The 2003 Senior British Open was a senior major golf championship and the 17th Senior British Open, held from 24–27 July at Turnberry in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It was the 5th Senior British Open played at the course and the first Senior British Open played as a senior major championship.

Tom Watson defeated Carl Mason in a playoff to win his first Senior British Open title and his second senior major championship victory.

Venue

The 2003 event was the 5th Senior British Open played at Turnberry.

Course layout HoleNameYardsParHoleNameYardsPar1Ailsa Craig3584 10Dinna Fouter41542Mak Siccar381411Maidens17433Blaw Wearie409412Monument41444Woe-Be-Tide165313Tickly Tap41245Fin Me Oot416414Risk-An-Hope44146Tappie Toorie221315Ca' Canny20937Roon The Ben475516Wee Burn40948Goat Fell431417Lang Whang49759Bruce's Castle454418Duel in the Sun4344Out3,31035In3,40535Source: Total 6,71570

Field The field consisted of 144 competitors: 139 professionals and 5 amateurs.

18-hole stroke play qualifying rounds were held on Monday, 21 July, on two places in Scotland, the Barassie Links in Kilmarnock and the Kintyre course at Turnberry, for players who were not already exempt. The 31 leading players from the qualifying competitions joined the 113 exempt players for the championship.

77 players made the 36-hole cut, 76 professionals and one amateur. Arthur Pierce, Ireland, finished leading amateur at tied 62nd.

Past champions in the field Made the cut Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par FinishBob Charles 1989, 1993 69 68 69 71 277 −3 T20 Noboru Sugai 2002 67 73 72 71 283 +3 T46Gary Player 1988, 1990, 1997 73 70 69 72 284 +4 T51Christy O'Connor Jnr 1999, 2000 73 71 70 71 285 +5 T54

Missed the cut Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 Total To parJohn Fourie 1992 71 74 145 +5 Neil Coles 1987 72 74 146 +6 Ian Stanley 2001 79 74 153 +13 Bobby Verwey 1991 86 69 155 +15

Past winners and runners-up at The Open Championship in the field The field included five former winners of The Open Championship. Four of them made the cut; 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983 Open champion Tom Watson (won), 1966, 1970 and 1978 Open champion Jack Nicklaus (tied 14th), 1963 Open champion Bob Charles (tied 20th) and 1959, 1968 and 1974 Open champion Gary Player (tied 51st). 1961 and 1962 Open champion Arnold Palmer did not make the cut.

The field also included three former runners-up at The Open Championship; Tom Kite (4th), Rodger Davis (tied 27th) and Simon Owen (tied 32nd).

Round summaries First round Thursday, 24 July 2003

Tom Kite and Tom Watson posted four-under-par 66's on day one to lead by one shot.

PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Tom Kite 66 −4 Tom WatsonT3 Denis Durnian 67 −3 Carl Mason Mark McCumber Des Smyth Noboru Sugai Russell Weir Fuzzy ZoellerT10 Maurice Bembridge 68 −2 Malcolm Gregson Bill Hardwick Bruce Summerhays

Second round Friday 25 July 2003

Carl Mason shot a 64 (−6) to take a one-shot lead over D.A. Weibring, who shot a seven-under-par 63.

PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Carl Mason 67-64=131 −92 D. A. Weibring 69-63=132 −8T3 Tom Kite 66-67=133 −7 Bruce Summerhays 68-65=133 Tom Watson 66-67=133T6 Jim Colbert 72-62=134 −6 Russell Weir 67-67=1348 Denis Durnian 67-68=135 −5T9 Bob Cameron 69-67=136 −4 Terry Gale 70-66=136 Mark McCumber 67-69=136 Dana Quigley 71-65=136 Bobby Wadkins 71-65=136 Fuzzy Zoeller 67-69=136

Amateurs: Pierse (−1), Reynolds (+5), Boles (+9), Baldwin (+11), MacNamara (+15)

Third round Saturday, 26 July 2003

Mason and Weibring shot matching rounds of 65 (−5) as Mason maintained his one shot lead. Kite, Summerhays, and Watson all shot rounds of 66 (−4) to trail Mason by three shots. Jim Colbert backed up his eight-under-par 62 with a 66 (−4) in the third round, trailing Mason by 4 strokes.

PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Carl Mason 67-64-65=196 −142 D. A. Weibring 69-63-65=197 −13T3 Tom Kite 66-67-66=199 −11 Bruce Summerhays 68-65-66=199 Tom Watson 66-67-66=1996 Jim Colbert 72-62-66=200 −107 Mark McCumber 67-69-65=201 −98 Brian Jones 69-69-65=203 −7T9 Isao Aoki 66-67-66=204 −6 Bob Cameron 69-67-68=204 Denis Durnian 67-68-69=204 Jack Nicklaus 70-67-67=204 Fuzzy Zoeller 67-69-68=204 Amateurs: Pierse (+2)

Final round Sunday, 27 July 2003

Tom Watson trailed Carl Mason by one stroke heading into the 72nd hole. Needing birdie to tie Mason, Watson bogeyed the par-4 18th hole to fall two shots behind the leader. Mason, now leading by 2 strokes, double bogeyed the 18th hole and fell into a playoff with Watson.

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (€)T1 Carl Mason 67-64-65-67=263 −17 Playoff Tom Watson 66-67-66-64=2633 Bruce Summerhays 68-65-66-65=264 −16 83,6484 Tom Kite 66-67-66-67=266 −14 66,8485 D. A. Weibring 69-63-65-73=270 −10 56,641T6 Brian Jones 69-69-65-68=271 −9 43,440 Mark McCumber 67-69-65-70=271T8 Denis Durnian 67-68-69-68=272 −8 31,673 David Eger 71-68-66-67=272T10 Jim Colbert 72-62-66-73=273 −7 24,734 Graham Marsh 71-68-66-68=273 Dana Quigley 71-65-70-67=273 Source: Amateurs: Pierse (+6)

Playoff Sunday, 27 July 2003

Tom Watson and Carl Mason both parred the first playoff hole. Watson won with par on the second playoff hole as Mason made bogey.

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (€)1 Tom Watson 4-4=8 E 222,7792 Carl Mason 4-5=9 +1 148,590

Notes and references

External links Results on European Tour website Results on PGA Tour website