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1965 / Royal Birkdale
Peter Thomson’s fifth Open victory in 1965 at Royal Birkdale, the scene of his first win in 1954, was achieved against all the greatest players of the day.
He joined James Braid and JH Taylor (and now Tom Watson) as a five-time Champion Golfer, with only Harry Vardon having ever gone better with six titles.
Tony Lema, the defending Champion Golfer, opened with a 68 and shared the halfway lead. But the American suffered in the bad weather of the final day, posting rounds of 75 and 74.
His illustrious compatriots suffered as well: Arnold Palmer, the winner last time at Birkdale in 1961, scored 75-79 to fall to 16th place and Jack Nicklaus, already a four-time major winner, scored 77-73 to drop to a share of 12th position.
Thomson used all his experience to defeat the conditions and his opponents. Recovering from an opening 74 with a 68 in the second round, he then went into the lead with a 72 on the third morning.
He was three ahead late on the front nine of the final round but his playing partner, Lema, fought back to be one behind and only just missed a birdie putt on the 16th green to tie for the lead.
There was a three-shot swing between the pair over the last two holes, where Thomson secured two birdie-4s. His long approach at the 18th found the heart of the green while Lema’s went into a bunker and he took a 6.
Thomson’s 71 left him on 285, while Lema dropped to fifth. Welshman Brian Huggett with a 70 and Ireland’s Christy O’Connor Snr, after a 71, shared second place, two behind, while Roberto de Vicenzo was fourth.
Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Christy O'CONNOR SR
2
69
73
74
71
287
-
Brian HUGGETT
2
73
68
76
70
287
-
Bernard HUNT
5
74
74
70
71
289
-
Bruce DEVLIN
8
71
69
75
75
290
-
Sebastian MIGUEL
8
72
73
72
73
290
-
John PANTON
10
74
74
75
70
293
-
Neil COLES
12
73
74
77
70
294
-
Lionel PLATTS
12
72
72
73
77
294
-
Hugh BOYLE
12
73
69
76
76
294
-
Cobie LEGRANGE
17
76
73
75
72
296
-
Eric BROWN
17
72
70
77
77
296
-
Tommy HORTON
17
75
73
76
72
296
-
Guy WOLSTENHOLME
17
72
75
77
72
296
-
Dennis HUTCHINSON
21
74
72
76
75
297
-
Christy GREENE
21
72
77
74
74
297
-
Brian BAMFORD
21
72
76
74
75
297
-
George WILL
21
75
69
74
79
297
-
Doug SEWELL
25
72
75
74
77
298
-
Fred BOOBYER
25
74
73
73
78
298
-
Ramon SOTA
25
75
70
78
75
298
-
Harry WEETMAN
29
76
69
80
74
299
-
Michael BURGESS
29
74
73
78
74
299
-
Bill LARGE
31
76
73
74
78
301
-
Tony COOP
31
78
71
78
74
301
-
Joe CARR
33
70
72
81
79
302
-
Michael BONALLACK
33
75
72
79
76
302
-
Doug BEATTIE
33
73
74
76
79
302
-
David MILLER
33
77
70
76
79
302
-
George LOW
37
74
75
77
77
303
-
Bill HECTOR
37
76
70
79
78
303
-
Dave THOMAS
39
73
73
78
80
304
-
Ronnie MANDEVILLE
40
72
76
77
80
305
-
Antonio GALLARDO
40
77
71
80
77
305
-
Terry DILL
40
75
72
79
79
305
-
David TALBOT
40
75
72
76
82
305
-
Jimmy MCALLISTER
44
72
75
77
82
306
-
Gordon CUNNINGHAM
44
74
