The 1976 Open Championship was the 105th Open Championship, played 7–10 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Johnny Miller won his only Open championship, six strokes ahead of runners-up Seve Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus. It was Miller's second and last major championship title; his first was the U.S. Open in 1973.

Ballesteros, age 19, was the 54-hole leader at 211 (−5), two strokes ahead of Miller. In the final round, he was seven over par after twelve holes, which included a triple-bogey at the eleventh. Ballesteros rallied on the final six holes, with three birdies and an eagle, to tie Nicklaus for second place.

Defending champion Tom Watson carded an 80 (+8) in the third round for 227 (+11) and missed the second cut by a stroke. U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate was level par after two rounds, but also missed the second cut with an 87 for Masters winner Raymond Floyd finished in fourth at 286 (−2), a stroke behind Ballesteros and Nicklaus. The championship is also well remembered for the one and only appearance of Maurice Flitcroft who posed as a professional to gain entry and carded a record 121 for his first round qualifier before being banned by the R&A.

Round summaries First round Wednesday, 7 July 1976 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Seve Ballesteros69−3 Christy O'Connor Jnr Norio SuzukiT4 Brian Barnes70−2 Tom Kite Jack NewtonT7 Bill Brask71−1 John Fourie Graham MarshT10 Bob Charles72E Jan Dorrestein Hubert Green Johnny Miller Gary Player

Second round Thursday, 8 July 1976 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Seve Ballesteros69-69=138−62 Johnny Miller72-68=140−4T3 Hubert Green72-70=142−2 Christy O'Connor Jnr69-73=142T5 Brian Barnes70-73=143−1 Raymond Floyd76-67=143 Tommy Horton74-69=143T8 George Burns75-69=144E Carl Higgins77-67=144 Guy Hunt76-68=144 Tom Kite70-74=144 Graham Marsh71-73=144 Jack Newton70-74=144 Jack Nicklaus74-70=144 Jerry Pate73-71=144 Gary Player72-72=144 Norio Suzuki69-75=144

Amateurs: McEvoy (+12), Squires (+12), Powell (+14), Poxon (+14), McNally (+15), McLean (+17), Ridley (+22).

Third round Friday, 9 July 1976 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Seve Ballesteros69-69-73=211−52 Johnny Miller72-68-73=213−33 Tommy Horton74-69-72=215−1T4 Graham Marsh71-73-72=216E Jack Nicklaus74-70-72=216 Raymond Floyd76-67-73=216T7 Tom Kite70-74-73=217+1 Christy O'Connor Jnr69-73-75=217T9 Bobby Cole75-71-72=218+2 Brian Barnes70-73-75=218 Source:

Final round Saturday, 10 July 1976 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (£)1 Johnny Miller 72-68-73-66=279 −97,500T2 Jack Nicklaus 74-70-72-69=285 −35,250 Seve Ballesteros 69-69-73-74=285 4 Raymond Floyd 76-67-73-70=286 −23,800T5 Mark James 76-72-74-66=288 E2,820 Hubert Green 72-70-78-68=288 Tom Kite 70-74-73-71=288 Christy O'Connor Jnr 69-73-75-71=288 Tommy Horton 74-69-72-73=288T10 George Burns 75-69-75-70=289 +11,975 Peter Butler 74-72-73-70=289 Vicente Fernández 79-71-69-70=289 Norio Suzuki 69-75-75-70=289 Source: The exchange rate at the time was approximately 1.78 dollars (US) per pound sterling.

Scorecard Final round Hole1234;56789101112131415161718Par444344344443535455 Miller −2−3−3−3−3−3−3−4−4−4−4−5−7−7−7−7−8−9 Ballesteros −5−4−4−4−4−2−2−1−1−2+1+2+1EEE−2−3 Nicklaus EE−1−2−2EEEEEE+1E−1−1−1−2−3 Floyd EEEE−1−2−1−1E−1−1E−1−1−1−1−1−2 Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par EagleBirdieBogeyDouble bogeyTriple bogey+ Source:

References

External links Royal Birkdale 1976 (Official site) 105th Open Championship – Royal Birkdale (European Tour)