1954 Open Championship

1954 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates	7–9 July 1954
Location	Southport, England
Course(s)	Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Statistics
Par	73
Length	6,837 yards (6,252 m)^[1]
Field	97 players, 50 after cut^[2]
Cut	151 (+5)
Prize fund	£3,500
Winner's share	£750
Champion
Peter Thomson
283 (−9)
«1953 1955»

Southport

Location in England

The 1954 Open Championship was the 90th Open Championship, played 7–9 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Peter Thomson, age 23, won the first of his five Open titles by one stroke over runners-up Bobby Locke, Dai Rees, and Syd Scott.^[1]^[2]^[3]

The total prize money was increased from £2,500 to £3,500. The winner received £750 with £500 for second, £350 for third, £200 for fourth, £150 for fifth, £100 for sixth, £75 for seventh and eighth, £50 for ninth and tenth, £30 for next 15 places and then £25 each for the next 25 players.^[2] The £3,500 was completed with a £25 prize for winning the qualification event and four £25 prizes for the lowest score in each round.^[4]

Qualifying took place on 5–6 July. Entries played 18 holes on the Championship course and 18 holes at Hillside Golf Club. The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100. Ties for 100th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 151 and 97 players qualified. On the first day the Irish professional John McGonigle set a new course record of 65 on the Hillside course. Norman Von Nida led the qualifiers on 137, four ahead of the rest. Making the long voyage from America Toney Penna and Jim Turnesa were amongst the group on 151 who just qualified.^[5] A maximum of 50 players could make the cut after 36 holes. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut.

Sam King and Bill Spence established a new course record in the first round with 69s. The record would last just one round, however, as Syd Scott bettered it in the second round with a 67, but Spence still held the 36-hole lead after a 72, one ahead of Antonio Cerdá and two in front of Scott, Dai Rees, Peter Thomson, and King. Scott continued his hot play in the third round, scoring a 69. Thomson and Rees also carded 69 and joined him at the top of the leaderboard going into the final round. Scott shot a 72 over the last 18-holes, posting a clubhouse lead of 284. Rees also posted 284 after missing a putt at the 18th. Thomson missed a short putt at the 12th, but managed to get up-and-down from a bunker at 16. He went to the 17th needing a par and a bogey on his last two holes to become the new clubhouse leader. He got the par, but at 18 he found trouble in a bunker. He again managed a superb recovery, and while he missed his first putt he easily tapped in for a round of 71 and a 283 total.^[6] Bobby Locke had a chance to tie Thomson with a 3 at the last, but his birdie putt came up just short making Thomson the winner of the championship.

This win was the first in a run of three consecutive Open Championship titles by Thomson, becoming the first player since Bob Ferguson from 1880-82 to win three straight Opens. Altogether he would win three of the next four Opens and add another win in 1965, which was also held at Royal Birkdale. Thomson was the first Australian to win the Open Championship, and the youngest champion since Bobby Jones.

Three-time Masters champion Jimmy Demaret made his only Open Championship appearance this year, finishing in 10th place. This was the first Open Championship to be played at Royal Birkdale. Defending champion Ben Hogan did not compete; his victory in 1953 at Carnoustie was his only Open Championship.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Bobby Locke	South Africa	1949, 1950, 1952	74	71	69	70	284	−8	T2
Gene Sarazen	United States	1932	75	74	73	70	292	E	T17
Max Faulkner	England	1951	73	78	69	73	293	+1	T20
Fred Daly	Northern Ireland	1947	74	72	74	77	297	+5	T35

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Alf Padgham	England	1936	75	77	152	+6
Henry Cotton	England	1934, 1937, 1948	77	76	153	+7

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 7 July 1954

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Sam King	England	69	−4
T1	Bill Spence	England	69	−4
3	Norman Sutton	England	70	−3
T4	Antonio Cerdá	Argentina	71	−2
	George Howard	England
	John Jacobs	England
T7	Jean-Baptiste Ado	France	72	−1
	Peter Alliss	England
	Harry Bradshaw	Ireland
	Fred Bullock	England
	Ugo Grappasonni	Italy
	Robert Halsall	England
	Eric Lester	England
	Dai Rees	Wales
	Bill Shankland	Australia
	Peter Thomson	Australia
	Peter Toogood (a)	Australia
	Jim Turnesa	United States

Second round

Thursday, 8 July 1954

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Bill Spence	England	69-72=141	−5
2	Antonio Cerdá	Argentina	71-71=142	−4
T3	Sam King	Argentina	69-74=143	−3
	Dai Rees	Wales	72-71=143
	Peter Thomson	Australia	72-71=143
	Syd Scott	England	76-67=143
T7	Harry Bradshaw	Ireland	72-72=144	−2
	Jimmy Demaret	United States	73-71=144
	John Jacobs	Wales	71-73=144
	Bill Shankland	Australia	72-72=144
	Jim Turnesa	England	72-72=144

Amateurs: Toogood (+1), Stranahan (+2), Stockdale (+6), Timms (+6), Bachli (+7), Brews (+8), Coogan (+8), Shephard (+8), Wroe (+10), Wolstenholme (+11), Heard (+12), Stevens (+19).

Third round

Friday, 9 July 1954 (morning)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Dai Rees	Wales	72-71-69=212	−7
	Syd Scott	England	76-67-69=212
	Peter Thomson	Australia	72-71-69=212
4	Bobby Locke	South Africa	74-71-69=214	−5
T5	Antonio Cerdá	Argentina	71-71-73=215	−4
	Bill Spence	England	69-72-74=215
	Jim Turnesa	United States	72-72-71=215
T8	Jimmy Adams	Scotland	73-75-69=217	−2
	Peter Alliss	England	72-74-71=217
	Harry Bradshaw	Ireland	72-72-73=217
	Sam King	England	69-74-74=217

Final round

Friday, 9 July 1954 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To Par	Money (£)
1	Peter Thomson	Australia	72-71-69-71=283	−9	750
T2	Bobby Locke	South Africa	74-71-69-70=284	−8	350
	Dai Rees	Wales	72-71-69-72=284
	Syd Scott	England	76-67-69-72=284
T5	Jimmy Adams	Scotland	73-75-69-69=286	−6	108
	Antonio Cerdá	Argentina	71-71-73-71=286
	Jim Turnesa	United States	72-72-71-71=286
T8	Peter Alliss	England	72-74-71-70=287	−5	62
T8	Sam King	England	69-74-74-70=287	−5	62
T10	Jimmy Demaret	United States	73-71-74-71=289	−3	40
T10	Flory Van Donck	Belgium	77-71-70-71=289	−3	40

Source:^[2]
Amateurs: Toogood (−1), Stranahan (+3).

References

1 2 "Peter Thomson wins British Open with 283". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 10 July 1954. p. 11.
1 2 3 4 "Media Guide". The Open Championship. 2011. p. 82. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
↑ "P.W. Thomson wins the "Open"". Glasgow Herald. 10 July 1954. p. 5.
↑ "Open prize money again increased - Incentive to Americans". The Times. 18 December 1953. p. 11.
↑ "Harman lowers course record in qualifying round - Open golf survivors get down to real business to-day". The Times. 7 July 1953. p. 11.
↑ Thomson, Peter (12 July 1954). "Three Opens his new ambition". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 9. Retrieved 5 April 2013.

External links

Preceded by 1954 U.S. Open	Major Championships	Succeeded by 1954 PGA Championship

1954 Men's Major Golf Championships

The Masters U.S. Open The Open Championship PGA Championship

The Open Championship

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Coordinates: 53°37′17″N 3°01′57″W / 53.6215°N 3.0325°W / 53.6215; -3.0325

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