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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