The 1956 Open Championship was the 85th Open Championship, held 4–6 July at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Two-time defending champion Peter Thomson of Australia won his third consecutive Open, three strokes ahead of runner-up Flory Van Donck of Belgium. It was the third of five Open titles for the 26-year-old Thomson.
Qualifying took place on 2–3 July. Entries played 18 holes on the Championship course and 18 holes at Wallasey. With a record 360 entries it was decided that, for the first time, qualifying would be in groups of three rather than the usual two. The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100. Ties for 100th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 152 and 96 players qualified. Gary Player and Peter Thomson led the qualifiers on 140. The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was set at 50. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut. Prize money was unchanged with £1,000 for the winner out of a total purse of £3,750.
Round summaries First round Wednesday, 4 July 1956 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Dennis Smalldon68−32 Enrique Bertolino69−2T3 Al Balding70−1 Eric Lester Dave Thomas Peter ThomsonT7 Carlos Celles71E Roberto De Vicenzo Ángel Miguel Gary Player Flory Van Donck
Second round Thursday, 5 July 1956 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Peter Thomson70-70=140−2T2 Enrique Bertolino69-72=141−1 Roberto De Vicenzo71-70=141T4 Ángel Miguel71-74=145+3 Flory Van Donck71-74=1456 Eric Lester70-76=146+4T7 Gary Player71-76=147+5 Dennis Smalldon68-79=147T9 Henry Cotton72-76=148+6 Bernard Hunt75-73=148 Mike Souchak74-74=148 Frank Stranahan72-76=148 Dave Thomas70-78=148 Charlie Ward73-75=148 Harry Weetman72-76=148
Amateurs: Carr (+8), Sharp (+12), Jones (+12), Tate (+14), Shepperson (+17), Thirlwell (+18), Fogarty (+21).
Third round Friday, 6 July 1956 - (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Peter Thomson70-70-72=212−12 Flory Van Donck71-74-70=215+23 Enrique Bertolino69-72-76=217+44 Henry Cotton72-76-71=219+6T5 Roberto De Vicenzo71-70-79=220+7 Ángel Miguel71-74-75=220 Gary Player71-76-73=220 Frank Stranahan72-76-72=2209 Antonio Cerdá72-81-68=221+8T10 John Panton74-76-72=222+9 Mike Souchak74-74-74=222
Final round Friday, 6 July 1956 - (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (£)1 Peter Thomson 70-70-72-74=286 +2 1,0002 Flory Van Donck 71-74-70-74=289 +5 5003 Roberto De Vicenzo 71-70-79-70=290 +6 3504 Gary Player 71-76-73-71=291 +7 2005 John Panton 74-76-72-70=292 +8 150T6 Enrique Bertolino 69-72-76-76=293 +9 87 Henry Cotton 72-76-71-74=293T8 Antonio Cerdá 72-81-68-73=294 +10 62 Mike Souchak 74-74-74-72=294T10 Christy O'Connor Snr 73-78-74-70=295 +11 40 Harry Weetman 72-76-75-72=295
Amateur: Carr (+22).
References
External links Royal Liverpool 1956 (Official site)