1982 British Open Winner and Scores

The 1982 British Open was the 111th time the tournament was played. Tom Watson won this major championship for the fourth time.

Winner: Tom Watson, 284

Where it was played: Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland

Tournament dates: July 15-18, 1982

Leader after first round: Bobby Clampett, 67

Leader after second round: Bobby Clampett, 133

Leader after third round: Bobby Clampett, 211

What Happened in the 1982 Open Championship

The 1982 Open Championship was the occasion of Tom Watson's fourth victory in this championship, but is also remembered for Bobby Clampett's demise in a pothole bunker.

Clampett was a 22-year-old hotshot of whom big things were expected. He finished third at the 1982 U.S. Open a month earlier. At Royal Troon, he opened with a 67 and followed that with a 66 to take a 5-stroke lead over second-place Nick Price at the midway point.

Clampett opened the third round strong, adding two more strokes to his lead. But on the sixth hole, Clampett's drive rolled into a pot bunker and it took him three swings to get the ball out of the bunker. Clampett wound up shooting 78 that day, although he managed to hold onto a 1-stroke lead. But in the final round, Clampett added a 77, and wound up 10th (tied with Jack Nicklaus, who posted his final Top 10 finish in a British Open).

Watson began the final round three strokes behind Clampett, who was one ahead of Price. But the Price of 1982 wasn't the same golfer who was one of the best in the world in the early 1990s. This Nick Price had only one win on the European Tour and none on the PGA Tour.

But as Clampett's collapse continued, it was the unproven Price who took advantage. When Price birdied the 10th, 11th and 12th holes of the final round, he held a three-stroke lead. Then Price went off the rails, too. He was 4-over par over the final six holes.

Watson wasn't doing anything spectacular, but he didn't have to. Watson played steadily, finished with a 2-under 70, and that was good enough to win his fourth British Open title. Price finished second, a stroke behind, tied with Peter Oosterhuis.

Watson had won the 1982 U.S. Open one month earlier. This was his seventh career victory in a major (he won one more) and the 32nd of his 39 career PGA Tour wins. Watson was just the fifth golfer to this point to win the U.S. and British opens in the same year.

1982 British Open Final Scores

Tom Watson 69-71-74-70—284
Nick Price 69-69-74-73—285
Peter Oosterhuis 74-67-74-70—285
Massy Kuramoto 71-73-71-71—286
Nick Faldo 73-73-71-69—286
Des Smyth 70-69-74-73—286
Tom Purtzer 76-66-75-69—286
Fuzzy Zoeller 73-71-73-70—287
Sandy Lyle 74-66-73-74—287
Jack Nicklaus 77-70-72-69—288
Bobby Clampett 67-66-78-77—288
Sam Torrance 73-72-73-71—289
Seve Ballesteros 71-75-73-71—290
Bernhard Langer 70-69-78-73—290
Ben Crenshaw 74-75-72-70—291
Denis Watson 75-69-73-74—291
Curtis Strange 72-73-76-70—291
Raymond Floyd 74-73-77-67—291
Ken Brown 70-71-79-72—292
Isao Aoki 75-69-75-74—293
Toru Nakamura 77-68-77-71—293
Johnny Miller 71-76-75-72—294
Bill Rogers 73-70-76-75—294
Jose Maria Canizares 71-72-79-72—294
Bernard Gallacher 75-71-74-75—295
Graham Marsh 76-76-72-71—295
Greg Norman 73-75-76-72—296
David Graham 73-70-76-77—296
Arnold Palmer 71-73-78-74—296
Lee Trevino 78-72-71-75—296
Jay Haas 78-72-75-71—296
Mark Thomas 72-74-75-76—297
Larry Nelson 77-69-77-74—297
Mike Miller 74-72-78-73—297
David J. Russell 72-72-76-78—298
Paul Way 72-75-78-73—298
Brian Barnes 75-69-76-78—298
Eamonn Darcy 75-73-78-72—298
Craig Stadler 71-74-79-74—298
Jack Ferenz 76-69-80-73—298
Harold Henning 74-74-76-75—299
Gary Player 75-74-76-75—300
Terry Gale 76-74-75-75—300
a-Malcolm Lewis 74-74-77-75—300
Bob Shearer 73-72-81-74—300
Neil Coles 73-73-72-82—300
Roger Chapman 75-76-74-76—301
Brian Waites 75-77-73-76—301
Bill Longmuir 77-72-77-75—301
Tienie Britz 81-70-74-76—301
Hsu Sheng San 75-75-75-77—302
Manuel Pinero 75-75-74-78—302
Mark James 74-73-79-76—302
Mark McNulty 76-74-76-77—303
Peter Townsend 76-73-76-78—303
Keith Waters 73-78-71-81—303
Martin Poxon 74-70-78-81—303
Philip Harrison 78-74-74-78—304
Michael King 73-78-74-80—305
Mike Cahill 73-76-77-80—306

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