1966 Open Championship

The 1966 Open Championship was the 95th Open Championship, held 6–9 July at Muirfield Golf Links in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Jack Nicklaus won the first of his three Claret Jugs, one stroke ahead of runners-up Doug Sanders and Dave Thomas.[2][3] It was the sixth of eighteen major titles for Nicklaus and marked the completion of the first of his three career grand slams.[4][5]

1966 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates6–9 July 1966
LocationGullane, Scotland
Course(s)Muirfield Golf Links
Statistics
Par71[1]
Length6,887 yards (6,297 m)[1]
Field130 players, 64 after cut[1]
Cut150 (+8)[1]
Prize fund£15,000
$42,000
Winner's share£2,100
$5,880
Champion
Jack Nicklaus
282 (−2)
Muirfield
Location in Scotland
Muirfield
Location in East Lothian, Scotland

This was the first Open to be scheduled over four days, with one round each day, finishing on Saturday. Previous editions had played the third and fourth rounds on Friday. The U.S. Open changed to a four-day schedule the previous year in 1965, moving its final round from Saturday afternoon to Sunday. The Open Championship operated on a Wednesday through Saturday schedule through 1979.

It was the final Open for 1964 champion Tony Lema, who died in a plane crash two weeks later, hours after the PGA Championship.[6]

Nicklaus has described Muirfield as "the best golf course in Britain."[7] He later developed a championship golf course and community in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of his hometown of Columbus. Opened in 1974, Nicklaus named it Muirfield Village and it hosts his Memorial Tournament, a top invitational event on the PGA Tour since 1976.

Course
Main article: Muirfield
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4293633851875164731874514953,4864753633851544624071985284293,4016,887
Par444354345364443443543571

Source:[8]
Lengths of the course for previous Opens (since 1950):

  • 1959: 6,806 yards (6,223 m), par 72

Past champions in the field

Made the cut
PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2R3R4TotalTo parFinish
Gary Player South Africa195972747169286+2T4
Kel Nagle Australia196072687670286+2T4
Peter Thomson Australia1954, 1955,
1956, 1958, 1965		73756971288+4T8
Arnold Palmer United States1961, 196273726974288+4T8
Tony Lema United States196471767675298+14T30
Bob Charles New Zealand196374747775300+16T37

Source:[2][3][4]

Missed the cut
PlayerCountryYear wonR1R2TotalTo par
Max Faulkner England19518271153+11

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 6 July 1966

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Jimmy Hitchcock England70−1
Jack Nicklaus United States
T3Harold Henning South Africa71E
Tony Lema United States
Doug Sanders United States
Ronnie Shade (a) Scotland
T7Fred Boobyer England72+1
John Carter England
Alex Caygill England
Christy Greene Ireland
Kel Nagle Australia
Gary Player South Africa
Dave Thomas Wales

Second round

Thursday, 7 July 1966

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Jack Nicklaus United States70-67=137−5
2Peter Butler England73-65=138−4
T3Harold Henning South Africa71-69=140−2
Kel Nagle Australia72-68=140
Phil Rodgers United States74-66=140
T6Doug Sanders United States71-70=141−1
Ronnie Shade (a) Scotland71-70=141
8Bruce Devlin Australia73-69=142E
9Alex Caygill England72-71=143+1
10Julius Boros United States73-71=144+2

Amateurs: Shade (-1), Cole (+4), Townsend (+6), Bonallack (+7),
Millensted (+12), Smith (+13), Falkenburg (+22)

Third round

Friday, 8 July 1966

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Phil Rodgers United States74-66-70=210−3
2Jack Nicklaus United States70-67-75=212−1
3Doug Sanders United States71-70-72=213E
T4Arnold Palmer United States73-72-69=214+1
Dave Thomas Wales72-73-69=214
6Harold Henning South Africa71-69-75=215+2
T7Alex Caygill England72-71-73=216+3
Bruce Devlin Australia73-69-74=216
Sebastián Miguel Spain74-72-70=216
Kel Nagle Australia72-68-76=216
Ronnie Shade (a) Scotland71-70-75=216

Final round

Saturday, 9 July 1966

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney (£)
1Jack Nicklaus United States70-67-75-70=282−22,100
T2Doug Sanders United States71-70-72-70=283−11,350
Dave Thomas Wales72-73-69-69=283
T4Bruce Devlin Australia73-69-74-70=286+2696
Kel Nagle Australia72-68-76-70=286
Gary Player South Africa72-74-71-69=286
Phil Rodgers United States74-66-70-76=286
T8Dave Marr United States73-76-69-70=288+4330
Sebastián Miguel Spain74-72-70-72=288
Arnold Palmer United States73-72-69-74=288
Peter Thomson Australia73-75-69-71=288

Source:[2][3][4]
Amateurs: Shade (+9), Townsend (+11), Bonallack (+13), Cole (+14)

References
  1. "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 70, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  2. "Nicklaus wins British Open by stroke". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 10 July 1966. p. 1, sec. 2.
  3. Jacobs, Raymond (11 July 1966). "Nicklaus's Open at fifth attempt". Glasgow Herald. p. 4.
  4. "Happy Nicklaus plans return trip". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 10 July 1966. p. 1B.
  5. Wright, Alfred (18 July 1966). "Smiling Jack wins a rough one". Sports Illustrated. p. 20.
  6. "Lema plane crash probed". Milwaukee Sentinel. United Press International. 26 July 1966. p. 1-sports.
  7. "Muirfield club steeped in tradition". Star-Phoenix. (Saskatoon). Reuters. 14 July 1980. p. B1.
  8. "Card of course". Glasgow Herald. 9 July 1966. p. 13.

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