1984 British Open Winner and Scores
The 1984 British Open was the 113rd time the tournament was played. Tom Watson was going for his third consecutive Open victory, but it was Seve Ballesteros who emerged as champion.
Winner: Seve Ballesteros, 276
Where it was played: The Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland
Tournament dates: July 19-22, 1984
Leader after first round: Bill Longmuir, Greg Norman and Peter Jacobsen, 67
Leader after second round: Ian Baker-Finch, 134
Leader after third round: Ian Baker-Finch and Tom Watson, 205
What Happened at the 1984 British Open
The final leaderboard at the 1984 British Open was about as strong as it could get for a tournament of this era: Ballesteros, Langer, Watson, Couples, Wadkins, Faldo, Norman. That's a loaded leaderboard.It was Seve Ballesteros who bested the rest, however, winning his second Open Championship and fourth major championship. Tom Watson and Bernhard Langer finished two strokes behind. And it happened at The Old Course in St. Andrews.
Ian Baker-Finch, who to this point had played primarily in Australia and New Zealand, made his first big splash on the international scene. In his first appearance in a major, Baker-Finch shared the 54-hole lead with Watson, at 11-under, two strokes in front of Ballesteros and Langer.
But Baker-Finch crumbled in the final round with a 79. The championship came down to a duel between Watson, seeking his sixth Open Championship title and this third consecutively, and Ballesteros. And the Road Hole — No. 17 — proved the difference.
Ballesteros and Watson were tied when Seve parred the 17th. Watson wasn't as fortunate. His approach bounded over the green, across the road and perilously close to the stone wall. Watson could only make bogey.
Ballesteros then birdied the final hole to achieve the final 2-stroke margin of victory. Seve's reaction when his 15-foot birdie found the cup was a joyous, fist-pumping celebration that is well-remembered to this day.
Peter Thomson, a 5-time winner of the Open, played in his final major at this tournament, missing the cut. And Kel Nagle, who beat Arnold Palmer to win the 1960 British Open, also missed the cut in his last appearance in a major.
1984 British Open Final Scores
| Seve Ballesteros | 69-68-70-69—276 |
| Bernhard Langer | 71-68-68-71—278 |
| Tom Watson | 71-68-66-73—278 |
| Fred Couples | 70-69-74-68—281 |
| Lanny Wadkins | 70-69-73-69—281 |
| Nick Faldo | 69-68-76-69—282 |
| Greg Norman | 67-74-74-67—282 |
| Mark McCumber | 74-67-72-70—283 |
| Hugh Baiocchi | 72-70-70-72—284 |
| Ian Baker-Finch | 68-66-71-79—284 |
| Graham Marsh | 70-74-73-67—284 |
| Ronan Rafferty | 74-72-67-71—284 |
| Sam Torrance | 74-74-66-70—284 |
| Andy Bean | 72-69-75-69—285 |
| Bill Bergin | 75-73-66-71—285 |
| Ken Brown | 74-71-72-68—285 |
| Hale Irwin | 75-68-70-72—285 |
| Sandy Lyle | 75-71-72-67—285 |
| Peter Senior | 74-70-70-71—285 |
| Lee Trevino | 70-67-75-73—285 |
| Fuzzy Zoeller | 71-72-71-71—285 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 72-75-70-69—286 |
| Peter Jacobsen | 67-73-73-73—286 |
| Tom Kite | 69-71-74-72—286 |
| Gil Morgan | 71-71-71-73—286 |
| Corey Pavin | 71-74-72-69—286 |
| Paul Way | 73-72-69-72—286 |
| Terry Gale | 71-74-72-70—287 |
| Jaime Gonzalez | 69-71-76-71—287 |
| Craig Stadler | 75-70-70-72—287 |
| Ross Drummond | 77-71-69-71—288 |
| Bernard Gallacher | 70-74-72-72—288 |
| Johnny Miller | 75-71-70-72—288 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 76-72-68-72—288 |
| Philip Parkin | 73-73-73-69—288 |
| Jose Maria Canizares | 70-71-72-76—289 |
| David Dunk | 71-72-73-73—289 |
| Jay Haas | 73-71-73-72—289 |
| Jimmy Heggarty | 71-74-72-72—289 |
| Gavin Levenson | 74-70-73-72—289 |
| Ewen Murray | 72-74-71-72—289 |
| Tommy Nakajima | 70-71-74-74—289 |
| Manuel Pinero | 71-71-76-71—289 |
| Mark James | 70-73-72-75—290 |
| Martin Poxon | 70-74-73-73—290 |
| Nick Price | 74-73-72-71—290 |
| Isao Aoki | 71-74-73-73—291 |
| Manuel Calero | 75-72-72-72—291 |
| Roger Chapman | 72-74-70-75—291 |
| Bob Charles | 75-73-70-73—291 |
| David Frost | 76-72-70-73—291 |
| Richard Boxall | 71-74-73-74—292 |
| John Chillas | 71-72-75-74—292 |
| Howard Clark | 74-74-71-73—292 |
| Bill Longmuir | 67-71-79-76—293 |
| Malcolm Mackenzie | 72-72-74-75—293 |
| Emilio Rodriguez | 74-74-69-76—293 |
| David J. Russell | 73-74-71-75—293 |
| Saburo Fujiki | 72-73-74-75—294 |
| John Garner | 74-71-74-76—295 |
| Gary Koch | 75-73-70-77—295 |
| Rick Hartmann | 70-73-76-77—296 |
| Joe Ozaki | 72-76-70-78—296 |
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1983 British Open - 1985 British Open