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BobCharlesOpen1963Cropped

1963 / Royal Lytham & St Annes

Bob Charles put on one of the finest ever displays of putting in winning The Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1963.

In so doing he became the first New Zealander to win The Open and the first left-hander – the only lefty until Phil Mickelson won exactly 50 years later at Muirfield in 2013.

Charles claimed his victory in the last ever 36-hole play-off, beating American Phil Rodgers by eight strokes.

The pair had tied on 277 after Charles had posted a best-of-the-week 66 in the third round to lead by two but Rodgers caught him with a closing 69.

Jack Nicklaus, in his second Open, made a rare error at the final hole, a bogey leaving him one stroke outside the play-off but five ahead of Kel Nagle in fourth. Peter Thomson dropped out of contention with an uncharacteristic 78 in the final round.

The play-off protagonists made a contrasting pair, Charles tall and thin as a rake, was a quiet and undemonstrative man. Rodgers was a short, solidly-built ex-Marine who had a habit of racing across the green and slamming his cap over the hole when a long putt dropped.

Most of the putts dropped for Charles. He made 11 single-putts in the morning round of the play-off. Seven times he got up and down from rough or bunkers.

Three ahead at lunch and soon five in front, Charles hooked out of bounds onto the railway line at the third in the afternoon and then Rodgers made a couple of birdies to get within one. But his second at the seventh finished under the face of a greenside bunker and his challenge faded.

Charles relentlessly kept holing putts to pull away again. In his rounds of 69-71 Charles had 56 putts. Rodgers totalled 65 putts in rounds of 72-76.

Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Sir Bob CHARLES
Champion Golfer
1
68
72
66
71
277
-
Phil RODGERS
2
67
68
73
69
277
-
Jack NICKLAUS
3
71
67
70
70
278
-
Kel NAGLE
4
69
70
73
71
283
-
Peter THOMSON
5
67
69
71
78
285
-
Christy O'CONNOR SR
6
74
68
76
68
286
-
Gary PLAYER
7
75
70
72
70
287
-
Ramon SOTA
7
69
73
73
72
287
-
Jean GARAIALDE
9
72
69
72
75
288
-
Sebastian MIGUEL
9
73
69
73
73
288
-
Bernard HUNT
11
72
71
73
73
289
-
Alex KING
11
71
73
73
72
289
-
Sewsunker SEWGOLUM
13
71
74
73
72
290
-
Brian ALLEN
14
75
71
71
74
291
-
Hugh LEWIS
14
71
77
69
74
291
-
Brian HUGGETT
14
73
74
70
74
291
-
Ian MACDONALD
14
71
71
74
75
291
-
Frank PHILLIPS
18
70
73
75
74
292
-
Peter ALLISS
18
74
71
77
70
292
-
Max FAULKNER
20
77
71
71
74
293
-
Neil COLES
20
73
75
72
73
293
-
Harold HENNING
20
76
68
71
78
293
-
Malcolm LEEDER
20
76
73
74
70
293
-
Brian WILKES
20
70
77
74
72
293
-
John MACDONALD
20
73
75
75
70
293
-
Jimmy HITCHCOCK
26
75
73
70
76
294
-
Arnold PALMER
26
76
71
71
76
294
-
Dave THOMAS
26
74
74
75
71
294
-
Doug SEWELL
26
75
72
73
74
294
-
Tony JACKLIN
30
73
72
76
74
295
-
Tom HALIBURTON
30
68
73
77
77
295
-
Ken BOUSFIELD
30
73
75
71
76
295
-
Dennis HUTCHINSON
33
74
71
74
77
296
-
Bruce DEVLIN
33
75
70
75
76
296
-
Eddie LARGE
33
78
71
76
71
296
-
Walter GODFREY
36
75
74
75
73
297
-
Stuart DAVIES
36
76
69
79
73
297
-
Fred BOOBYER
36
76
70
74
77
297
-
Geoffrey HUNT
39
71
76
75
76
298
-
Tony GRUBB
39
77
72
74
75
298
-
Lionel PLATTS
39
74
75
78
71
298
-
Dai REES
42
72
77
75
75
299
-
A. MOORE
42
72
74
75
78
299
-
Donald SWAELENS
44
70
75
77
78
300
-
Bobby WALKER
45
75
73
75
78
301
-
Hedley MUSCROFT
46
72
77
81
75
305
-
Fred BULLOCK
46
75
74
82
74
305
-
Doug SANDERS
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
Syd SCOTT
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
J.H. ELLIS
M/C
72
78
-
-
-
M/C
David BEARD
M/C
81
69
-
-
-
M/C
Hugh BOYLE
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
Guy WOLSTENHOLME
M/C
76
74
-
-
-
M/C
Bill LARGE
M/C
76
74
-
-
-
M/C
Allan GILLIES
M/C
73
77
-
-
-
M/C
George WILL
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
Jack WILKSHIRE
M/C
74
76
-
-
-
M/C
John JACOBS
M/C
77
73
-
-
-
M/C
Peter BUTLER
M/C
75
76
-
-
-
M/C
Frank MILLER
M/C
74
77
-
-
-
M/C
Jim HENDERSON
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Jack ISAACS
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Harry WEETMAN
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Jimmy MARTIN
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Alex CAYGILL
M/C
74
77
-
-
-
M/C
B. PAMFORD
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
M. WOLVERIDGE
M/C
79
72
-
-
-
M/C
David SNELL
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
J.R. HOOD
M/C
79
73
-
-
-
M/C
Gordon CUNNINGHAM
M/C
79
73
-
-
-
M/C
Sandy SADDLER
M/C
76
76
-
-
-
M/C
Trevor WILKES
M/C
79
73
-
-
-
M/C
Ralph MOFFITT
M/C
77
75
-
-
-
M/C
Jack HARGREAVES
M/C
74
78
-
-
-
M/C
Bobby LOCKE
M/C
80
72
-
-
-
M/C
Nicholas LYNCH
M/C
74
78
-
-
-
M/C
Harry BRADSHAW
M/C
79
73
-
-
-
M/C
David MILLER
M/C
74
79
-
-
-
M/C
Denis SCANLAN
M/C
73
80
-
-
-
M/C
John PANTON
M/C
77
76
-
-
-
M/C
Norman DREW
M/C
79
75
-
-
-
M/C
Arthur LEES
M/C
75
79
-
-
-
M/C
Christy GREENE
M/C
74
80
-
-
-
M/C
Tony FISHER
M/C
76
78
-
-
-
M/C
Cherif El SAYED
M/C
76
78
-
-
-
M/C
G.R. MAISEY
M/C
81
73
-
-
-
M/C
Gordon WESTON
M/C
78
76
-
-
-
M/C
Simon FOGARTY
M/C
82
73
-
-
-
M/C
George PARTON
M/C
78
77
-
-
-
M/C
Eric BROWN
M/C
76
79
-
-
-
M/C
Joe CARR
M/C
78
77
-
-
-
M/C
Roger FOREMAN
M/C
81
74
-
-
-
M/C
B. MARSHALL
M/C
79
77
-
-
-
M/C
J. MCALISTER
M/C
85
71
-
-
-
M/C
D.G. NEECH
M/C
77
79
-
-
-
M/C
G.M. RUTHERFORD
M/C
78
78
-
-
-
M/C
Dick BURTON
M/C
83
73
-
-
-
M/C
Bryon HUTCHINSON
M/C
78
78
-
-
-
M/C
Alan BROOKES
M/C
82
74
-
-
-
M/C
Ross WHITEHEAD
M/C
80
77
-
-
-
M/C
Herman BARRON
M/C
75
83
-
-
-
M/C
Adina Test
M/C
77
81
-
-
-
M/C
Norman JOHNSON
M/C
80
78
-
-
-
M/C
Jack SHARKEY
M/C
80
78
-
-
-
M/C
Cyril PENNINGTON
M/C
80
79
-
-
-
M/C
Michael BONALLACK
M/C
80
79
-
-
-
M/C
C.C. BOWMAN
M/C
78
81
-
-
-
M/C
C. FINDLAY
M/C
78
81
-
-
-
M/C
Grant AITKEN
M/C
75
84
-
-
-
M/C
Maurice MOIR
M/C
79
80
-
-
-
M/C
W.C.A. HANCOCK
M/C
77
83
-
-
-
M/C
Barry DAVIES
M/C
82
78
-
-
-
M/C
M. BIRKETT
M/C
79
81
-
-
-
M/C
Colin COLENSO
M/C
76
85
-
-
-
M/C
Brian STOCKDALE
M/C
82
79
-
-
-
M/C
Thomas SPENCE
M/C
82
80
-
-
-
M/C
N.R. MACDONALD
M/C
81
81
-
-
-
M/C
Norman SUTTON
M/C
82
81
-
-
-
M/C
Ian SMITH
M/C
79
85
-
-
-
M/C

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