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GaryPlayerCropped1974Cropped

1974 / Royal Lytham & St Annes

Gary Player completed a hat-trick of Champion Golfer titles at Royal Lytham & St Annes, having won his first Open at Muirfield in 1959 and his second at Carnoustie in 1968.

With his triumph in 1974, he shared with Harry Vardon and J.H. Taylor the distinction of claiming the title in three separate decades.

Fifteen years on from his first major win, he had added an eighth and was showing he still had an abundance of enthusiasm and dedication to produce his very best golf.

He was the fourth player after Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus to win the Masters and The Open in the same year.

For the first time in The Open it was compulsory to play with the larger 1.68in ball, which had been used in America for many years and was less easy to control in the wind than the smaller ball.

Inevitably, the wind blew on the first two days at Lytham. Player had an opening 69 to share the first-round lead with John Morgan and then moved ahead with a 68 on the second day.

None of the other leading finishers broke 70 on either day. A 75 on the third day left Player still ahead of the field, with England’s Peter Oosterhuis three behind.

An eagle, three birdies and two bogeys in the first seven holes kept the chasing pack at bay but Oosterhuis almost got back within one at the 13th only for Player to chip in from the back of the green for a birdie.

Three bogeys in the last four holes – there was a long search for his ball in the rough at the 17th and he had to putt left-handed with his ball inches from the clubhouse wall at the last – gave him a 70 and a four-stroke win over Oosterhuis, with Jack Nicklaus pipping Hubert Green for fourth place thanks to a birdie at the last.

Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Gary PLAYER
Champion Golfer
1
69
68
75
70
282
-
Peter OOSTERHUIS
2
71
71
73
71
286
-
Jack NICKLAUS
3
74
72
70
71
287
-
Hubert GREEN
4
71
74
72
71
288
-
Danny EDWARDS
5
70
73
76
73
292
-
Liang Huan LU
5
72
72
75
73
292
-
Bobby COLE
7
70
72
76
75
293
-
Donald SWAELENS
7
77
73
74
69
293
-
Tom WEISKOPF
7
72
72
74
75
293
-
Johnny MILLER
10
72
75
73
74
294
-
David GRAHAM
11
76
74
76
69
295
-
John GARNER
11
75
78
73
69
295
-
Neil COLES
13
72
75
75
74
296
-
Peter TOWNSEND
13
79
76
72
69
296
-
Alan TAPIE
13
73
77
73
73
296
-
Al GEIBERGER
13
76
70
76
74
296
-
John MORGAN
13
69
75
76
76
296
-
Peter DAWSON
18
74
74
73
76
297
-
DeWitt WEAVER
18
73
80
70
74
297
-
Tony JACKLIN
18
74
77
71
75
297
-
Gene LITTLER
18
77
76
70
74
297
-
Ronnie SHADE
22
78
75
73
72
298
-
Lanny WADKINS
22
78
71
75
74
298
-
Hale IRWIN
24
76
73
79
71
299
-
Bernard GALLACHER
24
76
72
76
75
299
-
Christy O'CONNOR JR
24
78
76
72
73
299
-
Angel GALLARDO
24
74
77
75
73
299
-
Ben CRENSHAW
28
74
80
76
70
300
-
Doug MCCLELLAND
28
75
79
73
73
300
-
David JAGGER
28
80
71
76
73
300
-
Lee TREVINO
31
79
70
78
74
301
-
Oscar CERDA
31
80
74
77
70
301
-
David CHILLAS
31
72
78
77
74
301
-
Tommy HORTON
31
78
76
76
71
301
-
Hugh JACKSON
31
78
76
73
74
301
-
Peter BUTLER
31
75
77
77
72
301
-
Vicente FERNANDEZ
37
78
73
78
73
302
-
Gay BREWER
37
78
77
74
73
302
-
Bruce DEVLIN
39
81
74
73
75
303
-
Guy HUNT
39
78
73
72
80
303
-
John COOK
39
76
79
75
73
303
-
Derek SMALL
42
73
75
77
79
304
-
Bernard HUNT
42
74
77
74
79
304
-
Brian BARNES
44
74
79
78
74
305
-
John O'LEARY
44
71
79
78
77
305
-
Graham MARSH
44
79
75
77
74
305
-
John MAHAFFEY
44
78
77
75
75
305
-
Maurice BEMBRIDGE
44
76
77
73
79
305
-
Noel HUNT
44
73
73
79
80
305
-
Stuart LEVERMORE
50
77
77
76
76
306
-
Malcolm GREGSON
51
79
76
76
76
307
-
Roberto DE VICENZO
51
80
74
77
76
307
-
Brian WAITES
51
78
74
74
81
307
-
Mike SLATER
54
77
74
80
77
308
-
Norman WOOD
54
74
78
78
78
308
-
Ian STANLEY
56
77
79
75
78
309
-
Christy O'CONNOR SR
56
80
74
77
78
309
-
John PANTON
56
77
75
77
80
309
-
John FOURIE
59
79
73
77
81
310
-
Bob SHEARER
59
77
79
73
81
310
-
Eddie POLLAND
WD
77
76
79
-
-
-
Robert JAMIESON
WD
77
79
76
-
-
-
Ian MOSEY
WD
78
76
78
-
-
-
Peter WILCOCK
WD
79
76
77
-
-
-
Tony GRUBB
WD
78
77
77
-
-
-
Jack NEWTON
WD
81
75
77
-
-
-
Clive CLARK
WD
76
78
79
-
-
-
Brian THOMPSON
WD
79
75
79
-
-
-
Willie MILNE
WD
75
80
79
-
-
-
Les BOLLAND
WD
77
77
80
-
-
-
Ron CERRUDO
WD
74
79
81
-
-
-
Brian HUGGETT
WD
78
77
79
-
-
-
Miller BARBER
WD
78
77
79
-
-
-
Max FAULKNER
WD
78
77
79
-
-
-
Jimmy MARTIN
WD
73
83
79
-
-
-
Ian BOLT
WD
78
78
79
-
-
-
Sandy LYLE
WD
75
77
84
-
-
-
Mark JAMES
WD
79
77
81
-
-
-
Richard RICHARD
WD
79
76
83
-
-
-
David J RUSSELL
WD
79
77
83
-
-
-
Kel NAGLE
WD
78
78
83
-
-
-
Dale HAYES
Wd
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Bobby WALKER
M/C
79
78
-
-
-
M/C
Florentino MOLINA
M/C
77
80
-
-
-
M/C
Sir Bob CHARLES
M/C
78
79
-
-
-
M/C
John FOWLER
M/C
77
80
-
-
-
M/C
Derek NASH
M/C
77
80
-
-
-
M/C
Andrew PHILLIPS
M/C
76
81
-
-
-
M/C
Carl MASON
M/C
81
76
-
-
-
M/C
Graham EVERETT
M/C
83
74
-
-
-
M/C
Peter BEAMES
M/C
77
81
-
-
-
M/C
Jimmy MURRAY
M/C
77
81
-
-
-
M/C
Roger FIDLER
M/C
79
79
-
-
-
M/C
Philippe TOUSSAINT
M/C
75
83
-
-
-
M/C
Jerry HEARD
M/C
75
83
-
-
-
M/C
Jim RHODES
M/C
78
80
-
-
-
M/C
Craig DEFOY
M/C
78
80
-
-
-
M/C
Manuel BALLESTEROS
M/C
76
82
-
-
-
M/C
David LLEWELLYN
M/C
82
77
-
-
-
M/C
Denis SCANLAN
M/C
82
77
-
-
-
M/C
John HEWITT
M/C
77
82
-
-
-
M/C
Ralph CARTER
M/C
79
80
-
-
-
M/C
Kuo Chi HSIUNG
M/C
80
80
-
-
-
M/C
Jimmy WRIGHT
M/C
80
80
-
-
-
M/C
Martin FOSTER
M/C
77
83
-
-
-
M/C
Alec BICKERDIKE
M/C
76
84
-
-
-
M/C
Paul HERBERT
M/C
80
80
-
-
-
M/C
Adina Test
M/C
79
81
-
-
-
M/C
Bruce CRAMPTON
M/C
85
75
-
-
-
M/C
Peter THOMSON
M/C
79
81
-
-
-
M/C
Phil RODGERS
M/C
76
84
-
-
-
M/C
Peter ALLISS
M/C
78
82
-
-
-
M/C
Paddy MCGUIRK
M/C
79
82
-
-
-
M/C
David RIDLEY
M/C
82
79
-
-
-
M/C
Hedley MUSCROFT
M/C
78
83
-
-
-
M/C
David WEBSTER
M/C
76
85
-
-
-
M/C
Vince BAKER
M/C
82
79
-
-
-
M/C
Stewart ADWICK
M/C
80
81
-
-
-
M/C
Stewart GINN
M/C
79
83
-
-
-
M/C
John HALLIWELL
M/C
80
82
-
-
-
M/C
S.J. WHYMARK
M/C
81
81
-
-
-
M/C
Alistair THOMSON
M/C
78
84
-
-
-
M/C
George PARTON
M/C
81
81
-
-
-
M/C
Hugh BAIOCCHI
M/C
83
79
-
-
-
M/C
Alex CAYGILL
M/C
77
85
-
-
-
M/C
Sam TORRANCE
M/C
77
86
-
-
-
M/C
David JONES
M/C
83
80
-
-
-
M/C
Gordon CLARK
M/C
82
81
-
-
-
M/C
Len OWENS
M/C
81
82
-
-
-
M/C
Russell MEEK
M/C
83
80
-
-
-
M/C
Nigel BURCH
M/C
82
82
-
-
-
M/C
Sandy GALBRAITH
M/C
86
78
-
-
-
M/C
Robin FYFE
M/C
80
84
-
-
-
M/C
Lionel PLATTS
M/C
81
83
-
-
-
M/C
Dai REES
M/C
81
84
-
-
-
M/C
Trevor HOMER
M/C
84
81
-
-
-
M/C
Andries OOSTHUIZEN
M/C
82
83
-
-
-
M/C
D. ALLEN
M/C
79
86
-
-
-
M/C
G. HERRINGTON
M/C
83
83
-
-
-
M/C
Mike STEADMAN
M/C
83
83
-
-
-
M/C
Warren HUMPHREYS
M/C
84
82
-
-
-
M/C
Bobby LOCKE
M/C
81
86
-
-
-
M/C
Delio LOVATO
M/C
83
84
-
-
-
M/C
Gunnar MUELLER
M/C
85
82
-
-
-
M/C
Richard KEMP JR
M/C
84
84
-
-
-
M/C
John MCTEAR
M/C
87
82
-
-
-
M/C
Hugh BOYLE
M/C
80
89
-
-
-
M/C
Peter CROKER
M/C
81
89
-
-
-
M/C
Edward LITHGO
M/C
85
86
-
-
-
M/C
Stephen BONHAM
M/C
89
82
-
-
-
M/C
Fred DALY
M/C
86
85
-
-
-
M/C
A.L. ROACH
M/C
87
85
-
-
-
M/C
Peter SHAW
M/C
86
87
-
-
-
M/C
Forrest FEZLER
Wd
83
-
-
-
-
M/C

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