1961 British Open Winner and Scores

The 1961 British Open was the 90th time the tournament was played. And the winner was a King.

Winner: Arnold Palmer, 284

Where it was played: Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England

Tournament dates: July 12-15, 1961

Leader after first round: Dai Rees, Harold Henning and Kel Nagle, 68

Leader after second round: Dai Rees and Harold Henning, 142

Leader after third round: Arnold Palmer, 212

What Happened in the 1961 Open Championship

One year earlier, Arnold Palmer made his Open Championship debut at the 1960 British Open. And although Palmer lost by a stroke to Kel Nagle, Arnie's appearance is generally credited with reinvigorating this championship, and also with establishing the modern concept of the "grand slam" as the four professional majors.

Palmer returned in 1961, and this time he won. For Palmer, it was his fourth victory in a major championship (he eventually won seven total).

Palmer opened with a 70, two off the lead shared by Dai Rees, Harold Henning and Nagle. After the second round, Rees and Henning were tied for the lead, with Palmer and Nagle tied one stroke behind. Nagle shot 75-71 on the final day (36 holes) and dropped to a tie for fifth, while Henning shot 75-76 and tied for 10th.

And that left Palmer and Rees to battle it out in the final round. Palmer led Rees by four strokes with four holes remaining. But Palmer appeared in deep trouble on the 15th hole, his ball sitting in thick rough and below a bush 140 yards from the green.

But the swashbuckling Palmer took a mighty rip at the ball, sending a huge divot and other debris flying, and knocked the ball onto the green.

Rees did make up three strokes, but both wound up shooting 72 and Palmer won by one stroke, 284 to Rees' 285.

The Welshman Rees was one of the British golf greats of the 1950s, but he was winning tournaments in Europe from the late 1930s through the early 1960s. He never won the British Open, but his finish here was one of three runner-up showings. He also finished third and fourth in other Opens.

Another British golf great, 3-time Open champion Henry Cotton, made the cut for the last time in this event. And American Paul Runyan, winner of the PGA Championship in 1934 and 1938, finished 18th at age 53. It was one of just three appearances in the British Open by Runyan.

1961 British Open Final Scores

Arnold Palmer 70-73-69-72—284
Dai Rees 68-74-71-72—285
Neil Coles 70-77-69-72—288
Christy O'Connor 71-77-67-73—288
Eric Brown 73-76-70-70—289
Kel Nagle 68-75-75-71—289
Peter Thomson 75-72-70-73—290
Ken Bousfield 71-77-75-68—291
Peter Alliss 73-75-72-71—291
Syd Scott 76-75-71-71—293
Harold Henning 68-74-75-76—293
Ramon Sota 71-76-72-76—295
Tony Coop 71-79-73-74—297
Miguel Angel Martin 73-79-74-72—298
Reg Knight 71-80-73-74—298
Sebastian Miguel 71-80-70-77—298
a-Norman Johnson 69-80-70-79—298
Paul Runyan 75-77-75-72—299
Denis Hutchinson 72-80-74-73—299
John Jacobs 71-79-76-74—300
Harry Bradshaw 73-75-78-74—300
Peter Butler 72-76-78-74—300
Dave Thomas 71-77-77-75—300
Lionel Platts 70-80-71-79—300
a-Ralph Moffitt 73-80-73-75—301
Jean Garaialde 69-81-76-75—301
Brian Huggett 72-77-75-77—301
Eric Lester 71-77-75-78—301
David Miller 69-79-80-74—302
George Will 74-75-75-78—302
Brian Wilkes 72-76-77-78—303
Guy Wolstenholme 72-80-77-75—304
Henry Cotton 76-77-74-77—304
John Panton 73-78-75-78—304
Bill McHardy 76-76-76-77—305
James Henderson 72-78-77-78—305
Sam King 70-77-79-79—305
Eric Green 75-78-77-76—306
a-Ronald White 71-79-80-76—306
a-George Low 76-76-76-78—306
David Snell 72-81-77-77—307
Frank Phillips 74-79-76-78—307
Tom Haliburton 74-79-76-78—307
Fred Boobyer 74-79-81-74—308
a-Martin Christmas 71-79-79-79—308
Willian Branch 77-76-78-78—309
Christy Greene 77-76-78-78—309

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