1991 British Open Winner and Scores
The 1991 British Open was the 120th time the tournament was played. The champion blistered the golf course over the final two rounds to claim his only major championship victory.
Winner: Ian Baker-Finch, 272
Where it was played: Royal Birkdale in Southport, England
Tournament dates: July 18-21, 1991
Leader after first round: Seve Ballesteros, 66
Leader after second round: Mike Harwood, Andrew Oldcorn and Gary Hallberg, 138
Leader after third round: Ian Baker-Finch and Mark O'Meara, 206
What Happened at the 1991 Open Championship
Ian Baker-Finch had one win on the PGA Tour and one win on the European Tour at the time of the 1991 British Open. He had three Top 10s in majors to this point, including a tie for seventh earlier in the year at the 1991 Masters.He opened with back-to-back rounds of 71, but then had one of the great weekends in major championship golf, going 64-66 in the third and fourth rounds. That third-round 64 tied Baker-Finch with his fellow Australian, Mike Harwood, atop the leaderboard. Also tied for the lead was Mark O'Meara. The biggest name on the leaderboard entering the final round was that of Seve Ballesteros, two behind, but Ballesteros carded a final-round 71 while most of the other contenders were in the 60s.
That included Harwood (67) and O'Meara (69), but Baker-Finch opened his final round by birdying five of the first seven holes. He finished with a round of 66 to beat Harwood by one and O'Meara by three.
For Harwood, a 5-time winner on the European Tour, this proved to be his only Top 10 finish in a major. O'Meara went on to win two majors, including the 1998 Open. The 1991 Open was Ballesteros' final Top 10 finish in a major (he tied for ninth).
Baker-Finch's career appeared to be in ascendancy, but he never won again on the USPGA or European tours. Within several years, a combination of tinkering with his swing and confidence problems caused his game to deteriorate. He essentially retired from tournament golf following an opening round 92 at the 1997 Open Championship.
Amateur Phil Mickelson played in his first Open Championship here, and made the cut. Mickelson eventually won The Open in 2013. Johnny Miller, the 1976 Open champion, played in his last British Open here, and missed the cut.
1991 British Open Final Scores
| Ian Baker-Finch | 71-71-64-66—272 |
| Mike Harwood | 68-70-69-67—274 |
| Mark O'Meara | 71-68-67-69—275 |
| Fred Couples | 72-69-70-64—275 |
| Jodie Mudd | 72-70-72-63—277 |
| Eamonn Darcy | 73-68-66-70—277 |
| Bob Tway | 75-66-70-66—277 |
| Craig Parry | 71-70-69-68—278 |
| Bernhard Langer | 71-71-70-67—279 |
| Seve Ballesteros | 66-73-69-71—279 |
| Greg Norman | 74-68-71-66—279 |
| Vijay Singh | 71-69-69-71—280 |
| Rodger Davis | 70-71-73-66—280 |
| Magnus Sunesson | 72-73-68-67—280 |
| Roger Chapman | 74-66-71-69—280 |
| David Williams | 74-71-68-67—280 |
| Barry Lane | 68-72-71-70—281 |
| Ian Woosnam | 70-72-69-70—281 |
| Lee Trevino | 71-72-71-67—281 |
