1978 Open Championship
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 12–15 July 1978 |
| Location | St Andrews, Scotland |
| Course(s) | Old Course at St Andrews |
| Organized by | The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews |
| Tour(s) | European Tour PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 72[1] |
| Length | 6,933 yards (6,340 m)[1][2] |
| Field | 155 players 80 after 1st cut 64 after 2nd cut[1] |
| Cut | 148 (+4) (1st cut) 222 (+6) (2nd cut)[1] |
| Prize fund | £125,000 $237,500 |
| Winner's share | £12,500 $23,750 |
| Champion | |
 Jack Nicklaus | |
| 281 (−7) | |
St Andrews
Location in Scotland
St Andrews
Location in Fife, Scotland
The 1978 Open Championship was the 107th Open Championship, held 12–15 July over the Old Course at St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Jack Nicklaus won his third and final Open championship, two strokes ahead of runners-up Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd, Tom Kite, and Simon Owen.[3] It was the fifteenth of his eighteen major championships and marked the completion of his third career grand slam.[4][5]
Defending champion Tom Watson was a co-leader after 54 holes,[6][7] but four consecutive bogeys on the front nine led to a 76 (+4). Watson finished six strokes back in a tie for fourteenth place.[4][5][8]
Course
| Hole | Name | Yards | Par | Hole | Name | Yards | Par | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burn | 370 | 4 | 10 | Bobby Jones | 342 | 4 | |
| 2 | Dyke | 411 | 4 | 11 | High (In) | 172 | 3 | |
| 3 | Cartgate (Out) | 371 | 4 | 12 | Heathery (In) | 316 | 4 | |
| 4 | Ginger Beer | 463 | 4 | 13 | Hole O'Cross (In) | 425 | 4 | |
| 5 | Hole O'Cross (Out) | 564 | 5 | 14 | Long | 567 | 5 | |
| 6 | Heathery (Out) | 416 | 4 | 15 | Cartgate (In) | 413 | 4 | |
| 7 | High (Out) | 372 | 4 | 16 | Corner of the Dyke | 382 | 4 | |
| 8 | Short | 178 | 3 | 17 | Road | 461 | 4 | |
| 9 | End | 356 | 4 | 18 | Tom Morris | 354 | 4 | |
| Out | 3,501 | 36 | In | 3,432 | 36 | |||
| Source:[2] | Total | 6,933 | 72 | |||||
Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):[1]
Round summaries
First round
Wednesday, 12 July 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Isao Aoki |
68 | −4 |
| T2 |  Seve Ballesteros |
69 | −3 |
| Raymond Floyd
| |||
 Jack Newton
| |||
| Tom Weiskopf
| |||
| T6 |  Howard Clark |
70 | −2 |
| Ben Crenshaw
| |||
| Mark Hayes
| |||
| Carl Mason
| |||
 Mike Miller (a)
| |||
| Tsuneyuki Nakajima
| |||
 Simon Owen
|
Source:[1]
Second round
Thursday, 13 July 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Isao Aoki |
68-71=139 | −5 |
| Seve Ballesteros |
69-70=139 | ||
| Ben Crenshaw |
70-69=139 | ||
| T4 | Gary Cullen |
73-67=140 | −4 |
| Bob Shearer |
71-69=139 | ||
| T6 | Bob Byman |
72-69=141 | −3 |
| Tom Kite |
72-69=141 | ||
| Tsuneyuki Nakajima |
70-71=141 | ||
| Masashi Ozaki |
72-69=141 | ||
| Tom Watson |
73-68=141 | ||
| Tom Weiskopf |
69-72=141 |
Amateurs: Miller (E), Brodie (+1), McEvoy (+1), Godwin (+3), Gallagher (+6), Kuramoto (+6), Lewis (+8), Webster (+9), Hedges (+11), Fish, (+14), McLachlan (+14), Turner (+14), Walters (+18).
Third round
Friday, 14 July 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Peter Oosterhuis |
72-70-69=211 | −5 |
| Tom Watson |
73-68-70=211 | ||
| T3 | Simon Owen |
70-75-67=212 | −4 |
| Jack Nicklaus |
71-72-69=212 | ||
| Ben Crenshaw |
70-69-73=212 | ||
| Isao Aoki |
68-71-73=212 | ||
| T7 | Nick Faldo |
71-72-70=213 | −3 |
| John Schroeder |
74-69-70=213 | ||
| Tom Kite |
72-69-72=213 | ||
| Tom Weiskopf |
69-72-72=213 |
Amateurs: Miller (+2), Brodie (+4), McEvoy (+5), Godwin (+6).
Final round
Saturday, 15 July 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Nicklaus |
71-72-69-69=281 | −7 | 12,500 |
| T2 | Raymond Floyd |
69-75-71-68=283 | −5 | 7,255 |
| Tom Kite |
72-69-72-70=283 | |||
| Ben Crenshaw |
70-69-73-71=283 | |||
| Simon Owen |
70-75-67-71=283 | |||
| 6 | Peter Oosterhuis |
72-70-69-73=284 | −4 | 4,960 |
| T7 | Bob Shearer |
71-69-74-71=285 | −3 | 3,905 |
| Nick Faldo |
71-72-70-72=285 | |||
| John Schroeder |
74-69-70-72=285 | |||
| Isao Aoki |
68-71-73-73=285 |
Amateurs: McEvoy (+5), Miller (+6), Brodie (+7), Godwin (+10). Source:[1][5][11]
- The exchange rate at the time was approximately 1.88 dollars (US) per pound sterling.[12]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 58, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
- ^ a b "St. Andrews–decoding British Open course". The Chicago Tribune. UPI. 12 July 1978. p. 2, sec. 6.
- ^ Lupica, Mike (16 July 1978). "Nicklaus at his best for British win". The Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
- ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (24 July 1978). "A Bonny Victory". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
- ^ a b c Jacobs, Raymond (17 July 1978). "Jack Nicklaus - a superstar reborn". Glasgow Herald. p. 14.
- ^ a b Jacobs, Raymond (15 July 1978). "Oosterhuis and Watson head for fascinating duel". Glasgow Herald. p. 16.
- ^ a b "Watson shares lead; Nicklaus shot back". The Chicago Tribune. wire services. 15 July 1978. p. 3, sec. 2.
- ^ "Nicklaus caresses Old Course, captures Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 16 July 1978. p. 2B.
- ^ "Open golf qualifiers". Glasgow Herald. 14 July 1978. p. 21.
- ^ "Scoreboard: Golf". The Chicago Tribune. 14 July 1978. p. 6, sec. 5.
- ^ "1978 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
- ^ "British Pound / US Dollar Historical Reference Rates from Bank of England for 1978". PoundSterling. July 1978. Retrieved 18 July 2024.