2014 British Open Winner and Scores
The 2014 British Open was the 143rd time this major was played. The winner made it a wire-to-wire victory, holding on in the final round after leading by six.
Winner: Rory McIlroy, 271
Where it was played: Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Merseyside, England
Tournament dates: July 17-20, 2014
Leader after first round: Rory McIlroy, 66
Leader after second round: Rory McIlroy, 132
Leader after third round: Rory McIlroy, 200
What Happened at the 2014 Open Championship
Rory McIlroy won the 2014 British Open by two strokes, although his win was a bit "bigger" than that final margin of victory indicates. McIlroy led the tournament throughout, leading after every round to win wire-to-wire, and he took a 6-stroke lead into the final round.McIlroy opened with a 66, and followed that with another 66. After 13 holes of the third round, McIlroy was tied for the lead with Rickie Fowler. But McIlroy went on a tear from that point, adding a birdie and two eagles over the final five holes of his third round. And that put him at 16-under-par 200 through three rounds — with a 6-shot lead — and in position to challenge the tournament records for both 72-hole winning score and lowest winning score in relation to par.
In the end, McIlroy didn't break either of those records, but his 17-under-par mark and 271 total were both among all-time tournament bests. (At the time, 19-under par and 267 were the records, respectively.)
In the final round Sergio Garcia made the biggest push, getting within two strokes of McIlroy midway through the round. Garcia shot 66 and finished at 273, two behind. His momentum ended with a bogey on the 15th. And Fowler hung in through much of the final round, tying Garcia for runner-up.
But McIlroy overcame some early final-round jitters — a double-bogey on the fifth hole and bogey on the sixth — and a bogey on the 13th to shoot 71. A birdie on the 16th hole gave McIlroy breathing room, and he closed it out with pars on the 71st and 72nd holes.
It was McIlroy's third career win in a major championship, and it came for him at age 25. He was just the third golfer since 1934 — when The Masters debuted and all four of the modern professional majors existed simultaneously for the first time — to win three majors by age 25. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods were the first two.
2014 British Open Final Scores
| Rory McIlroy | 66-66-68-71—271 |
| Sergio Garcia | 68-70-69-66—273 |
| Rickie Fowler | 69-69-68-67—273 |
| Jim Furyk | 68-71-71-65—275 |
| Marc Leishman | 69-72-70-65—276 |
| Adam Scott | 68-73-69-66—276 |
| Charl Schwartzel | 71-67-72-67—277 |
| Edoardo Molinari | 68-73-68-68—277 |
| Graeme McDowell | 74-69-68-67—278 |
| Victor Dubuisson | 74-66-68-70—278 |
| Shane Lowry | 68-75-70-65—278 |
| Dustin Johnson | 71-65-71-72—279 |
| Robert Karlsson | 69-71-70-69—279 |
| Ryan Moore | 70-68-73-68—279 |
| Francesco Molinari | 68-70-75-67—280 |
| Stephen Gallacher | 70-72-70-68—280 |
| David Howell | 72-70-70-68—280 |
| George Coetzee | 70-69-74-68—281 |
| Angel Cabrera | 76-69-70-67—282 |
| Keegan Bradley | 73-71-69-69—282 |
| Matteo Manassero | 67-75-68-72—282 |
| Chris Kirk | 71-74-68-69—282 |
| Chris Wood | 75-70-73-65—283 |
| Justin Rose | 72-70-69-72—283 |
| Phil Mickelson | 74-70-71-68—283 |
| Darren Clarke | 72-72-67-73—284 |
| Brian Harman | 72-73-68-71—284 |
| Thomas Bjorn | 70-71-76-67—284 |
| Jimmy Walker | 69-71-71-73—284 |
| Byeong-Hun An | 72-71-69-72—284 |
| Ben Martin | 71-73-70-70—284 |
| Kristoffer Broberg | 70-73-70-72—285 |
| David Hearn | 70-73-71-71—285 |
| Hunter Mahan | 71-73-72-69—285 |
| D.A. Points | 75-69-72-69—285 |
| Jordan Spieth | 71-75-67-73—286 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 70-68-76-72—286 |
| Branden Grace | 71-72-69-74—286 |
| Gary Woodland | 75-69-72-71—287 |
| Koumei Oda | 69-77-74-67—287 |
| Brendon Todd | 73-73-74-67—287 |
| Marc Warren | 71-68-72-76—287 |
| Henrik Stenson | 72-73-73-69—287 |
| Thongchai Jaidee | 72-72-72-71—287 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 69-74-73-71—287 |
| Kevin Stadler | 73-72-71-71—287 |
| Zach Johnson | 71-75-71-71—288 |
| Paul Casey | 74-71-73-70—288 |
| Stewart Cink | 71-75-73-69—288 |
| Gregory Bourdy | 75-69-74-70—288 |
| Bill Haas | 70-72-73-74—289 |
| Jason Dufner | 70-74-74-71—289 |
| Tom Watson | 73-73-75-68—289 |
| Matt Kuchar | 73-71-74-72—290 |
| Kevin Streelman | 72-74-69-75—290 |
| Matt Jones | 71-74-72-73—290 |
| Kevin Na | 76-70-70-74—290 |
| Jamie McLeary | 73-73-75-70—291 |
| Brandt Snedeker | 74-72-71-74—291 |
| Ryan Palmer | 74-71-76-70—291 |
| Chris Rodgers | 73-71-73-74—291 |
| John Senden | 71-74-75-71—291 |
| Jason Day | 73-73-74-71—291 |
| Billy Hurley III | 73-72-76-71—292 |
| Thorbjorn Olesen | 75-71-73-73—292 |
| Luke Donald | 73-73-71-75—292 |
| Charley Hoffman | 74-72-76-71—293 |
| Brooks Koepka | 68-77-74-74—293 |
| Tiger Woods | 69-77-73-75—294 |
| Martin Kaymer | 73-72-72-79—296 |
| Matt Every | 75-71-73-78—297 |
| Rhein Gibson | 72-74-74-78—298 |
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