2003 British Open Winner and Scores
The 2003 British Open was the 132nd edition of the tournament. A little-known golfer playing in his very first major championship was the surprise winner.
Winner: Ben Curtis, 283
Where it was played: Royal St. George's Golf Club, Sandwich, England
Tournament dates: July 17-20, 2003
Leader after first round: Hennie Otto, 68
Leader after second round: Davis Love III, 141
Leader after third round: Thomas Bjorn, 212
What Happened at the 2003 Open Championship
Ben Curtis, ranked No. 396 in the world rankings at the time, won this Open by surviving while big-name challengers failed down the stretch.Curtis trailed third-round leader Thomas Bjorn by two entering the final round, but shot 69 to post 283. Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods and Davis Love had opportunities, but couldn't convert down the stretch. Bjorn, after losing the lead earlier in the round, reclaimed it and led by three with four holes to go. But he got stuck in a bunker on the 16th hole and took three swings before he could get out of it, among other late stumbles.
Curtis himself, despite carding the lowest final-round among the leaders, bogeyed the 14th, 15th and 17th holes on the final day. But none of the big names were able to take advantage. Bjorn, however, stepped on the 16th tee leading Curtis by two at that point. Then he put his tee ball into a deep, greenside bunker. But Bjorn needed three tries before he could get his ball stay on the putting surface — twice his ball exited the bunker but didn't make it over a mound on the edge of the green, rolling back into the sand.
Bjorn wound up with a double bogey on that hole, which was bracketed by two other bogeys. Singh finished tied with Bjorn in second, one behind Curtis, with Woods and Love two back of the winner.
Curtis was the first player since Tom Watson in the 1975 British Open to win the Open in his first attempt. And he was just the fifth player in golf history to win a major championship in his very first appearance in a major.
Three-time Open winner and six-time major champion Nick Faldo tied for eighth place, his final Top 10 finish in any of the majors.
2003 British Open Final Scores
| Ben Curtis | 72-72-70-69—283 |
| Vijay Singh | 75-70-69-70—284 |
| Thomas Bjorn | 73-70-69-72—284 |
| Tiger Woods | 73-72-69-71—285 |
| Davis Love III | 69-72-72-72—285 |
| Brian Davis | 77-73-68-68—286 |
| Fredrik Jacobson | 70-76-70-70—286 |
| Nick Faldo | 76-74-67-70—287 |
| Kenny Perry | 74-70-70-73—287 |
| Hennie Otto | 68-76-75-69—288 |
| Retief Goosen | 73-75-71-69—288 |
| Gary Evans | 71-75-70-72—288 |
| Phillip Price | 74-72-69-73—288 |
| Sergio Garcia | 73-71-70-74—288 |
| Chad Campbell | 74-71-72-72—289 |
| Stuart Appleby | 75-71-71-72—289 |
| Pierre Fulke | 77-72-67-73—289 |
| Greg Norman | 69-79-74-68—290 |
| Tom Watson | 71-77-73-69—290 |
| Mathias Gronberg | 71-74-73-72—290 |
| Ernie Els | 78-68-72-72—290 |
| Padraig Harrington | 75-73-74-69—291 |
| K.J. Choi | 77-72-72-70—291 |
| J.L. Lewis | 78-70-72-71—291 |
| Peter Fowler | 77-73-70-71—291 |
| Thomas Levet | 71-73-74-73—291 |
| Angel Cabrera | 75-73-70-73—291 |
| Mike Weir | 74-76-71-71—292 |
| Andrew Oldcorn | 72-74-73-73—292 |
| Paul McGinley | 77-73-69-73—292 |
| Nick Price | 74-72-72-74—292 |
| Mark Foster | 73-73-72-74—292 |
| S.K. Ho | 70-73-72-77—292 |
| Stewart Cink | 75-75-75-68—293 |
| Bob Estes | 77-71-76-69—293 |
| Adam Mednick | 76-72-76-69—293 |
| Shingo Katayama | 76-73-73-71—293 |
| Gary Murphy | 73-74-73-73—293 |
| Duffy Waldorf | 76-73-71-73—293 |
| Marco Ruiz | 73-71-75-74—293 |
| Jose Coceres | 77-70-72-74—293 |
| Scott McCarron | 71-74-73-75—293 |
| Rich Beem | 76-74-75-69—294 |
| Robert Allenby | 73-75-74-72—294 |
| Tom Byrum | 77-72-71-74—294 |
| Tom Lehman | 77-73-72-73—295 |
| Markus Brier | 76-71-74-74—295 |
| Anthony Wall | 75-74-71-75—295 |
| Brad Faxon | 77-73-70-75—295 |
| Ian Poulter | 78-72-70-75—295 |
| Mathew Goggin | 76-72-70-77—295 |
| Fred Couples | 71-75-71-78—295 |
| Mark McNulty | 79-71-77-69—296 |
| Rory Sabbatini | 79-71-75-71—296 |
| Michael Campbell | 78-72-74-72—296 |
| Trevor Immelman | 77-73-72-74—296 |
| Raphael Jacquelin | 77-71-72-76—296 |
| David Lynn | 73-76-71-76—296 |
| Alastair Forsyth | 74-70-78-75—297 |
| Craig Parry | 73-73-76-75—297 |
| Skip Kendall | 73-76-73-75—297 |
| Darren Clarke | 75-75-71-76—297 |
| Phil Mickelson | 74-72-73-78—297 |
| Peter Lonard | 73-73-70-81—297 |
| Stephen Leaney | 74-76-78-70—298 |
| Mark O'Meara | 73-77-77-71—298 |
| Charles Howell III | 71-76-77-74—298 |
| Len Mattiace | 74-75-74-75—298 |
| Katsuyoshi Tomori | 72-77-75-76—300 |
| John Rollins | 72-76-78-75—301 |
| Chris Smith | 74-73-76-79—302 |
| Ian Woosnam | 73-75-80-75—303 |
| John Daly | 75-74-74-80—303 |
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2002 British Open - 2004 British Open