 |
| Flory Van Donck | 77-71-78-73—299 |
| Syd Scott | 74-74-78-74—300 |
| Hector Thomson | 76-74-74-76—300 |
| Reg Knight | 74-79-74-74—301 |
| Lloyd Mangrum | 75-76-74-76—301 |
| Christy O'Connor Sr. | 77-77-72-75—301 |
| Ugo Grappasonni | 77-75-72-78—302 |
| John Panton | 79-74-76-73—302 |
| Robert Ferguson | 77-75-74-77—303 |
| Tom Haliburton | 75-76-76-76—303 |
| Alan Poulton | 75-77-75-76—303 |
| Norman Sutton | 76-72-76-79—303 |
| Jack Hargreaves | 81-73-76-74—304 |
| Hamish Ballingall | 80-74-77-74—305 |
| Ken Bousfield | 78-76-79-72—305 |
| Bernard Hunt | 79-74-77-75—305 |
| Ernest Whitcombe | 76-78-73-78—305 |
| Robert French | 79-71-77-79—306 |
| Ralph Mills | 80-73-72-81—306 |
| Jean-Baptiste Ado | 75-77-75-81—308 |
| Bill Shankland | 78-76-78-79—311 |
| George Knight | 75-78-81-78—312 |
| J.R. Moses | 81-73-76-82—312 |
| Lambert Topping | 77-73-81-81—312 |
| William John Henderson | 78-74-80-81—313 |
| Geoffrey Hunt | 74-74-79-86—313 |
| Dick Burton | 80-74-80-80—314 |
| Gregor McIntosh | 78-75-80-81—314 |
| John Burton | 75-77-87-78—317 |
Previous and next:
1952 British Open - 1954 British Open