1977 Open Championship

The 1977 Open Championship was the 106th Open Championship, held 6–9 July on the Ailsa Course at Turnberry, Scotland. Tom Watson won the second of his five Open titles by one stroke over runner-up Jack Nicklaus.^[2] The two played together in the final two rounds and had separated themselves from the field under clear skies, leading this Open to be remembered as the "Duel in the Sun." This was the first Open held at Turnberry, which renamed its 18th hole after the duel.^[3][4] Three months earlier, Watson had held off Nicklaus to win his first green jacket at the Masters.

1977 Open Championship

Tournament information
Dates	6–9 July 1977
Location	Ayrshire, Scotland
Course(s)	Ailsa Course, Turnberry
Tour(s)	European Tour PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70[1]
Length	6,875 yards (6,286 m)[1]
Field	156 players 87 after 1st cut 64 after 2nd cut[1]
Cut	150 (+10) (1st cut) 221 (+11) (2nd cut)[1]
Prize fund	£100,000[1] $170,000
Winner's share	£10,000 $17,000
Champion
Tom Watson
268 (−12)
← 1976 1978 →

 Turnberry

Location in Scotland

Turnberry

Location in South Ayrshire, Scotland

In the second round, Mark Hayes rebounded from his opening 76 (+6) with 63 to establish a new single round record at The Open Championship by two strokes. The previous record of 65 was set by Henry Cotton in the second round in 1934 at Royal St. George's and later equaled by nine others.^[5][6] Lightning briefly interrupted play in the third round on Friday.^[7]

Americans dominated the final leaderboard, filling the top eight spots and eleven of the first twelve.^[8][9] The first page of the leaderboard was loaded with future members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

The leader after 36 holes, Roger Maltbie, finished with 80 for 289 (+9), in a tie for 26th place.

The previous year, Watson was defending champion, but missed the 54-hole cut after an 80 in the third round, while Nicklaus finished in a tie for second.

Duel in the Sun

Watson's victory is considered by many to be the finest tournament played in the latter half of the 20th century. After two rounds, he and Nicklaus were one shot out of the lead, in a four-way tie for second, and were paired for the third round on Friday.^[6] Both shot five-under 65 for 203 (−7), three shots clear of Ben Crenshaw and six ahead of the remainder of the field after 54 holes.^[10][11][12]

Paired again for the final round on Saturday afternoon, Nicklaus birdied twice and was up by three strokes after four holes. Watson birdied three of the next four to pull even at two-under for the round, then bogeyed the ninth hole to fall one back at the turn. Nicklaus birdied the 12th hole to go two strokes ahead, then Watson birdied 13 and the par-3 15th, rolling in a putt from off the green to even up the round at three-under.^[13]

After halving the 16th with pars, it was on to the reachable par-5 17th, where Nicklaus missed the green to the right but chipped his third to four feet (1.2 m) from the cup. Watson missed an eagle putt and tapped in for birdie, but then Nicklaus two-putted for par to go a stroke down with one hole remaining. On the 18th tee, Watson drove to an ideal position in the fairway, but Nicklaus went right and into the rough. Watson's 7-iron approach stopped pin-high and two feet left of the flag, and with Nicklaus in trouble, appeared to seal the victory. But Nicklaus slashed his 8-iron recovery onto the front of the green and sank his 35-foot (11 m) putt for a remarkable birdie and a bogey-free 66. Now needing a seventh birdie of the round to avoid an 18-hole playoff, Watson sank the two-footer for his second straight 65, second Open, and third major title. With birdies on four of the final six holes, his total of 268 was eight strokes better than the previous best score in the Open.^[3][4]

Watson and Nicklaus finished well ahead of the other challengers, and shot the same score every day, except on Saturday. The third-place finisher, reigning U.S. Open champion Hubert Green, shot a final round 67 and was a distant ten strokes behind Nicklaus, who won his third Open (and third career grand slam) the following year at St. Andrews.^[13]

Course

Main article: Turnberry (golf course)

Ailsa Course

Hole	Name	Yards	Par		Hole	Name	Yards	Par
1	Ailsa Craig	355	4		10	Dinna Fouter	452	4
2	Mak Siccar	428	4		11	Maidens	177	3
3	Blaw Wearie	462	4		12	Monument	391	4
4	Woe-Be-Tide	167	3		13	Tickly Tap	411	4
5	Fin Me Oot	411	4		14	Risk-An-Hope	440	4
6	Tappie Toorie	222	3		15	Ca' Canny	209	3
7	Roon The Ben	528	5		16	Wee Burn	409	4
8	Goat Fell	427	4		17	Lang Whang	500	5
9	Bruce's Castle	455	4		18	Ailsa Hame ^	431	4
Out		3,455	35		In		3,420	35
Source:[14]					Total		6,875	70

^ The 18th hole was renamed "Duel in the Sun" in 2003.

