The 1961 Open Championship was the 90th Open Championship, played 12–15 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Arnold Palmer won the first of two consecutive Open Championships, one stroke ahead of Dai Rees. It was the second Open for Palmer, the runner-up in his first in 1960, and the fourth of his seven major titles. He was the first American to win the Claret Jug since Ben Hogan in 1953. This was the second Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, which hosted in 1954.
Qualifying took place on 10–11 July. Entries played 18 holes on the Championship course and 18 holes at Hillside Golf Club. The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 120. Ties for 120th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 151 and 108 players qualified. There were 22 players on 152. Bob Charles led the qualifiers on 136, two ahead of Gary Player. A maximum of 50 players could make the cut after 36 holes. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut.
Gale-force winds caused scores to soar during the second round on Thursday, followed by heavy rains which washed out both rounds on Friday. Cancellation was a possibility, but the weather cooperated enough to play the third and fourth rounds in showers on Saturday.
1959 Open champion and reigning Masters champion Gary Player withdrew early in the third round due to a stomach ailment.
Course layout Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotalYards5204274162123154681584344183,3683903684522025173815101864703,4766,844Par544345344364443545343672
Round summaries First round Wednesday, 12 July 1961 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Harold Henning68−4 Kel Nagle Dai ReesT4 Jean Garaïalde69−3 Norman Johnson David MillerT7 Alan Brookes70−2 Neil Coles Sam King John MacDonald Arnold Palmer Lionel Platts
Second round Thursday, 13 July 1961 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Harold Henning68-74=142−2 Dai Rees68-74=142T3 Kel Nagle68-75=143−1 Arnold Palmer70-73=143T5 Neil Coles70-77=147+3 Sam King70-77=147 Ramón Sota71-76=147 Peter Thomson75-72=147T9 Peter Alliss73-75=148+4 Ken Bousfield71-77=148 Harry Bradshaw73-75=148 Peter Butler72-76=148 Eric Lester71-77=148 David Miller69-79=148 Christy O'Connor Snr71-77=148 Dave Thomas71-77=148 Brian Wilkes72-76=148
Amateurs: Christmas (+6), White (+6), Chapman (+11), Bonallack (+15), Carr (+17), Reece (+18), Pearson (+25)
Third round Saturday, 15 July 1961 - (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Arnold Palmer70-73-69=212−42 Dai Rees68-74-71=213−33 Christy O'Connor Snr71-77-67=215−14 Neil Coles70-77-69=216ET5 Harold Henning68-74-75=217 +1 Peter Thomson75-72-70=2177 Kel Nagle68-75-75=218+2T8 Eric Brown73-76-70=219+3 Norman Johnson69-80-70=219 Ramón Sota71-76-72=219
Final round Saturday, 15 July 1961 - (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (£)1 Arnold Palmer 70-73-69-72=284 −41,4002 Dai Rees 68-74-71-72=285 −31,000T3 Neil Coles 70-77-69-72=288 E710 Christy O'Connor Snr 71-77-67-73=288T5 Eric Brown 73-76-70-70=289 +1400 Kel Nagle 68-75-75-71=2897 Peter Thomson 75-72-70-73=290 +2275T8 Peter Alliss 73-75-72-71=291 +3190 Ken Bousfield 71-77-75-68=291T10 Harold Henning 68-74-75-76=293 +5140 Syd Scott 76-75-71-71=293 Amateurs: White (+18), Christmas (+20)
References
External links Royal Birkdale 1961 (Official site)