1970 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates8–12 July 1970
LocationSt Andrews, Scotland
Course(s)Old Course at St Andrews
Statistics
Par72[1]
Length6,951 yards (6,356 m)[1]
Field134 players
80 after 1st cut
57 after 2nd cut[1]
Cut149 (+5) (1st cut)
223 (+7) (2nd cut)[1]
Prize fund£40,000
$96,000
Winner's share£5,250
$12,600
Champion
United States Jack Nicklaus
283 (−5), playoff
← 1969
1971 →
St Andrews  is located in Scotland
St Andrews 
St Andrews 
Location in Scotland
St Andrews  is located in Fife
St Andrews 
St Andrews 
Location in Fife, Scotland

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.[2][3][4] 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 74 yards (68 m) and missed a downhill putt for par from three feet to win.[5][6]

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;[7] it was competed early the next day.[8]

Course

Main article: Old Course at St Andrews
Hole Name Yards Par Hole Name Yards Par
1 Burn 374 4 10 Tenth ^ 338 4
2 Dyke 411 4 11 High (In) 170 3
3 Cartgate (Out) 405 4 12 Heathery (In) 312 4
4 Ginger Beer 470 4 13 Hole O'Cross (In) 427 4
5 Hole O'Cross (Out) 567 5 14 Long 560 5
6 Heathery (Out) 414 4 15 Cartgate (In) 413 4
7 High (Out) 364 4 16 Corner of the Dyke 380 4
8 Short 163 3 17 Road 466 4
9 End 359 4 18 Tom Morris 358 4
Out 3,527 36 In 3,424 36
Source:[9] Total 6,951 72

^ The 10th hole was posthumously named for Bobby Jones in 1972

Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):[1]

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 8 July 1970
Thursday, 9 July 1970

Place Player Score To par
1 England Neil Coles 65 −7
2 England Tommy Horton 66 −6
T3 England Maurice Bembridge 67 −5
South Africa Harold Henning
England Tony Jacklin
Argentina Florentino Molina
Scotland John Richardson
T8 United States Tommy Aaron 68 −4
Wales Brian Huggett
United States Jack Nicklaus
United States Arnold Palmer
United States Doug Sanders
Australia Peter Thomson
United States Lee Trevino
England Guy Wolstenholme

Source:[1][7]

Second round

Thursday, 9 July 1970

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Lee Trevino 68-68=136 −8
T2 England Tony Jacklin 67-70=137 −7
United States Jack Nicklaus 68-69=137
T4 England Clive Clark 69-70=139 −5
England Neil Coles 65-74=139
South Africa Harold Henning 67-72=139
England Tommy Horton 66-73=139
Scotland John Richardson 67-72=139
United States Doug Sanders 68-71=139
T10 Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr 72-68=140 −4
United States Arnold Palmer 68-72=140

Source:[1][8]
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

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Lee Trevino 68-68-72=208 −8
T2 England Tony Jacklin 67-70-73=210 −6
United States Jack Nicklaus 68-69-73=210
United States Doug Sanders 68-71-71=210
T5 England Neil Coles 65-74-72=211 −5
England Peter Oosterhuis 73-69-69=211
7 South Africa Harold Henning 67-72-73=212 −4
T8 England Tommy Horton 66-73-75=214 −2
Northern Ireland Hugh Jackson 69-72-73=214
Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr 72-68-74=214

Source:[1][10]
Amateurs: Melnyk (+3), Humphreys (+6), Bonallack (+8), George (+9), Webster (+11)

Final round

Saturday, 11 July 1970

Place Player Score To par Money (£)
T1 United States Jack Nicklaus 68-69-73-73=283 −5 Playoff
United States Doug Sanders 68-71-71-73=283
T3 South Africa Harold Henning 67-72-73-73=285 −3 2,750
United States Lee Trevino 68-68-72-77=285
5 England Tony Jacklin 67-70-73-76=286 −2 2,200
T6 England Neil Coles 65-74-72-76=287 −1 1,750
England Peter Oosterhuis 73-69-69-76=287
8 Northern Ireland Hugh Jackson 69-72-73-74=288 E 1,400
T9 England Tommy Horton 66-73-75-75=289 +1 1,200
Scotland John Panton 72-73-73-71=289
Australia Peter Thomson 68-74-73-74=289

Source:[1][3][11]
Amateurs: Melnyk (+10), Humphreys (+13)

Playoff

Sunday, 12 July 1970

Place Player Score To par Money (£)
1 United States Jack Nicklaus 72 E 5,250
2 United States Doug Sanders 73 +1 3,750

Source:[3]

Jack Nicklaus

Scorecard

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 5 4 4 4 4
United States Jack Nicklaus E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E +1 +1 E
United States Doug Sanders E E +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +4 +3 +2 +2 +2 +1
Birdie Bogey

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 52, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Sanders loses by one stroke". Glasgow Herald. 13 July 1970. p. 1.
  3. ^ a b c Jacobs, Raymond (13 July 1970). "Nicklaus regains Open title despite Sanders's late fightback". Glasgow Herald. p. 4.
  4. ^ "Nicklaus tops Sanders, wins British title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 13 July 1970. p. 3B.
  5. ^ "Sanders, Nicklaus tie for golf title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 12 July 1970. p. 4B.
  6. ^ Jenkins, Dan (20 July 1970). "Virtue in the Valley of Sin". Sports Illustrated. p. 12.
  7. ^ a b Jacobs, Raymond (9 July 1970). "Jacklin eight under par in Open when storm stops play". Glasgow Herald. p. 6.
  8. ^ a b Jacobs, Raymond (10 July 1970). "Trevino leads by one stroke from Jacklin and Nicklaus". Glasgow Herald. p. 6.
  9. ^ "Card of the course". Glasgow Herald. 8 July 1970. p. 6.
  10. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (11 July 1970). "Trevino increases lead but Open championship still in balance". Glasgow Herald. p. 4.
  11. ^ "1970 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 8 July 2012.

External links

56°20′35″N 2°48′11″W / 56.343°N 2.803°W / 56.343; -2.803

1970 Men's major golf championships
The Open Championship
Categories