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 6 July 1977

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	John Schroeder	66	−4
2	Martin Foster	67	−3
T3	Jack Nicklaus	68	−2
	Lee Trevino
	Tom Watson
T6	Seve Ballesteros	69	−1
	Gaylord Burrows
	Johnny Miller
T9	George Burns	70	E
	Raymond Floyd
	Tommy Horton
	Hsu Chi-san
	Hale Irwin
	Ian Stanley

Source:^[15]

Second round

Thursday, 7 July 1977

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Roger Maltbie	71-66=137	−3
T2	Hubert Green	72-66=138	−2
	Jack Nicklaus	68-70=138
	Lee Trevino	68-70=138
	Tom Watson	68-70=138
T6	Peter Butler	71-68=139	−1
	Mark Hayes	76-63=139
T8	Seve Ballesteros	69-71=140	E
	George Burns	70-70=140
	Howard Clark	72-68=140
	Ben Crenshaw	71-69=140
	Hsu Chi-san	70-70=140
	John Schroeder	66-74=140

Source:^[6][16]
Amateurs: Garner (+13), McEvoy (+13), Powell (+13), Carrick (+15), Lyle (+15), Pierse (+16), Wilson (+16), Cosh (+21), Chapman (+25).

Third round

Friday, 8 July 1977

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Jack Nicklaus	68-70-65=203	−7
	Tom Watson	68-70-65=203
3	Ben Crenshaw	71-69-66=206	−4
T4	Tommy Horton	70-74-65=209	−1
	Gaylord Burrows	69-72-68=209
	Roger Maltbie	71-66-72=209
T7	Johnny Miller	69-74-67=210	E
	Lee Trevino	68-70-72=210
T9	Raymond Floyd	70-73-68=211	+1
	Mark Hayes	76-63-72=211

Source:^[10][11]

Final round

Saturday, 9 July 1977

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (£)
1	Tom Watson	68-70-65-65=268	−12	10,000
2	Jack Nicklaus	68-70-65-66=269	−11	8,000
3	Hubert Green	72-66-74-67=279	−1	6,000
4	Lee Trevino	68-70-72-70=280	E	5,000
T5	George Burns	70-70-72-69=281	+1	4,250
	Ben Crenshaw	71-69-66-75=281
7	Arnold Palmer	73-73-67-69=282	+2	3,750
8	Raymond Floyd	70-73-68-72=283	+3	3,500
T9	John Schroeder	66-74-73-71=284	+4	2,875
	Mark Hayes	76-63-72-73=284
	Johnny Miller	69-74-67-74=284
	Tommy Horton	70-74-65-75=284

Source:^[8][17]

• The exchange rate at the time was approximately 1.72 dollars (US) per pound sterling.^[18]

Scorecard

Final round

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	4	4	3	4	3	5	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4	5	4
Watson	−7	−6	−6	−6	−7	−7	−8	−9	−8	−8	−8	−8	−9	−9	−10	−10	−11	−12
Nicklaus	−7	−8	−8	−9	−9	−9	−9	−9	−9	−9	−9	−10	−10	−10	−10	−10	−10	−11
Green	+2	+1	+1	+1	E	E	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	E	E	E	−1	−1

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie

Bogey

Source:^[9]

References

1. "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 59, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
2. Jenkins, Dan (18 July 1977). "A braw brawl for Tom and Jack". Sports Illustrated. p. 28.
3. Deford, Frank (14 July 1986). "The best against the best". Sports Illustrated. p. 58.
4. Garrity, John (28 July 2008). "The Duel in the Sun: Watson vs. Nicklaus at Turnberry in 1977". Golf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
5. "Hayes' 63 an Open record". Glasgow Herald. 8 July 1977. p. 24.
6. "Hayes shoots Open record". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. 8 July 1977. p. 19.
7. Ritche, Murray (9 July 1977). "Lee Trevino relives his nightmare as lightning storm sweeps Open". Glasgow Herald. p. 1.
8. "1977 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
9. "Jack's best shot not good enough". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (wire services). 10 July 1977. p. 1B.
10. "Classic duel set in British Open". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. 9 July 1977. p. 33.
11. Jacobs, Raymond (9 July 1977). "Nicklaus, Watson in a two-man tussle". Glasgow Herald. p. 16.
12. "Battle of Britain: Nicklaus vs. Watson". Chicago Tribune. wire services. 9 July 1977. p. 1, sec. 2.
13. "Tom Watson wins; Jack Nicklaus' best one stroke short". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. 10 July 1977. p. D1.
14. "British Open bywords: 'lang whang, tickly tap'". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 6 July 1977. p. 2, sec. 4.
15. "Longshot U.K. Open leader blasts 'star' system". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. 7 July 1977. p. 23.
16. Jacobs, Raymond (8 July 1977). "An All-American drive for Open". Glasgow Herald. p. 24.
17. "How they finished". Glasgow Herald. 11 July 1977. p. 20.
18. "British Pound / US Dollar Historical Reference Rates from Bank of England for 1977". PoundSterling. July 1977. Retrieved 18 July 2024.

External links

• Turnberry 1977 (Official site)
• 106th Open Championship – Turnberry (European Tour)

55.316°N 4.832°W / 55.316; -4.832