2004 British Open Golf Tournament Results
Winner: Todd Hamilton, 274
Where it was played: Royal Troon Golf Club, Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland
Tournament dates: July 15-18, 2004
Leader after first round: Paul Casey and Thomas Levet, 66
Leader after second round: Skip Kendall, 135
Leader after third round: Todd Hamilton, 205
Notable Notes: For the second consecutive Open, there was a surprise winner, following Ben Curtis' victory the previous year. This time it was another journeyman American, Todd Hamilton, who had played mostly in Japan prior to this.
Hamilton took over the lead in the third round, shooting 67. His edge entering the final round was one stroke over Ernie Els and two over Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen and Thomas Levet. Hamilton and Els required a playoff after Els missed a birdie putt on the 72nd hole (Mickelson finished one stroke out of the playoff).
The 4-hole aggregate playoff concluded with Els missing another birdie putt, and Hamilton making a par putt for the victory.
Final Scores
| p-Todd Hamilton | 71-67-67-69—274 |
| Ernie Els | 69-69-68-68—274 |
| Phil Mickelson | 73-66-68-68—275 |
| Lee Westwood | 72-71-68-67—278 |
| Thomas Levet | 66-70-71-72—279 |
| Davis Love | 72-69-71-67—279 |
| Scott Verplank | 69-70-70-71—280 |
| Retief Goosen | 69-70-68-73—280 |
| Mike Weir | 71-68-71-71—281 |
| Tiger Woods | 70-71-68-72—281 |
| Darren Clarke | 69-72-73-68—282 |
| Mark Calcavecchia | 72-73-69-68—282 |
| Skip Kendall | 69-66-75-72—282 |
| Barry Lane | 69-68-71-75—283 |
| Stewart Cink | 72-71-71-69—283 |
| KJ Choi | 68-69-74-73—284 |
| Justin Leonard | 70-72-71-71—284 |
| Joakim Haeggman | 69-73-72-70—284 |
| Kenny Perry | 69-70-73-72—284 |
| Bob Estes | 73-72-69-71—285 |
| Gary Evans | 68-73-73-71—285 |
| Michael Campbell | 67-71-74-73—285 |
| Paul Casey | 66-77-70-72—285 |
| Vijay Singh | 68-70-76-71—285 |
| Colin Montgomerie | 69-69-72-76—286 |
| Ian Poulter | 71-72-71-72—286 |
| Jyoti Randhawa | 73-72-70-72—287 |
| Takashi Kamiyama | 70-73-71-73—287 |
| Rod Pampling | 72-68-74-73—287 |
| Mark O'Meara | 71-74-68-75—288 |
| Shigeki Maruyama | 71-72-74-71—288 |
| Bo Van Pelt | 72-71-71-74—288 |
| David Toms | 71-71-74-72—288 |
| Nick Price | 71-71-69-77—288 |
| Keiichiro Fukabori | 73-71-70-74—288 |
| Kim Felton | 73-67-72-77—289 |
| Tetsuji Hiratsuka | 70-74-70-75—289 |
| Stuart Appleby | 71-70-73-75—289 |
| Tjaart Van der Walt | 70-73-72-74—289 |
| Steve Lowery | 69-73-75-72—289 |
| Hunter Mahan | 74-69-71-75—289 |
| Andrew Oldcorn | 73-70-71-76—290 |
| Adam Scott | 73-68-74-75—290 |
| Charles Howell | 75-70-72-73—290 |
| Trevor Immelman | 69-74-71-76—290 |
| Kenneth Ferrie | 68-74-73-75—290 |
| Alastair Forsyth | 68-74-79-70—291 |
| Mathias Gronberg | 70-74-73-74—291 |
| Miguel Jimenez | 74-71-71-75—291 |
| Jerry Kelly | 75-70-73-73—291 |
| Paul Bradshaw | 75-67-72-77—291 |
| Shaun Micheel | 70-72-70-79—291 |
| Sean Whiffin | 73-72-71-75—291 |
| Raphael Jacquelin | 72-72-73-75—292 |
| Steve Flesch | 75-70-70-77—292 |
| Ignacio Garrido | 71-74-72-75—292 |
| Carl Pettersson | 68-77-74-74—293 |
| James Kingston | 73-72-74-74—293 |
| Paul McGinley | 69-76-75-73—293 |
| Paul Broadhurst | 71-74-72-77—294 |
| Gary Emerson | 70-71-76-77—294 |
| Brad Faxon | 74-68-73-79—294 |
| Mark Foster | 71-72-76-77—296 |
| Chris DiMarco | 71-71-78-76—296 |
| a-Stuart Wilson | 68-75-77-76—296 |
| Marten Olander | 68-74-78-77—297 |
| Rory Sabbatini | 71-72-73-81—297 |
| Martin Erlandsson | 73-70-77-78—298 |
| Paul Wesselingh | 73-72-76-77—298 |
| Bob Tway | 76-68-73-82—299 |
| Christian Cevaer | 70-74-74-82—300 |
| Rich Beem | 69-73-77-81—300 |
| Sandy Lyle | 70-73-81-79—303 |
