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TonyLemaOpen1964Cropped

1964 / St Andrews

Tony Lema’s victory in The Open at St Andrews in 1964 was remarkable in many ways.

He had never before visited Britain and never previously experienced links golf. He arrived only 36 hours prior to The Open and was only able to play nine holes in practice, walking the rest of the Old Course.

Yet he became the seventh player to win The Open on debut and by no less than five strokes from Jack Nicklaus.Affectionately known as “Champagne Tony”, Lema had won four times in 1964, including three times in the previous four weeks, prior to arriving in Scotland.

Arnold Palmer had not travelled over so he suggested Lema use the caddie Palmer employed for his four previous Open visits.

Lema credited Tip Anderson with 51 per cent of his victory and followed his instructions on club and line to the letter. “It was amazing how often he put the right club in my hand,” he said.

A 68 in the second round put Lema into the lead and another in the third round, when he was six under for the last 12 holes, put him seven ahead of Nicklaus, who returned a 66.

Nicklaus again put the pressure on in the final round, going out in 32, but after a bogey at the fourth, Lema made three birdies in five holes to end the front nine.

A 70 gave him a total of 279, with Nicklaus closing with a 68 and Roberto de Vicenzo a 67 to take third place.

A wonderful chip-and-run through the Valley of Sin to three feet for a closing birdie showed just how well Lema had adapted to the links game. He would play in The Open only two more times before he was killed in a plane crash aged 32 in 1966.

Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Tony LEMA
Champion Golfer
1
73
68
68
70
279
-
Jack NICKLAUS
2
76
74
66
68
284
-
Roberto DE VICENZO
3
76
72
70
67
285
-
Bernard HUNT
4
73
74
70
70
287
-
Bruce DEVLIN
5
72
72
73
73
290
-
Christy O'CONNOR SR
6
71
73
74
73
291
-
Harry WEETMAN
6
72
71
75
73
291
-
Harold HENNING
8
78
73
71
70
292
-
Angel MIGUEL
8
73
76
72
71
292
-
Gary PLAYER
8
78
71
73
70
292
-
Doug SANDERS
11
78
73
74
68
293
-
Frank PHILLIPS
12
77
75
72
70
294
-
Christy GREENE
13
74
76
73
73
296
-
Dave THOMAS
13
75
74
75
72
296
-
Jean GARAIALDE
13
71
74
79
72
296
-
Ralph MOFFITT
13
76
72
74
74
296
-
Alex CAYGILL
17
77
74
71
75
297
-
Sir Bob CHARLES
17
79
71
69
78
297
-
Alan MURRAY
19
77
73
76
72
298
-
Malcolm GREGSON
19
78
70
74
76
298
-
Phil RODGERS
19
74
79
74
71
298
-
John MACDONALD
19
78
74
74
72
298
-
Syd SCOTT
19
75
74
73
76
298
-
Peter THOMSON
24
79
73
72
75
299
-
Tony COOP
24
75
72
76
76
299
-
Jimmy MARTIN
24
74
72
79
74
299
-
Doug FORD
24
75
76
76
72
299
-
Liang Huan LU
24
76
71
78
74
299
-
George WILL
29
74
79
71
76
300
-
Peter BUTLER
30
78
75
74
74
301
-
Ramon SOTA
30
77
74
74
76
301
-
Geoffrey HUNT
30
77
75
74
75
301
-
Stuart DAVIES
33
74
77
71
80
302
-
Michael MURPHY
34
76
74
76
77
303
-
Dennis HUTCHINSON
34
77
74
77
75
303
-
Brian WILKES
34
77
76
74
76
303
-
John PANTON
34
78
74
77
74
303
-
Max FAULKNER
38
73
73
80
78
304
-
Dai REES
38
76
77
77
74
304
-
Brian ALLEN
40
78
75
73
79
305
-
Norman DREW
40
76
76
79
74
305
-
Stuart MURRAY
40
80
73
78
74
305
-
Len THOMAS
40
76
75
82
72
305
-
Malcolm LEEDER
44
77
76
75
80
308
-
Kel NAGLE
45
77
76
80
80
313
-
Bobby VERWEY
M/C
81
73
-
-
-
M/C
Sewsunker SEWGOLUM
M/C
78
76
-
-
-
M/C
Hugh BOYLE
M/C
73
81
-
-
-
M/C
I.D. MCDONALD
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Ernie JONES
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
Brian HUGGETT
M/C
81
74
-
-
-
M/C
Keith MACDONALD
M/C
75
80
-
-
-
M/C
Fred BULLOCK
M/C
80
75
-
-
-
M/C
Tony FISHER
M/C
80
75
-
-
-
M/C
Lionel PLATTS
M/C
82
73
-
-
-
M/C
Hugh LEWIS
M/C
81
75
-
-
-
M/C
Tony GRUBB
M/C
83
73
-
-
-
M/C
Laurie AYTON JR
M/C
81
75
-
-
-
M/C
Bobby WALKER
M/C
80
76
-
-
-
M/C
Bobby LOCKE
M/C
78
78
-
-
-
M/C
David SNELL
M/C
81
75
-
-
-
M/C
E.A. BALL
M/C
79
77
-
-
-
M/C
Ross NEWDICK
M/C
83
73
-
-
-
M/C
Brian BAMFORD
M/C
83
73
-
-
-
M/C
Gordon CUNNINGHAM
M/C
77
79
-
-
-
M/C
Tom HALIBURTON
M/C
80
76
-
-
-
M/C
Eric BROWN
M/C
80
76
-
-
-
M/C
Joe CARR
M/C
82
75
-
-
-
M/C
D. LEWIS
M/C
80
77
-
-
-
M/C
Doug SEWELL
M/C
77
80
-
-
-
M/C
Deane BEMAN
M/C
82
75
-
-
-
M/C
Cyril PENNINGTON
M/C
80
77
-
-
-
M/C
Donald SMART
M/C
85
72
-
-
-
M/C
Mike HOYLE
M/C
86
71
-
-
-
M/C
Michael BONALLACK
M/C
79
78
-
-
-
M/C
Bill LARGE
M/C
84
73
-
-
-
M/C
Peter ALLISS
M/C
83
75
-
-
-
M/C
Ken BOUSFIELD
M/C
83
75
-
-
-
M/C
Jimmy HITCHCOCK
M/C
78
80
-
-
-
M/C
J.D. DUNLOP
M/C
77
81
-
-
-
M/C
Derek NASH
M/C
81
77
-
-
-
M/C
Barry FRANKLIN
M/C
80
78
-
-
-
M/C
J.T. BROWN
M/C
80
78
-
-
-
M/C
P. LEE
M/C
83
75
-
-
-
M/C
B. JOHNSTONE
M/C
77
81
-
-
-
M/C
Johnny BULLA
M/C
78
81
-
-
-
M/C
Sebastian MIGUEL
M/C
84
75
-
-
-
M/C
Terry WESTBROOK
M/C
78
81
-
-
-
M/C
Brian WAITES
M/C
80
79
-
-
-
M/C
Harry BRADSHAW
M/C
81
78
-
-
-
M/C
David BUTLER
M/C
78
82
-
-
-
M/C
Clive CLARK
M/C
80
80
-
-
-
M/C
A. MOORE
M/C
82
78
-
-
-
M/C
E. NARI
M/C
81
79
-
-
-
M/C
J. HAYES
M/C
84
77
-
-
-
M/C
Sandy SADDLER
M/C
82
79
-
-
-
M/C
G.M. RUTHERFORD
M/C
82
79
-
-
-
M/C
John JACOBS
M/C
83
78
-
-
-
M/C
Eddie LARGE
M/C
85
77
-
-
-
M/C
K. MORRISON
M/C
82
80
-
-
-
M/C
J.S. MORE
M/C
79
83
-
-
-
M/C
Guy WOLSTENHOLME
M/C
82
80
-
-
-
M/C
Bill HECTOR
M/C
83
79
-
-
-
M/C
J.A. LITTLE
M/C
80
83
-
-
-
M/C
F. GONZALES
M/C
81
82
-
-
-
M/C
Cobie LEGRANGE
M/C
87
76
-
-
-
M/C
Derek CRAIK
M/C
83
81
-
-
-
M/C
Neil COLES
M/C
83
81
-
-
-
M/C
Alex KING
M/C
88
76
-
-
-
M/C
Peter GREEN
M/C
80
84
-
-
-
M/C
Ronnie SHADE
M/C
86
79
-
-
-
M/C
R.M. SMITH
M/C
82
84
-
-
-
M/C
Ian CONNELLY
M/C
85
81
-
-
-
M/C
Hedley MUSCROFT
M/C
86
80
-
-
-
M/C
S. MOULAND
M/C
85
82
-
-
-
M/C
William MCHARDY
M/C
87
81
-
-
-
M/C
Jack HARGREAVES
M/C
85
83
-
-
-
M/C
J.C. RICHARDSON
M/C
90
79
-
-
-
M/C
Alistair LOW
M/C
90
79
-
-
-
M/C
I. JOHNSTONE
M/C
89
85
-
-
-
M/C

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