1981 British Open Results
The 1981 British Open was the 110th time the tournament was played. The story goes that Bill Rogers only played this tournament because his friend Ben Crenshaw talked him into making the trip. So when Rogers took a 1-stroke lead after a second-round 66, it's somehow appropriate that it was Crenshaw in second place. Crenshaw fell away over the final two rounds, but Rogers didn't — he led by five after Round 3 and won by four.
Winner: Bill Rogers, 276
Where it was played: Royal St. George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England
Tournament dates: July 16-19, 1981
Leader after first round: Nick Job and Vicente Fernandez, 70
Leader after second round: Bill Rogers, 138
Leader after third round: Bill Rogers, 205
What Happened at the 1981 British Open
The year 1981 was a pretty good one for Bill Rogers. He won four PGA Tour titles, won once on the Japan Tour, and won twice in Australia. He played for the American side in the 1981 Ryder Cup. He was named PGA Player of the Year. And one of his victories was the 1981 British Open.Rogers tied for second a month earlier at the 1981 U.S. Open. At the Open Championship, he left no doubt. Rogers opened with a 72, but middle rounds of 66 and 67 sent him to a 5-stroke lead. In the final round, nobody could catch him. Rogers carded a 71 and won by four over Bernhard Langer. Langer was the only golfer to finish closer than seven strokes to Rogers.
Langer, a 2-time Masters champ, never won the British Open; this was one of two runner-up finishes he had. This was Rogers' only win in a major, and he soon experienced a dramatic fall-off in the level of his play.
Jack Nicklaus opened the tournament with a round of 83, the second-highest score Nicklaus ever posted in a major championship. But Nicklaus then shot a second-round 66 — an improvement of 17 strokes — and made the cut.
A fun coincidence: Four Open champions — Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Tony Jacklin — finished tied for 23rd. For both Palmer and Jacklin, it was their last time finishing inside the Top 25 at any major.
This was the first Open Championship played at Royal St. George's since 1949. Hal Sutton finished as low amateur, tied for 47th.
1981 British Open Final Scores
| Bill Rogers | 72-66-67-71—276 |
| Bernhard Langer | 73-67-70-70—280 |
| Mark James | 72-70-68-73—283 |
| Raymond Floyd | 74-70-69-70—283 |
| Sam Torrance | 72-69-73-70—284 |
| Manuel Pinero | 73-74-68-70—285 |
| Bruce Lietzke | 76-69-71-69—285 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 72-67-76-71—286 |
| Howard Clark | 72-76-70-68—286 |
| Brian Jones | 73-76-66-71—286 |
| Isao Aoki | 71-73-69-74—287 |
| Lee Trevino | 77-67-70-73—287 |
| Nick Faldo | 77-68-69-73—287 |
| Sandy Lyle | 73-73-71-71—288 |
| David Graham | 71-71-74-72—288 |
| Nick Job | 70-69-75-74—288 |
| Brian Barnes | 76-70-70-72—288 |
| Eamonn Darcy | 79-69-70-70—288 |
| Peter Townsend | 73-70-73-73—289 |
| Jerry Pate | 73-73-69-74—289 |
| Graham Marsh | 75-71-72-71—289 |
| Gordon J. Brand | 78-65-74-72—289 |
| Arnold Palmer | 72-74-73-71—290 |
| Mark McNulty | 74-74-74-68—290 |
| Tony Jacklin | 71-71-73-75—290 |
| Simon Owen | 71-74-70-75—290 |
| Tom Watson | 73-69-75-73—290 |
| Hubert Green | 75-72-74-69—290 |
| Nick Price | 77-68-76-69—290 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 83-66-71-70—290 |
| Greg Norman | 72-75-72-72—291 |
| Trevor Powell | 75-68-73-75—291 |
| Des Smyth | 77-67-73-74—291 |
| John Morgan | 77-72-73-69—291 |
| Jumbo Ozaki | 75-72-71-74—292 |
| Tommy Horton | 75-73-73-71—292 |
| Billy Dunk | 76-67-77-72—292 |
| Bob Charles | 77-71-71-73—292 |
| Rodger Davis | 74-71-74-74—293 |
| Neil Coles | 74-73-73-73—293 |
| Seve Ballesteros | 75-72-74-72—293 |
| Johnny Miller | 71-73-73-76—293 |
| Florentino Molina | 78-68-74-73—293 |
| Ken Brown | 74-72-74-74—294 |
| Terry Gale | 73-73-71-77—294 |
| Ron Streck | 78-70-72-74—294 |
| Mark O'Meara | 74-73-73-75—295 |
| Jaime Gonzalez | 76-70-76-73—295 |
| a-Hal Sutton | 71-77-73-74—295 |
| David Thorp | 76-69-74-77—296 |
| David Jones | 77-71-74-74—296 |
| Brian Waites | 75-69-74-78—296 |
| Eddie Polland | 75-75-72-75—297 |
| Garry Cullen | 78-70-73-76—297 |
| Mike Ferguson | 75-72-71-79—297 |
| Noel Hunt | 74-73-75-76—298 |
| Warren Humphreys | 76-71-74-77—298 |
| John O'Leary | 73-74-75-77—299 |
| Payne Stewart | 73-75-74-77—299 |
| a-Geoffrey Godwin | 75-71-72-81—299 |
| Dick McLean | 75-73-72-83—303 |
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