1964 Open Championship

The 1964 Open Championship was the 93rd Open Championship, played 8–10 July at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland. Tony Lema won his only major championship, five strokes ahead of runner-up Jack Nicklaus.[2][3][4][5] He led by seven strokes after 54 holes and shot a final round 70.[6] Neither had played the Old Course before and Lema had never played in Britain;[7] he gave much of the credit for his victory to his caddy, Tip Anderson.[8] It was Lema's fourth victory in six weeks; he won three events on the PGA Tour in June. Nicklaus equaled the course record with a 66 in the third round.[7]

1964 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates8–10 July 1964
LocationSt Andrews, Scotland
Course(s)Old Course at St Andrews
Statistics
Par72[1]
Length6,926 yards (6,333 m)[1]
Field120 players, 45 after cut
Cut153 (+9)[1]
Prize fund£8,500
$23,800
Winner's share£1,500
$4,200
Champion
United States Tony Lema
279 (−9)
← 1963
1965 →
St Andrews  is located in Scotland
St Andrews 
St Andrews 
St Andrews  is located in Fife
St Andrews 
St Andrews 
Location in Fife, Scotland

The PGA Championship was played the next week in Columbus, Ohio, one of five times in the 1960s that these two majors were played in consecutive weeks in July.

Lema played in two more Opens; two weeks after competing in 1966 at Muirfield, he and his pregnant wife were killed in a plane crash near Chicago.[9][10][11]

Course

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Hole Name Yards Par Hole Name Yards Par
1 Burn 374 4 10 Tenth ^ 338 4
2 Dyke 411 4 11 High (In) 170 3
3 Cartgate (Out) 370 4 12 Heathery (In) 312 4
4 Ginger Beer 470 4 13 Hole O'Cross (In) 427 4
5 Hole O'Cross (Out) 567 5 14 Long 560 5
6 Heathery (Out) 414 4 15 Cartgate (In) 413 4
7 High (Out) 364 4 16 Corner of the Dyke 380 4
8 Short 163 3 17 Road 453 4
9 End 359 4 18 Tom Morris 381 4
Out 3,492 36 In 3,434 36
Source:[12][13] Total 6,926 72

^ The 10th hole was posthumously named for Bobby Jones in 1972

Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):[1]

Field

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The exemption categories were:

1. The first 20 and those tying for 20th place in the 1963 Open
Brian Allen, Peter Alliss, Bob Charles (3), Neil Coles, Max Faulkner, Jean Garaïalde, Harold Henning, Brian Huggett, Bernard Hunt, Alex King, Malcolm Leeder, Hugh Lewis, Ian MacDonald, John MacDonald, Sebastian Miguel, Kel Nagle (3), Jack Nicklaus (5), Christy O'Connor Snr, Frank Phillips, Gary Player (3), Phil Rodgers, Sewsunker Sewgolum, Ramón Sota, Peter Thomson (3), Brian Wilkes

2. The first 30 and those tying for 30th place in the P.G.A. Order of Merit for 1963

3. The last 10 Open champions (1954–63)
Bobby Locke

4. The last 5 Amateur champions (1959–63)
Deane Beman (6) (a), Michael Bonallack (a), Joe Carr (a)

5. The last 10 U.S. Open champions (1954–63)

6. The last 5 U.S. Amateur champions (1959–63)

Jack Nicklaus had turned professional but was exempt under other categories

7. The first 30 money winners and those tying for 30th place in the U.S.P.G.A. official list for one year ending with the P.G.A. tournament immediately before the closing date of the U.S. Open entries

[15]

Exemptions for amateur champions were only granted if the player was still an amateur.

Qualification took place on 3–4 July (Friday and Saturday) at the New and Eden courses.[15] They were run as two separate events with 35 players to qualify from the New Course and 34 from the Eden course, together with 51 exemptions to make a total field of 120. The number of alternates was reduced from three to two.[16]

Round summaries

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First round

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Wednesday, 8 July 1964

Place Player Score To par
T1   Jean Garaïalde 71 −1
  Christy O'Connor Snr
T3   Bruce Devlin 72 E
  Harry Weetman
T5   Hugh Boyle 73 +1
  Max Faulkner
  Bernard Hunt
  Tony Lema
  Ángel Miguel
T10   Stuart Davies 74 +2
  Christy Greene
  Jimmy Martin
  Phil Rodgers
  George Will

Source:[17][18]

Second round

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Thursday, 9 July 1964

Place Player Score To par
1   Tony Lema 73-68=141 −3
2   Harry Weetman 72-71=143 −1
T3   Bruce Devlin 72-72=144 E
  Christy O'Connor Snr 71-73=144
5   Jean Garaïalde 71-74=145 +1
T6   Max Faulkner 73-73=146 +2
  Jimmy Martin 74-72=146
T8   Tony Coop 75-72=147 +3
  Bernard Hunt 73-74=147
  Lu Liang-Huan 76-71=147

Source:[1][13][19]
Amateurs: Beman (+13), Bonallack (+13), Carr (+13), Clark (+16), Rutherford (+17), Saddler (+17), Shade (+21).

