1979 British Open: Seve's First Trophy
The 1979 British Open was the 108th time the tournament was played, and it was Seve's first win in a major.
Winner: Seve Ballesteros, 283
Where it was played: Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club in Lytham St. Annes, England
Tournament dates: July 18-21, 1979
Leader after first round: Bill Longmuir, 65
Leader after second round: Hale Irwin, 136
Leader after third round: Hale Irwin, 211
Notable Notes: Seve Ballesteros was just 22 years old in 1979, and he had already made a name for himself. But this is the tournament at which he became a major champion. Ballesteros trailed Hale Irwin by two entering the final round, but shot 70 while Irwin struggled to a 78. Ballesteros won by three shots over Jack Nicklaus (Nicklaus' record seventh second-place finish in a British Open) and Ben Crenshaw.
Final Scores
| Seve Ballesteros | 73-65-75-70—283 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 72-71-72-71—286 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 72-69-73-72—286 |
| Mark James | 76-69-69-73—287 |
| Rodger Davis | 75-70-70-73—288 |
| Hale Irwin | 68-68-75-78—289 |
| Isao Aoki | 70-74-72-75—291 |
| Graham Marsh | 74-68-75-74—291 |
| Bob Byman | 73-70-72-76—291 |
| Jumbo Ozaki | 75-69-75-73—292 |
| Greg Norman | 73-71-72-76—292 |
| Bob Charles | 78-72-70-72—292 |
| John O'Leary | 73-73-74-73—293 |
| Wally Armstrong | 74-74-73-72—293 |
| Terry Gale | 71-74-75-73—293 |
| Simon Owen | 75-76-74-68—293 |
| Lee Trevino | 71-73-74-76—294 |
| a-Peter McEvoy | 71-74-72-77—294 |
| Orville Moody | 71-74-76-74—295 |
| Sandy Lyle | 74-76-75-70—295 |
| Ken Brown | 72-71-75-77—295 |
| Gary Player | 77-74-69-75—295 |
| Nick Faldo | 74-74-78-69—295 |
| Tony Jacklin | 73-74-76-73—296 |
| Toru Nakamura | 77-75-67-77—296 |
| Ed Sneed | 76-75-70-76—297 |
| Peter Thomson | 76-75-72-74—297 |
| Jerry Pate | 69-74-76-78—297 |
| Tom Watson | 72-68-76-81—297 |
| Armando Saavedra | 76-76-73-73—298 |
| Tom Kite | 73-74-77-74—298 |
| Simon Hobday | 75-77-71-75—298 |
| Bobby Verwey | 75-77-74-72—298 |
| Mark Hayes | 75-75-77-71—298 |
| Bill Longmuir | 65-74-77-82—298 |
| Lee Elder | 75-72-76-76—299 |
| Raymond Floyd | 76-73-71-79—299 |
| Peter Cowen | 79-72-72-76—299 |
| Christy O'Connor | 79-73-71-76—299 |
| Michael King | 75-70-73-81—299 |
| Philippe Toussaint | 76-75-74-75—300 |
| Martin Foster | 77-75-74-74—300 |
| Hugh Baiocchi | 72-73-78-77—300 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 75-74-73-78—300 |
| John Schroeder | 74-75-72-79—300 |
| Denis Watson | 75-70-76-79—300 |
| Hubert Green | 77-71-73-79—300 |
| Noel Ratcliffe | 79-73-72-76—300 |
| Dennis Clark | 72-69-76-83—300 |
| Carl Mason | 77-72-76-76—301 |
| Garry Cullen | 72-74-77-78—301 |
| Brian Barnes | 78-71-77-75—301 |
| Dewitt Weaver | 73-71-80-77—301 |
| Geoff Parslow | 75-75-76-76—302 |
| Ian Richardson | 75-73-77-77—302 |
| Kosaku Shimada | 75-74-75-78—302 |
| Yoshitaka Yamamoto | 76-74-77-76—303 |
| Johnny Miller | 77-73-77-76—303 |
| Jack Newton | 76-73-78-76—303 |
| Guy Wolstenholme | 77-75-71-80—303 |
| Robin Fyfe | 74-73-79-81—307 |
