The 1962 Open Championship was the 91st Open Championship, played from 11 to 13 July at Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland. Arnold Palmer won his second consecutive Open, six strokes ahead of runner-up Kel Nagle. It was the sixth of Palmer's seven major titles and the second of the year; he won his third Masters in April.
Qualifying took place on 9–10 July, and entries played 18 holes on the Old Course at Troon Golf Club and 18 holes on the Lochgreen Troon Municipal course. A maximum of 120 players qualified; the qualifying score was 154 and 119 players qualified. Eric Brown of Scotland led the qualifiers with 139, and Palmer was at 143. This was the last Open in which all players had to qualify; in 1963 a system of exemptions for the leading players was introduced. A maximum of 50 players could make the cut to play 36 holes on the final day.
Jack Nicklaus, the U.S. Open champion, competed in his first Open Championship. Following an opening round 80, he rebounded with a 72 to make the cut and tied for 34th place.
The PGA Championship was played the next week (19–22 July) near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first of five times in the 1960s that these two majors were played in consecutive weeks in July.
Round summaries First round Wednesday, 11 July 1962 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Keith MacDonald69−32 Peter Thomson70−2T3 Kel Nagle71−1 Arnold PalmerT5 Doug Beattie72E Harry Bradshaw Peter Butler Sebastián Miguel Donald SwaelensT10 Hugh Boyle73+1 Jimmy Martin Source:
Second round Thursday, 12 July 1962
A maximum of 50 players could make the cut, but 51 players scored 153 (+9) or better. The 12 players on 153 were therefore excluded and just the 39 who scored 152 (+8) or better qualified for the final day.
PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Arnold Palmer71-69=140−42 Kel Nagle71-71=142−2T3 Bob Charles75-70=145+1 Jimmy Martin73-72=145 Ralph Moffitt75-70=145 Phil Rodgers75-70=145T7 Peter Alliss77-69=146+2 Brian Huggett75-71=146 Keith MacDonald69-77=146T10 Doug Beattie72-75=147+3 Harry Bradshaw72-75=147 Harold Henning74-73=147 John Panton74-73=147 Dave Thomas77-70=147 Peter Thomson70-77=147 Source:
Amateurs: Green (+7), Cannon (+9), Carr (+9), Saddler (+9), Sinclair (+9), Stuart (+10), Blair (+11), Clark (+11), Edgar (+11),Shade (+11), Christmas (+12), Foster (+12), Walker (+13), MacCaskill (+17), Wilson (+18), Morrison (+19).
Third round Friday, 13 July 1962 - (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Arnold Palmer71-69-67=207−92 Kel Nagle71-71-70=212−43 Bob Charles75-70-70=215−14 Phil Rodgers75-70-72=217+15 Dave Thomas77-70-71=218+26 Ralph Moffitt75-70-74=219+3T7 Peter Alliss77-69-74=220+4 Brian Huggett75-71-74=220T9 Jimmy Martin73-72-76=221+5 Sam Snead76-73-72=221 Harry Weetman75-73-73=221 Ross Whitehead74-75-72=221
Final round Friday, 13 July 1962 - (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (£)1 Arnold Palmer 71-69-67-69=276 −121,4002 Kel Nagle 71-71-70-70=282 −61,000T3 Brian Huggett 75-71-74-69=289 +1710 Phil Rodgers 75-70-72-72=2895 Bob Charles 75-70-70-75=290 +2475T6 Sam Snead 76-73-72-71=292 +4300 Peter Thomson 70-77-75-70=292T8 Peter Alliss 77-69-74-73=293 +5190 Dave Thomas 77-70-71-75=29310 Syd Scott 77-74-75-68=294 +6145 Amateurs: Green (+20)Source:
References
External links Royal Troon 1962 (Official site)