The 1974 Open Championship was the 103rd Open Championship, held from 10 to 13 July at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. Gary Player won his third Open Championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Peter Oosterhuis. It was the eighth of his nine major titles and second of the year; he won the Masters in April. In the other two majors in 1974, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship, Player had top ten finishes.

The use of the larger USGA specification ball (diameter ) was made compulsory. In previous Opens, players could use the smaller Royal & Ancient specification ball(). By 1990, the Royal & Ancient changed the UK Rules of Golf to the 1.68 inch ball.

Course layout

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal Yards2064364583932124865513941623,2983345422013394454683564533863,5246,822Par344435543354534444443671 Source:Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950): 1969: 1963: 1958: 1952:

Round summaries First round Wednesday, 10 July 1974 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 John Morgan69−2 Gary PlayerT3 Bobby Cole70−1 Danny EdwardsT5 Hubert Green71E John O'Leary Peter OosterhuisT8 David Chillas72+1 Neil Coles Lu Liang-Huan Johnny Miller Tom Weiskopf Source:

Second round Thursday, 11 July 1974 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Gary Player69-68=137−5T2 Bobby Cole70-72=142E Peter Oosterhuis71-71=1424 Danny Edwards70-73=143+1T5 Lu Liang-Huan72-72=144+2 John Morgan69-75=144 Tom Weiskopf72-72=1448 Hubert Green71-74=145+3T9 Al Geiberger76-70=146+4 Noel Hunt73-73=146 Jack Nicklaus74-72=146

Amateurs: Lyle (+10), James (+16), Clark (+21), Burch (+22), Homer (+23), Shaw (+31).

Third round Friday, 12 July 1974 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Gary Player69-68-75=212−12 Peter Oosterhuis71-71-73=215+23 Jack Nicklaus74-72-70=216+34 Hubert Green71-74-72=217+4T5 Bobby Cole70-72-76=218+5 Tom Weiskopf72-72-74=218T7 Danny Edwards70-73-76=219+6 Lu Liang-Huan72-72-75=219T9 Johnny Miller72-75-73=220 +7 John Morgan69-75-76=220 Source: Amateurs: Lyle (+23), James (+24).

Final round Saturday, 13 July 1974 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (£)1 Gary Player 69-68-75-70=282 −25,5002 Peter Oosterhuis 71-71-73-71=286 +24,0003 Jack Nicklaus 74-72-70-71=287 +33,2504 Hubert Green 71-74-72-71=288 +42,750T5 Danny Edwards 70-73-76-73=292 +82,300 Lu Liang-Huan 72-72-75-73=292T7 Bobby Cole 70-72-76-75=293 +91,717 Donald Swaelens 77-73-74-69=293 Tom Weiskopf 72-72-74-75=29310 Johnny Miller 72-75-73-74=294 +101,500 Source: The exchange rate at the time was approximately 2.39 dollars (US) per pound sterling.

References

External links Royal Lytham & St Annes 1974 (Official site) 103rd Open Championship – Royal Lytham & St Annes (European Tour)