1972 British Open Winner and Scores
The 1972 British Open was the 101st time the tournament was played, and Lee Trevino captured the Claret Jug for the second year in a row.
Winner: Lee Trevino, 278
Where it was played: Muirfield in Gullane, Scotland
Tournament dates: July 12-15, 1972
Leader after first round: Peter Tupling, 68
Leader after second round: Lee Trevino and Tony Jacklin, 141
Leader after third round: Lee Trevino, 207
What Happened in the 1972 Open Championship
The 1972 British Open was a battle between defending champion Lee Trevino, home hopeful Tony Jacklin, and Jack Nicklaus, who was attempting to win his third major of the year and keep alive hopes for a Grand Slam.Nicklaus had already won the 1972 Masters, and followed that by winning the 1972 U.S. Open. Now, at Muirfield — the club after which Nicklaus named his own course in Ohio (Muirfield Village) — the Bear was chasing that Grand Slam.
After 36 holes, they were 1-2-3, Trevino and Jacklin tied for the lead, Nicklaus one behind. But Nicklaus lost ground in the third round, scoring 71 while Trevino carded a 66 and Jacklin a 67. That dropped Nicklaus back to fifth, six strokes behind Trevino.
It looked as if it would be two-man battle in the final round between Trevino and Jacklin. Trevino was very popular with British Open fans, but Englishman Jacklin carried the hopes of most in the crowd. He was the 1969 British Open winner and 1970 U.S. Open winner. And entering the final round, Jacklin trailed Trevino by one stroke.
That set up a very interesting final round, largely because Nicklaus, it turned out, wasn't quite ready to give up on that Grand Slam dream. By the time Trevino and Jacklin, playing together, made the turn, Nicklaus had seized the lead. He wound up shooting 66, taking the clubhouse lead at 279.
But when Trevino and Jacklin reached the 17th hole, they were tied for the lead again, one ahead of Nicklaus. Trevino got in trouble off the tee on the par-5 17th, and stayed in trouble until his ball was laying four over the back of the green. Jacklin was on the green laying three.
Then Trevino — who later admitted he was so frustrated at how poorly he'd played the hole that he wasn't even giving his best effort — quickly stepped up to his chip shot and gave the ball a rap. And the ball ran right into the hole for an improbable and unexpected par save.
Perhaps Jacklin was rattled, but he proceeded to 3-putt for bogey, giving Trevino a one-stroke lead. Trevino parred the last hole to win the championship. Jacklin bogeyed, placing Nicklaus second and Jacklin third.
Jacklin never again finished inside the Top 10 in a major. Trevino now had back-to-back British Open wins and his fourth career win in a major (he won two more).
And Nicklaus? He didn't win, his Grand Slam dream was over. But Nicklaus was in the midst of a truly remarkable run at the British Open. From 1966 through 1980, Nicklaus finished inside the Top 6 at the British Open every single year. That stretch included three wins and four seconds.
Also of note at the 1972 British Open: Billy Casper played the Open Championship only five times, in the latter stage of his career. His final appearance in the tournament was here. He finished tied for 40th.
1972 British Open Final Scores
| Lee Trevino | 71-70-66-71—278 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 70-72-71-66—279 |
| Tony Jacklin | 69-72-67-72—280 |
| Doug Sanders | 71-71-69-70—281 |
| Brian Barnes | 71-72-69-71—283 |
| Gary Player | 71-71-76-67—285 |
| Arnold Palmer | 73-73-69-71—286 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 73-74-70-69—286 |
| David Vaughan | 74-73-70-69—286 |
| Guy Hunt | 75-72-67-72—286 |
| Clive Clark | 72-71-73-71—287 |
| Dave Marr | 70-74-71-72—287 |
| Peter Townsend | 70-72-76-70—288 |
| Roberto Bernardini | 73-71-76-68—288 |
| Jan Dorrestein | 74-71-72-72—289 |
| Peter Butler | 72-75-73-69—289 |
| Bob Charles | 75-70-74-70—289 |
| Johnny Miller | 76-66-72-75—289 |
| Bert Yancey | 73-72-72-73—290 |
| Maurice Bembridge | 73-71-75-71—290 |
| Frank Beard | 70-76-74-70—290 |
| Harry Bannerman | 77-73-73-67—290 |
| Doug McClelland | 73-74-72-72—291 |
| Christy O'Connor Sr. | 73-74-73-71—291 |
| a-Craig Defoy | 70-75-71-75—291 |
| Bruce Devlin | 75-70-77-70—292 |
| Brian Huggett | 73-72-79-68—292 |
| Jerry Heard | 75-75-71-72—293 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 75-75-73-70—293 |
| John Garner | 71-71-76-75—293 |
| a-Min Nan Hsieh | 75-75-73-71—294 |
| Dave Stockton | 72-72-76-74—294 |
| Gordon Cunningham | 76-75-73-70—294 |
| Peter Thomson | 71-72-74-77—294 |
| Brian Thomson | 74-77-72-71—294 |
| Peter Alliss | 74-74-77-69—294 |
| Bob Shearer | 77-75-68-74—294 |
| Vicente Fernandez | 78-74-73-69—294 |
| Kel Nagle | 79-72-74-69—294 |
| Billy Casper | 72-74-74-75—295 |
| Chi Hsiung Kuo | 74-72-76-73—295 |
| Tommy Horton | 76-72-73-74—295 |
| Vincent Hood | 76-74-72-73—295 |
| Jack Newton | 77-72-70-76—295 |
| Liang-Huan Lu | 77-73-71-74—295 |
| Ernie Jones | 75-74-74-73—296 |
| Sam Torrance | 72-74-76-74—296 |
| David Oakley | 72-75-77-72—296 |
| Peter Tupling | 68-74-73-81—296 |
| Andrew Brooks | 74-74-75-75—298 |
| Doug Sewell | 75-74-75-74—298 |
| David Talbot | 72-76-76-74—298 |
| Brian Hutchinson | 74-73-74-77—298 |
| Norman Wood | 74-78-71-75—298 |
| Graham Marsh | 78-73-74-73—298 |
| John O'Leary | 75-76-74-74—299 |
| David Llewellyn | 72-73-79-75—299 |
| Bobby Walker | 74-74-74-78—300 |
| Antonio Garrido | 71-77-77-76—301 |
| Tienie Britz | 75-77-73-76—301 |
| Jimmy Hume | 77-70-77-77—301 |
| Gary Baleson | 76-73-73-80—302 |
| John Fowler | 76-76-71-81—304 |
| Stuart Brown | 81-70-74-80—305 |
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