1974 Open Championship Explained

1974 Open Championship
Dates:	10–13 July 1974
Course:	Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
Tour:	European Tour PGA Tour
Par:	71
Field:	154 players 81 after 1st cut 60 after 2nd cut
Cut:	156 (+14) (1st cut) 231 (+18) (2nd cut)
Purse:	£50,000^[1] $120,000
Winners Share:	£5,500 $13,200
Champion:	Gary Player
Score:	282 (−2)
Previous:	1973
Next:	1975

The 1974 Open Championship was the 103rd Open Championship, held from 10 to 13 July at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. Gary Player won his third Open Championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Peter Oosterhuis.^{[2] [3]} It was the eighth of his nine major titles and second of the year; he won the Masters in April.^[4] In the other two majors in 1974, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship, Player had top ten finishes.

The use of the larger "American ball" (diameter 1.68inches) was made compulsory. In previous Opens, players could use the smaller "British ball" (1.62inches).^{[5] [6] [7]}

Course layout

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	206	436	458	393	212	486	551	394	162	3,298	334	542	201	339	445	468	356	453	386	3,524	6,822
Par	3	4	4	4	3	5	5	4	3	35	4	5	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	36	71

Source:^[8]
Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):^[1]

• 1969:
• 1963:
• 1958:
• 1952:

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 10 July 1974

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	John Morgan	69	−2
	Gary Player
T3	Bobby Cole	70	−1
	Danny Edwards
T5	Hubert Green	71	E
	John O'Leary
	Peter Oosterhuis
T8	David Chillas	72	+1
	Neil Coles
	Lu Liang-Huan
	Johnny Miller
	Tom Weiskopf

Source:^[9]

Second round

Thursday, 11 July 1974

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Gary Player	align=center	69-68=137	−5
T2	Bobby Cole	align=center	70-72=142	E
	Peter Oosterhuis	align=center	71-71=142
4	Danny Edwards	align=center	70-73=143	+1
T5	Lu Liang-Huan	align=center	72-72=144	+2
	John Morgan	align=center	69-75=144
	Tom Weiskopf	align=center	72-72=144
8	Hubert Green	align=center	71-74=145	+3
T9	Al Geiberger	align=center	76-70=146	+4
	Noel Hunt	align=center	73-73=146
	Jack Nicklaus	align=center	74-72=146

Amateurs: Lyle (+10), James (+16), Clark (+21), Burch (+22), Homer (+23), Shaw (+31).

Third round

Friday, 12 July 1974

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Gary Player	align=center	69-68-75=212	−1
2	Peter Oosterhuis	align=center	71-71-73=215	+2
3	Jack Nicklaus	74-72-70=216	+3
4	Hubert Green	align=center	71-74-72=217	+4
T5	Bobby Cole	align=center	70-72-76=218	+5
	Tom Weiskopf	align=center	72-72-74=218
T7	Danny Edwards	align=center	70-73-76=219	+6
	Lu Liang-Huan	align=center	72-72-75=219
T9	Johnny Miller	72-75-73=220	+7
	John Morgan	69-75-76=220

Source:^[10]
Amateurs: Lyle (+23), James (+24).

Final round

Saturday, 13 July 1974

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (£)
1	Gary Player	69-68-75-70=282	−2	5,500
2		71-71-73-71=286	+2	4,000
3		74-72-70-71=287	+3	3,250
4		71-74-72-71=288	+4	2,750
T5		70-73-76-73=292	+8	2,300
	72-72-75-73=292
T7		70-72-76-75=293	+9	1,717
	77-73-74-69=293
	72-72-74-75=293
10		72-75-73-74=294	+10	1,500

Source:^{[3] [11]}

• The exchange rate at the time was approximately 2.39 dollars (US) per pound sterling.^[12]

External links

• Royal Lytham & St Annes 1974 (Official site)
• 103rd Open Championship – Royal Lytham & St Annes (European Tour)

53.7495°N -3.018°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: Media guide . The Open Championship . 2011 . 62, 203 . 15 May 2017 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120418224641/http://www.theopen.com/~/media/The%20Open/Information/Media_Guide.ashx . 18 April 2012 .
2. Gary Player's Expo . Sports Illustrated . Jenkins . Dan . Dan Jenkins . 22 July 1974 . 18.
3. News: Player wins Open, sets sights on Jack . Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press . 14 July 1974 . 1B.
4. News: Player determined to be No. 1 . Milwaukee Sentinel . Associated Press . 15 July 2012 . 3, sec 2.
5. News: R&A made bigger ball compulsory . The Times . 10 . 22 January 1974.
6. News: American-size ball compulsory in Open . Glasgow Herald . Jacobs . Raymond. 22 January 1974 . 4.
7. News: Manufacturers criticize Open ball decision . Glasgow Herald . 23 January 1974 . 4.
8. News: Card of course. Glasgow Herald. 13 July 1974. 4.
9. News: Unknown shares lead with Gary . Glasgow Herald . Jacobs . Raymond . 11 July 1974 . 4.
10. News: Oosterhuis cuts the gap to three . Glasgow Herald . Jacobs . Raymond . 13 July 1974 . 4.
11. Web site: 1974 Open Championship results . databasegolf.com . 9 July 2012.
12. News: Foreign exchange . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . July 13, 1974 . 11.