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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