75
79
78
306
-
Ross NEWDICK
46
75
72
80
80
307
-
Peter ALLISS
47
73
73
82
80
308
-
Barry FRANKLIN
47
77
70
84
77
308
-
Jimmy HITCHCOCK
49
75
74
85
76
310
-
Clive CLARK
M/C
74
76
-
-
-
M/C
George PARTON
M/C
76
74
-
-
-
M/C
John MACDONALD
M/C
73
77
-
-
-
M/C
Ross WHITEHEAD
M/C
79
71
-
-
-
M/C
Mike HOYLE
M/C
78
72
-
-
-
M/C
Phil RODGERS
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
G.R. MAISEY
M/C
78
72
-
-
-
M/C
Grant AITKEN
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
Peter GREEN
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
Eddie LARGE
M/C
78
73
-
-
-
M/C
Barry DAVIES
M/C
80
71
-
-
-
M/C
Robert HALSALL
M/C
75
76
-
-
-
M/C
David SNELL
M/C
80
71
-
-
-
M/C
Stuart MURRAY
M/C
74
77
-
-
-
M/C
Ernie JONES
M/C
75
76
-
-
-
M/C
Alex CAYGILL
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Malcolm GREGSON
M/C
77
75
-
-
-
M/C
Richard DAVIES
M/C
77
75
-
-
-
M/C
Bryon HUTCHINSON
M/C
76
76
-
-
-
M/C
J.M. HADLOCK
M/C
77
75
-
-
-
M/C
Douglas DALZIEL
M/C
79
73
-
-
-
M/C
Derek CRAIK
M/C
77
75
-
-
-
M/C
Tony GRUBB
M/C
76
76
-
-
-
M/C
Ronnie SHADE
M/C
74
78
-
-
-
M/C
Brian BARNES
M/C
76
76
-
-
-
M/C
Norman DREW
M/C
77
75
-
-
-
M/C
J. HAYES
M/C
77
76
-
-
-
M/C
Jimmy HUME
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
Ralph MOFFITT
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
Alex MITCHELL
M/C
78
75
-
-
-
M/C
Rodney FOSTER
M/C
78
75
-
-
-
M/C
David MARSH
M/C
75
78
-
-
-
M/C
Jean GARAIALDE
M/C
79
74
-
-
-
M/C
Jimmy MARTIN
M/C
74
79
-
-
-
M/C
Roger FIDLER
M/C
80
73
-
-
-
M/C
John CARTER
M/C
76
78
-
-
-
M/C
Dai REES
M/C
75
79
-
-
-
M/C
John GLOVER
M/C
75
79
-
-
-
M/C
Peter BUTLER
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
M.E. HILL
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
M. BUSK
M/C
76
79
-
-
-
M/C
Harry BRADSHAW
M/C
78
77
-
-
-
M/C
Tony FISHER
M/C
79
76
-
-
-
M/C
S.G. BIRTWELL
M/C
79
76
-
-
-
M/C
A. MOORE
M/C
76
79
-
-
-
M/C
Hedley MUSCROFT
M/C
75
80
-
-
-
M/C
John FREW
M/C
79
77
-
-
-
M/C
Edward LITHGO
M/C
80
76
-
-
-
M/C
Sandy WILSON
M/C
80
76
-
-
-
M/C
Jack SHARKEY
M/C
77
79
-
-
-
M/C
Ian SMITH
M/C
74
82
-
-
-
M/C
T. GARDNER
M/C
76
81
-
-
-
M/C
Keith MACDONALD
M/C
79
78
-
-
-
M/C
Innes WRIGHT
M/C
76
81
-
-
-
M/C
Brian ALLEN
M/C
81
76
-
-
-
M/C
Geoffrey HUNT
M/C
77
80
-
-
-
M/C
Charlie WARD
M/C
81
76
-
-
-
M/C
Angel MIGUEL
M/C
80
77
-
-
-
M/C
Sookdeo MAHARAJ
M/C
80
77
-
-
-
M/C
G.F. CHILD
M/C
81
78
-
-
-
M/C
Frank HILL
M/C
83
76
-
-
-
M/C
Vivian LAW
M/C
77
83
-
-
-
M/C
Syd SCOTT
M/C
79
81
-
-
-
M/C
G. GLEDHILL
M/C
80
81
-
-
-
M/C
W.W. EVANS
M/C
79
82
-
-
-
M/C
Keith WARREN
M/C
81
80
-
-
-
M/C
C. AMM
M/C
86
75
-
-
-
M/C
B.C. RICHARDS
M/C
79
82
-
-
-
M/C
L.G. MCCANDLISH
M/C
80
83
-
-
-
M/C
Geoff MARKS
M/C
80
83
-
-
-
M/C
K. MORRISON
M/C
77
86
-
-
-
M/C
P. HIGGINS
M/C
87
80
-
-
-
M/C
John DAUTHIEU
M/C
87
80
-
-
-
M/C
M.A. IBBERSON
M/C
82
86
-
-
-
M/C
J.T. BROWN
Wd
84
-
-
-
-
M/C
D.L. MELVILLE
NR
76
-
-
-
-
M/C
Robin DAVENPORT
NR
82
-
-
-
-
M/C