The 1970 Open Championship was the 99th Open Championship, played 8–12 July at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland. Jack Nicklaus won the second of his three Opens in an 18-hole Sunday playoff over Doug Sanders, 72 to 73. In gusty winds during the fourth round on Saturday, Sanders saved par from the Road Hole bunker and led by one heading to the 72nd hole. After a lengthy drive on the short par-4, he took four shots from just and missed a downhill putt for par from three feet to win.
This was the first playoff at The Open since 1963 and the first at 18 holes. The previous playoffs were 36 holes on Saturday. Prior to 1966, the final two rounds of The Open were played on Friday. The playoff format was changed again to the four-hole aggregate after the 1985 Open, first used in 1989.
A thunderstorm late in the opening round on Wednesday evening caused a suspension in play; it was competed early the next day.
Course
HoleNameYardsPar HoleNameYardsPar1Burn3744 10Tenth ^33842Dyke411411High (In)17033Cartgate (Out)405412Heathery (In)31244Ginger Beer470413Hole O'Cross (In)42745Hole O'Cross (Out)567514Long56056Heathery (Out)414415Cartgate (In)41347High (Out)364416Corner of the Dyke38048Short163317Road46649End359418Tom Morris3584Out3,52736In3,42436Source: Total6,95172 ^ The 10th hole was posthumously named for Bobby Jones in 1972
Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950): - 1964 - 1960, 1955
Round summaries First round Wednesday, 8 July 1970 Thursday, 9 July 1970 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Neil Coles65−72 Tommy Horton66−6T3 Maurice Bembridge67−5 Harold Henning Tony Jacklin Florentino Molina John RichardsonT8 Tommy Aaron68−4 Brian Huggett Jack Nicklaus Arnold Palmer Doug Sanders Peter Thomson Lee Trevino Guy Wolstenholme Source:
Second round Thursday, 9 July 1970 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Lee Trevino68-68=136−8T2 Tony Jacklin67-70=137−7 Jack Nicklaus68-69=137T4 Clive Clark69-70=139−5 Neil Coles65-74=139 Harold Henning67-72=139 Tommy Horton66-73=139 John Richardson67-72=139 Doug Sanders68-71=139T10 Christy O'Connor Snr72-68=140−4 Arnold Palmer68-72=140 Source: Amateurs: Melnyk (-1), Bonallack (+1), Humphreys (+2), George (+2), Webster (+5),MacDonald (+7), Berry (+8), Steel (+10), Mosey (+11), Sumner (+11), Sweeny Jr (+11), Farmer (+14)
Third round Friday, 10 July 1970 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Lee Trevino68-68-72=208−8T2 Tony Jacklin67-70-73=210−6 Jack Nicklaus68-69-73=210 Doug Sanders68-71-71=210T5 Neil Coles65-74-72=211−5 Peter Oosterhuis73-69-69=2117 Harold Henning67-72-73=212−4T8 Tommy Horton66-73-75=214 −2 Hugh Jackson69-72-73=214 Christy O'Connor Snr72-68-74=214 Source: Amateurs: Melnyk (+3), Humphreys (+6), Bonallack (+8), George (+9), Webster (+11)
Final round Saturday, 11 July 1970 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (£)T1 Jack Nicklaus 68-69-73-73=283 −5Playoff Doug Sanders 68-71-71-73=283 T3 Harold Henning 67-72-73-73=285 −3 2,750 Lee Trevino 68-68-72-77=2855 Tony Jacklin 67-70-73-76=286 −22,200T6 Neil Coles 65-74-72-76=287 −11,750 Peter Oosterhuis 73-69-69-76=2878 Hugh Jackson 69-72-73-74=288 E1,400T9 Tommy Horton 66-73-75-75=289 +11,200 John Panton 72-73-73-71=289 Peter Thomson 68-74-73-74=289 Source: Amateurs: Melnyk (+10), Humphreys (+13)
Playoff Sunday, 12 July 1970 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (£)1 Jack Nicklaus 72 E 5,2502 Doug Sanders 73 +1 3,750 Source:
Scorecard Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718Par444454434 434454444 Jack Nicklaus E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E +1 +1 E Doug Sanders E E +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +4 +3 +2 +2 +2 +1 {|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |style="background: Pink;" width=10| |Birdie |style="background: PaleGreen;" width=10| |Bogey
References
External links St Andrews 1970 (Official site)