1991 Open Championship Explained

1991 Open Championship
Dates:	18–21 July 1991
Course:	Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Tour:	European Tour PGA Tour
Par:	70
Yardage:	6940yd^[1]
Field:	156 players, 113 after cut
Cut:	148 (+8)
Purse:	£900,000 $1,512,000
Winners Share:	£90,000 $151,200
Champion:	Ian Baker-Finch
Score:	272 (−8)
Previous:	1990
Next:	1992

The 1991 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 120th Open Championship, held from 18 to 21 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Ian Baker-Finch won his only major championship, two strokes ahead of runner-up Mike Harwood.

Baker-Finch was two-over after two rounds in a tie for 28th place, then was ten-under on the weekend. His 66 on Sunday was bolstered by a 29 on the front nine, with birdies on five of the first seven holes.^{[2] [3] [4]}

The cut at 148 (+8) included those within ten strokes of the lead, which resulted in a record 113 players on the weekend, nearly three-quarters of the field.^{[5] [6]}

Course

See main article: Royal Birkdale Golf Club.

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	448	417	409	203	346	473	156	458	414	3,324	395	409	184	475	199	543	414	525	472	3,616	6,940
Par	4	4	4	3	4	4	3	4	4	34	4	4	3	4	3	5	4	5	4	36	70

Source:^[7]
Lengths of the course for previous Opens (since 1950):^[1]

• 1983:, par 71
• 1976:, par 72
• 1971:, par 73

• 1965:, par 73
• 1961:
• 1954:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, 18 July 1991

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Seve Ballesteros	align=center	66	−4
T2	Chip Beck	67	−3
	Martin Gates
	Santiago Luna
T5	Nick Faldo	68	−2
	Gary Hallberg
	Mike Harwood
	Barry Lane
	Mark Mouland
	Mike Reid
	Costantino Rocca

Source:^[8]

Second round

Friday, 19 July 1991

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Gary Hallberg	align=center	68-70=138	−2
	Mike Harwood	align=center	68-70=138
	Andrew Oldcorn	align=center	71-67=138
T4	Seve Ballesteros	align=center	66-73=139	−1
	Steve Elkington	align=center	71-68=139
	David Gilford	align=center	72-67=139
	Wayne Grady	align=center	69-70=139
	Mark O'Meara	align=center	71-68=139
	Mike Reid	align=center	68-71=139
T10	Richard Boxall	align=center	71-69=140	E
	Roger Chapman	align=center	74-66=140
	Howard Clark	align=center	71-69=140
	Mark James	align=center	72-68=140
	Barry Lane	align=center	68-72=140
	Colin Montgomerie	align=center	71-69=140
	Vijay Singh	align=center	71-69=140

Source:^[5]
Amateurs: Mickelson (+4), Payne (+4), Allenby (+9), Roblin (+11), Coltart (+13), Evans (+13), Muntz (+14), Wilshire (+15).

Third round

Saturday, 20 July 1991

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Ian Baker-Finch	align=center	71-71-64=206	−4
	Mark O'Meara	71-68-67=206
T3	Eamonn Darcy	align=center	73-68-66=207	−3
	Mike Harwood	68-70-69=207
5	Seve Ballesteros	align=center	66-73-69=208	−2
T6	Mike Reid	align=center	68-71-70=209	−1
	Vijay Singh	71-69-69=209
T8	Mark James	align=center	72-68-70=210	E
	Mark Mouland	align=center	68-74-68=210
	Craig Parry	align=center	71-70-69=210
	Martin Poxon	71-72-67=210

Source:^[9]

Final round

Sunday, 21 July 1991

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (£)
1	Ian Baker-Finch	71-71-64-66=272	−8	90,000
2		68-70-69-67=274	−6	70,000
T3		72-69-70-64=275	−5	55,000
	71-68-67-69=275
T5		73-68-66-70=277	−3	34,167
	72-70-72-63=277
	75-66-70-66=277
8		71-70-69-68=278	−2	27,500
T9		66-73-69-71=279	−1	22,833
	71-71-70-67=279
	74-68-71-66=279

Source:^{[1] [2] [10]}
Amateurs: Payne (+4), Mickelson (+8)

External links

• Royal Birkdale 1991 (Official site)
• 120th Open Championship - Royal Birkdale (European Tour)

53.622°N -3.033°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: Media guide . The Open Championship . 2011 . 41, 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. News: Baker-Finch bags Open title. Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. 22 July 1991. D1.
3. --> Watch the birdies. Sports Illustrated. Reilly. Rick Reilly. Rick. 29 July 1991. 18.
4. News: It's Baker-Finch: Aussie's sizzling 66 wins British Open. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Parascenzo. Marino. 22 July 1991. 7.
5. News: Unheralded trio lead British Open. Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Washington Post). Shapiro. Leonard. 20 July 1991. 1D.
6. News: The kindest cut of all. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Parascenzo. Marino. 20 July 1991. 17.
7. News: Stat sheet: British Open. Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). 18 July 1991. C2.
8. News: Seve storms back at Birkdale . Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. 19 July 1991 . 1B.
9. News: O'Meara bears American bid . Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. 21 July 1991 . 1E.
10. Web site: 1991 Open Championship results. databasegolf.com. 7 July 2012.