Third round

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Friday, 10 July 1964 (morning)

Place Player Score To par
1   Tony Lema 73-68-68=209 −7
2   Jack Nicklaus 76-74-66=216 E
T3   Bruce Devlin 72-72-73=217 +1
  Bernard Hunt 73-74-70=217
T5   Roberto De Vicenzo 76-72-70=218 +2
  Christy O'Connor Snr 71-73-74=218
  Harry Weetman 72-71-75=218
8   Bob Charles 79-71-69=219 +3
9   Ángel Miguel 73-76-72=221 +5
T10   Alex Caygill 77-74-71=222 +6
  Stuart Davies 74-77-71=222
  Malcolm Gregson 78-70-74=222
  Harold Henning 78-73-71=222
  Ralph Moffitt 76-72-74=222
  Gary Player 78-71-73=222
  Syd Scott 75-74-73=222

Source:[1][2][4]

Final round

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Friday, 10 July 1964 (afternoon)

Place Player Score To par Money (£)
1   Tony Lema 73-68-68-70=279 −9 1,500
2   Jack Nicklaus 76-74-66-68=284 −4 1,000
3   Roberto De Vicenzo 76-72-70-67=285 −3 800
4   Bernard Hunt 73-74-70-70=287 −1 650
5   Bruce Devlin 72-72-73-73=290 +2 500
T6   Christy O'Connor Snr 71-73-74-73=291 +3 313
  Harry Weetman 72-71-75-73=291
T8   Harold Henning 78-73-71-70=292 +4 183
  Ángel Miguel 73-76-72-71=292
  Gary Player 78-71-73-70=292

Source:[1][2][4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 72, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Jacobs, Raymond (11 July 1964). "Lema champion at first attempt". Glasgow Herald. p. 1.
  3. ^ "Lema wins British Open by 5 strokes". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 11 July 1964. p. 1, sec. 2.
  4. ^ a b c Farrow, John (10 July 1964). "Lema nabs British Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 3B.
  5. ^ Lovesey, John (20 July 1964). "Victorious crusade in the Valley of Sin". Sports Illustrated. p. 16.
  6. ^ "Lema staves off Nicklaus, grabs British Open title". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Reuters. 11 July 1964. p. 8.
  7. ^ a b "Lema winner of British Open". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. 11 July 1964. p. 14.
  8. ^ "'World's greatest caddy' carried Lema to victory". Miami News. Associated Press. 11 July 1964. p. 1B.
  9. ^ "Lema, 3 others die". Chicago Tribune. 25 July 1966. p. 1, sec. 1.
  10. ^ "Lema plane crash probed". Milwaukee Sentinel. United Press International. 26 July 1966. p. 1-sports.
  11. ^ Fimrite, Ron (31 July 1995). "The toast of golf". Sports Illustrated. p. G14.
  12. ^ "Card of Old course". Glasgow Herald. 9 July 1964. p. 6.
  13. ^ a b Jacobs, Raymond (10 July 1964). "Lema's magnificent round of 68". Glasgow Herald. p. 1.
  14. ^ "Tough task in Open golf – Arrangements for practice". The Times. 3 July 1964. p. 4.
  15. ^ a b "Open's Conditions of Play". Glasgow Herald. (R. & A. announcement). 14 January 1964. p. 6.
  16. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (3 July 1964). "Field of 247 play for 69 Open places – First qualifying round". Glasgow Herald. p. 6.
  17. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (9 July 1964). "The Old Course bares its teeth". Glasgow Herald. p. 1.
  18. ^ "U.S. stars trail in British Open". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 9 July 1964. p. 1, sec. 3.
  19. ^ "Lema leads in British Open". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 10 July 1964. p. 1, sec. 3.
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56°20′35″N 2°48′11″W / 56.343°N 2.803°W / 56.343; -2.803