The 1981 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 110th Open Championship, held from 16 to 19 July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Bill Rogers won his only major championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Bernhard Langer.[2] The Open returned to Royal St. George's for the first time since 1949, making it a new venue for all; no former champions finished in the top ten.[3]
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 16–19 July 1981 |
| Location | Sandwich, England |
| Course(s) | Royal St George's Golf Club |
| Tour(s) | European Tour PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 70[1] |
| Length | 6,827 yards (6,243 m)[1] |
| Field | 153 players 81 after 1st cut 61 after 2nd cut[1] |
| Cut | 150 ( 10) (1st cut) 222 ( 12) (2nd cut)[1] |
| Prize fund | £200,000 $400,000 |
| Winner's share | £25,000 $50,000 |
| Champion | |
 Bill Rogers | |
| 276 (−4) | |
Round summaries
editFirst round
editThursday, 16 July 1981
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 |  Vicente Fernández |
70 | E |
 Nick Job
| |||
| T3 |  Isao Aoki |
71 | 1 |
 David Graham
| |||
| Tony Jacklin
| |||
 Johnny Miller
| |||
 Simon Owen
| |||
| Hal Sutton (a)
| |||
| T9 | Howard Clark |
72 | 2 |
| Ben Crenshaw
| |||
| David Jagger
| |||
| Mark James
| |||
| Greg Norman
| |||
| Arnold Palmer
| |||
| Bill Rogers
| |||
 Sam Torrance
|
Second round
editFriday, 17 July 1981
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bill Rogers |
72-66=138 | −2 |
| T2 | Ben Crenshaw |
72-67=139 | −1 |
| Nick Job |
70-69=139 | ||
| 4 |  Bernhard Langer |
73-67=140 | E |
| 5 | Sam Torrance |
72-69=141 | 1 |
| T6 | David Graham |
71-71=142 | 2 |
| Tony Jacklin |
71-71=142 | ||
| Mark James |
72-70=142 | ||
| Tom Watson |
73-69=142 | ||
| T10 | Gordon J. Brand |
78-65=143 | 3 |
| Bill Dunk |
76-67=143 | ||
 Trevor Powell |
75-68=143 | ||
| Peter Townsend |
73-70=143 |
Amateurs: Godwin ( 6), Evans ( 8), Sutton ( 8), Chapman ( 10), Keppler ( 10), Walton ( 10), Young ( 10), Brand ( 12), R. Mitchell ( 12), Sherborne ( 12), Ploujoux ( 14), Thomas ( 14), Blakeman ( 15), Planchin ( 15), Seamer ( 15), Ling ( 17), C. Mitchell ( 18), Pook ( 19), Ambridge ( 20), Heib ( 22), Lawrence ( 23), Hall ( 24), Sviland ( 24).
Third round
editSaturday, 18 July 1981
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bill Rogers |
72-66-67=205 | −5 |
| T2 | Mark James |
72-70-68=210 | E |
| Bernhard Langer |
73-67-70=210 | ||
| T4 | Isao Aoki |
71-73-69=213 | 3 |
| Raymond Floyd |
74-70-69=213 | ||
| T6 | Nick Faldo |
77-68-69=214 | 4 |
| Nick Job |
70-69-75=214 | ||
| Sam Torrance |
72-69-73=214 | ||
| Lee Trevino |
77-67-70=214 | ||
| T10 | Ben Crenshaw |
72-67-76=215 | 5 |
| Tony Jacklin |
71-71-73=215 | ||
| Brian Jones |
73-76-66=215 | ||
| Simon Owen |
71-74-70=215 | ||
| Jerry Pate |
73-73-69=215 | ||
 Manuel Piñero |
73-74-68=215 |
Amateurs: Godwin ( 8), Sutton ( 11), Keppler ( 13), Evans ( 15), Young ( 15), Chapman ( 16), Walton ( 16).
Final round
editSunday, 19 July 1981
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bill Rogers |
72-66-67-71=276 | −4 | 25,000 |
| 2 | Bernhard Langer |
73-67-70-70=280 | E | 17,500 |
| T3 | Raymond Floyd |
74-70-69-70=283 | 3 | 11,750 |
| Mark James |
72-70-68-73=283 | |||
| 5 | Sam Torrance |
72-69-73-70=284 | 4 | 8,500 |
| T6 | Bruce Lietzke |
76-69-71-69=285 | 5 | 7,750 |
| Manuel Piñero |
73-74-68-70=285 | |||
| T8 | Howard Clark |
72-76-70-68=286 | 6 | 6,500 |
| Ben Crenshaw |
72-67-76-71=286 | |||
| Brian Jones |
73-76-66-71=286 |
Amateurs: Sutton ( 15), Godwin ( 19)
Source:[4]
- The exchange rate at the time was approximately 1.87 dollars (US) per pound sterling.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 55, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- ^ "Rogers wins British Open by four shots". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 20 July 1981. p. 11.
- ^ Jenkins, Dan (27 July 1981). "Nine centuries later, Bill the Conqueror". Sports Illustrated. p. 22. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013.
- ^ "1981 Open Championship results". databasegolf.com. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- ^ "British Pound / US Dollar Historical Reference Rates from Bank of England for 1981". PoundSterling. July 1981. Retrieved 18 July 2024.