1983 British Open Winner and Scores
The 1983 British Open was the 112th time the tournament was played. Tom Watson was the "Champion Golfer of the Year" for the fifth and final time.
Winner: Tom Watson, 275
Where it was played: Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England
Tournament dates: July 14-17, 1983
Leader after first round: Craig Stadler, 64
Leader after second round: Craig Stadler, 134
Leader after third round: Tom Watson, 205
What Happened at the 1983 Open Championship
It was Open Championship win No. 5 for Tom Watson at the 1983 British Open, his eighth career victory in a major. And, it turned out, his last win in any of the majors. The 1983 British Open also marked the last time Arnold Palmer made the cut in this tournament.And then there was "The Whiff." In the third round, Hale Irwin was on the leaderboard when he reached the 14th green. He barely missed a putt, and wasn't too happy about it — Irwin rushed to the cup and jabbed at his golf ball, which was sitting two inches from the hole. But he missed the ball. Completely whiffed.
Would that whiff come back to haunt Irwin? Do you think we'd be mentioning if it didn't?
Watson had a 1-stroke lead going into the final round, with plenty of big names close behind. A young Nick Faldo was briefly in the mix, as was an old(er) Lee Trevino. Graham Marsh shot a final-round 64 to take the clubhouse lead at 7-under. Then Irwin and Andy Bean, playing together, each posted 8-under (both shooting 67s in the last round).
With Watson on the 18th tee at 9-under, Bean and Irwin were left hoping for a Watson bogey to produce a three-way playoff.
But Watson didn't accommodate. He striped a drive right down the center of Royal Birkdale's home hole, a 473-yard par-4. Then he hit a 2-iron from just over 210 yards that headed straight at the flag its entire flight — Watson later called it the best 2-iron of his life.
The ball rolled onto the green to within 15 feet. Watson 2-putted for par and his fifth, and final, Open Championship victory.
And the whiffer, Irwin, was left in second place, one stroke short of a playoff. Irwin won three U.S. Opens, but never the British Open.
Tony Jacklin, 1969 British Open winner, tied for 39th in what was the last time he made a cut in any of the majors. And 2-time Open champion Arnold Palmer made the cut for the last time in this major, finishing 56th.
1983 British Open Final Scores
| Tom Watson | 67-68-70-70—275 |
| Andy Bean | 70-69-70-67—276 |
| Hale Irwin | 69-68-72-67—276 |
| Graham Marsh | 69-70-74-64—277 |
| Lee Trevino | 69-66-73-70—278 |
| Harold Henning | 71-69-70-69—279 |
| Seve Ballesteros | 71-71-69-68—279 |
| Christy O'Connor Jr. | 72-69-71-68—280 |
| Bill Rogers | 67-71-73-69—280 |
| Nick Faldo | 68-68-71-73—280 |
| Denis Durnian | 73-66-74-67—280 |
| Peter Jacobsen | 72-69-70-70—281 |
| Craig Stadler | 64-70-72-75—281 |
| Fuzzy Zoeller | 71-71-67-73—282 |
| Mike Sullivan | 72-68-74-68—282 |
| David Graham | 71-69-67-75—282 |
| Raymond Floyd | 72-66-69-75—282 |
| Gary Koch | 75-71-66-70—282 |
| Bernard Gallacher | 72-71-70-70—283 |
| Brian Waites | 70-70-73-70—283 |
| Simon Hobday | 70-73-70-70—283 |
| Jay Haas | 73-72-68-70—283 |
| Hubert Green | 69-74-72-68—283 |
| Tienie Britz | 71-74-69-69—283 |
| Greg Norman | 75-71-70-67—283 |
| Howard Clark | 71-72-69-72—284 |
| Rodger Davis | 70-71-70-73—284 |
| Eamonn Darcy | 69-72-74-69—284 |
| Tom Kite | 71-72-72-70—285 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 71-72-72-70—285 |
| Lanny Wadkins | 72-73-72-68—285 |
| Toru Nakamura | 73-69-72-71—285 |
| Mark James | 70-70-74-71—285 |
| Lu Chien Soon | 71-72-74-68—285 |
| Curtis Strange | 74-68-70-73—285 |
| Mike McCullough | 74-69-72-70—285 |
| Hal Sutton | 68-71-75-71—285 |
| Terry Gale | 72-66-72-75—285 |
| Vicente Fernandez | 70-72-72-72—286 |
| Chris Moody | 74-69-70-73—286 |
| Ian Collins | 70-75-68-73—286 |
| Tony Jacklin | 71-75-71-69—286 |
| Kikuo Arai | 74-67-75-70—286 |
| Bob Gilder | 70-76-70-70—286 |
| Tim Simpson | 73-69-72-73—287 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 73-73-69-72—287 |
| Clive Tucker | 73-71-73-70—287 |
| Massy Kuramoto | 70-74-73-70—287 |
| Graham Burroughs | 71-74-71-71—287 |
| Manuel Pinero | 74-72-71-70—287 |
| Vaughan Somers | 68-75-71-73—287 |
| Mark McNulty | 72-69-68-78—287 |
| Larry Nelson | 70-73-73-72—288 |
| Sam Torrance | 68-73-74-73—288 |
| Bobby Clampett | 74-72-71-71—288 |
| Arnold Palmer | 72-74-68-75—289 |
| Bernhard Langer | 67-72-76-74—289 |
| Mark E. Johnson | 70-72-71-76—289 |
| Manuel Calero | 70-75-69-76—290 |
| John O'Leary | 74-68-69-79—290 |
| Ronan Rafferty | 75-67-73-76—291 |
| Mike Ingham | 71-73-70-78—292 |
| Hsieh Yu Shu | 71-72-74-78—295 |
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