| Paul Broadhurst | 71-73-68-69—281 |
| Andrew Sherborne | 73-70-68-70—281 |
| Mark Mouland | 68-74-68-71—281 |
| Peter Senior | 74-67-71-69—281 |
| Nick Faldo | 68-75-70-68—281 |
| Chip Beck | 67-78-70-66—281 |
| Colin Montgomerie | 71-69-71-71—282 |
| Tom Watson | 69-72-72-69—282 |
| Mark James | 72-68-70-72—282 |
| Mike Reid | 68-71-70-73—282 |
| Wayne Grady | 69-70-73-70—282 |
| Eduardo Romero | 70-73-68-71—282 |
| Gordon Brand Jr. | 71-72-69-71—283 |
| Christy O'Connor Jr. | 72-71-71-69—283 |
| Payne Stewart | 72-72-71-68—283 |
| Gary Hallberg | 68-70-73-72—283 |
| Mike Miller | 73-74-67-69—283 |
| Steven Richardson | 74-70-72-67—283 |
| Peter O'Malley | 72-71-70-71—284 |
| a-Jim Payne | 72-72-70-70—284 |
| Curtis Strange | 70-73-69-72—284 |
| Anders Forsbrand | 71-72-73-68—284 |
| Martin Poxon | 71-72-67-74—284 |
| Nolan Henke | 77-71-66-70—284 |
| Fulton Allem | 70-72-71-72—285 |
| Robert Gamez | 71-72-72-70—285 |
| Nick Price | 69-72-73-71—285 |
| Graham Marsh | 69-73-72-71—285 |
| Jamie Spence | 70-73-70-72—285 |
| Davis Love III | 71-72-69-73—285 |
| Des Smyth | 71-73-73-68—285 |
| Costantino Rocca | 68-73-70-74—285 |
| Donnie Hammond | 70-75-67-73—285 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 70-75-69-71—285 |
| Steve Elkington | 71-68-76-70—285 |
| Sam Torrance | 72-76-70-67—285 |
| Tom Kite | 77-71-68-69—285 |
| Tim Simpson | 72-72-72-70—286 |
| Gavin Levenson | 72-73-73-68—286 |
| Andrew Magee | 71-74-69-72—286 |
| Jose Rivero | 74-73-68-71—286 |
| Scott Simpson | 74-72-70-70—286 |
| Hale Irwin | 74-70-73-69—286 |
| Gary Player | 75-71-69-71—286 |
| Gil Morgan | 72-74-74-67—287 |
| Steve Pate | 73-72-74-68—287 |
| Miguel Angel Martin | 71-75-71-70—287 |
| Mike McLean | 71-75-72-69—287 |
| Jay Don Blake | 75-73-72-67—287 |
| Mark McNulty | 76-71-70-70—287 |
| Steve Jones | 70-77-71-69—287 |
| Andrew Oldcorn | 71-67-77-72—287 |
| Darren Clarke | 79-67-68-73—287 |
| Tony Johnstone | 69-74-71-74—288 |
| Frank Nobilo | 74-74-71-69—288 |
| Martin Gates | 67-75-73-73—288 |
| Lanny Wadkins | 71-75-71-71—288 |
| Brett Ogle | 73-75-66-74—288 |
| Peter Jacobsen | 75-72-68-73—288 |
| a-Phil Mickelson | 77-67-73-71—288 |
| Danny Mijovic | 70-72-74-73—289 |
| Malcolm Mackenzie | 71-73-74-71—289 |
| Mark Brooks | 73-74-70-72—289 |
| Jose Maria Olazabal | 74-67-74-74—289 |
| Miguel Angel Jimenez | 74-74-72-69—289 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 71-75-72-71—289 |
| Fuzzy Zoeller | 72-72-75-70—289 |
| Daniel Silva | 73-71-75-70—289 |
| Howard Clark | 71-69-73-76—289 |
| John Bland | 71-76-71-71—289 |
| Santiago Luna | 67-77-72-73—289 |
| David Gilford | 72-67-73-77—289 |
| Peter Teravainen | 71-72-72-75—290 |
| Brian Marchbank | 72-73-75-70—290 |
| Rick Gibson | 73-75-70-72—290 |
| Patrick Hall | 77-71-72-71—291 |
| Alastair Webster | 73-74-73-72—292 |
| John Hoskison | 74-73-74-71—292 |
| Peter Hedblom | 74-74-73-71—292 |
| Peter Allan | 70-71-75-76—292 |
| Carl Suneson | 69-77-69-77—292 |
Previous and next:
1990 British Open - 1992 British Open