1963 British Open Winner and Scores
The 1963 British Open was the 92nd time the tournament was played. It ended in a 36-hole playoff, and it ended with the winner becoming golf's first left-hander to win a major.
Winner: Bob Charles, 277
Where it was played: Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club in Lytham St. Annes, England
Tournament dates: July 10-13, 1963
Leader after first round: Peter Thomson and Phil Rodgers, 67
Leader after second round: Phil Rodgers, 135
Leader after third round: Bob Charles, 206
What Happened in the 1963 Open Championship
Bob Charles deserved a lot of left-handed compliments — and plenty of right-handed ones, too — after winning the 1963 British Open. The victory made him the first left-handed golfer in the sport's history to win one of the major championships.Charles, from New Zealand, defeated American Phil Rodgers in a 36-hole playoff. They finished 72 holes tied at 277, Rodgers closing with a 69 and Charles with a 71.
Rodgers had been the halfway leader, ahead of Jack Nicklaus by three, with Charles five behind. But Charles shot 66 in Round 3 to lead Rodgers and Nicklaus by two, with 4-time champ Peter Thomson in second, one back. Nicklaus just missed out on the playoff when he bogeyed the 72nd hole to shoot 70 and finish one behind Charles and Rodgers. Thomson struggled with a final-round 78 and finished eight shots off the lead.
Charles and Rodgers played a 36-hole playoff — the last time that format was used in a British Open — the next day. And Charles' putting was too good for Rodgers. Charles scored 69-71—140 to Rodgers' 72-76—148. The R&A's tournament history notes that Charles used 56 putts compared to Rodgers' 65 putts in the playoff.
This proved to be the only major championship victory for Charles, although he later added three runner-up finishes in the Open and twice finished third in other majors.
Great things were expected of Rodgers; his second-place here was on the heels of third-place showings at the 1962 U.S. Open and 1962 British Open. From 1962-66, Rodgers won five times on the PGA Tour, but that was it. He later became a highly respected golf instructor specializing in short-game skills. As an instructor, one of the first golfers Rodgers worked with was Nicklaus.
Arnold Palmer, going for three consecutive wins in the Open, started with a 76 and closed with a 76. He finished tied for 26th. Kel Nagle, who beat Palmer by a stroke to win the 1960 British Open, tied for fourth. From 1960 through 1966, Nagle finished in the Top 5 in six out of seven Opens.
1963 British Open Final Scores
| Bob Charles | 68-72-66-71—277 |
| Phil Rodgers | 67-68-73-69—277 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 71-67-70-70—278 |
| Kel Nagle | 69-70-73-71—283 |
| Peter Thomson | 67-69-71-78—285 |
| Christy O'Connor Sr. | 74-68-76-68—286 |
| Gary Player | 75-70-72-70—287 |
| Ramon Sota | 69-73-73-72—287 |
| Jean Garaialde | 72-69-72-75—288 |
| Sebastian Miguel | 73-69-73-73—288 |
| Bernard Hunt | 72-71-73-73—289 |
| Alex King | 71-73-73-72—289 |
| Sewsunker Sewgolum | 71-74-73-72—290 |
| Brian Allen | 75-71-71-74—291 |
| Brian Huggett | 73-74-70-74—291 |
| Hugh Lewis | 71-77-69-74—291 |
| Ian MacDonald | 71-71-74-75—291 |
| Peter Alliss | 71-74-77-70—292 |
| Frank Phillips | 70-73-75-74—292 |
| Neil Coles | 73-75-72-73—293 |
| Max Faulkner | 77-71-71-74—293 |
| Harold Henning | 76-68-71-78—293 |
| Malcolm Leeder | 76-73-74-70—293 |
| John A. MacDonald | 73-75-75-70—293 |
| Brian Wilkes | 70-77-74-72—293 |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 75-73-70-76—294 |
| Arnold Palmer | 76-71-71-76—294 |
| Doug Sewell | 75-72-73-74—294 |
| Dave Thomas | 74-74-75-71—294 |
| Ken Bousfield | 73-75-71-76—295 |
| Tom Haliburton | 68-73-77-77—295 |
| Tony Jacklin | 73-72-76-74—295 |
| Bruce Devlin | 74-71-74-77—296 |
| Denis Hutchinson | 74-71-74-77—296 |
| Ted Large | 78-71-76-71—296 |
| Fred Boobyer | 76-70-74-77—297 |
| Stewart Davies | 76-69-79-73—297 |
| Walter Godfrey | 75-74-75-73—297 |
| Tony Grubb | 77-72-74-75—298 |
| Geoffrey Hunt | 71-76-75-76—298 |
| Lionel Platts | 74-75-78-71—298 |
| Anthony Moore | 72-74-75-78—299 |
| Dai Rees | 72-77-75-75—299 |
| Donald Swaelens | 70-75-77-78—300 |
| Robert Walker | 75-73-75-78—301 |
| Hedley Muscroft | 72-77-81-75—305 |
| Fred Bullock | 75-74-82-74—305 |
Previous and next:
1962 British Open - 1964 British Open
Sources:
(Book titles are affiliate links; commissions earned)
Brenner, Morgan. The Majors of Golf, Volume 2, 2009, McFarland and Company.
Eugene Register-Guard. "Charles wins British Open," July 13, 1963, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2_5VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=I-MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4917%2C2190710
TheOpen.com. "1963 / Royal Lytham & St Annes," The R&A, https://www.theopen.com/previous-opens/92nd-royal-lytham-and-st-annes-1963.
R&A. 148th Open Championship Media Guide, 2019.
