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1966 / Muirfield
There was little surprise that Jack Nicklaus won The Open at Muirfield in 1966, only that it had taken him so long.
It was his fifth appearance and he had already won five other majors. This victory completed his set of all four, something only Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Gary Player had previously achieved.
But Nicklaus had done it by the age of 26 and he also matched Hogan and Arnold Palmer in doing the double of the Masters and The Open in the same year.
For the first time The Open was extended to four days, running from Wednesday to Saturday, which was welcomed by players and spectators alike.
The narrow fairways and deep rough was not liked quite so much by the competitors and Nicklaus took the lead with scores of 70 and 67. However, he dropped four shots in the last five holes for a 75 in the third round and fell behind fellow American Phil Rodgers.
Nicklaus took control again by going out in 33 in the final round, while Rodgers slumped to a 76 and Palmer fell out of contention with a 7 at the 10th hole.
The colourfully-attired Doug Sanders chipped in from 60 yards for an eagle at the ninth only to take a 6 at the 11th. He finished with a 70 to tie Dave Thomas, the Welshman collecting two 2s and a 3 coming home for a 69.
Nicklaus, after three bogeys in four holes from the 11th, needed to play the last two holes with a pair of 4s and duly secured a birdie at the 17th and a par at the last to win by one.
It was a second runner-up finish for Thomas, who lost a play-off to Peter Thomson in 1958, and the first of two second places to Nicklaus for Sanders.
Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Dave THOMAS
2
72
73
69
69
283
-
Phil RODGERS
4
74
66
70
76
286
-
Bruce DEVLIN
4
73
69
74
70
286
-
Dave MARR
8
73
76
69
70
288
-
Sebastian MIGUEL
8
74
72
70
72
288
-
Dick SIKES
12
73
72
73
72
290
-
Christy O'CONNOR SR
13
73
72
74
72
291
-
Harold HENNING
13
71
69
75
76
291
-
Julius BOROS
15
73
71
76
72
292
-
Alex CAYGILL
16
72
71
73
77
293
-
Jimmy HITCHCOCK
16
70
77
74
72
293
-
Ronnie SHADE
16
71
70
75
77
293
-
Peter BUTLER
16
73
65
80
75
293
-
Peter ALLISS
20
74
72
75
73
294
-
Doug SEWELL
20
76
69
74
75
294
-
Peter TOWNSEND
23
73
75
72
75
295
-
Eric BROWN
23
78
72
71
74
295
-
George WILL
23
74
75
73
73
295
-
Keith MACDONALD
26
75
74
70
77
296
-
Michael BONALLACK
27
73
76
75
73
297
-
Bobby STANTON
27
73
72
73
79
297
-
Dennis HUTCHINSON
27
74
73
73
77
297
-
Fred BOOBYER
30
72
76
77
73
298
-
Bobby COLE
30
73
75
73
77
298
-
Christy GREENE
30
72
76
76
74
298
-
Allan HENNING
30
73
73
74
78
298
-
Dai REES
36
75
72
77
75
299
-
Roberto BERNARDINI
37
76
73
73
78
300
-
Barry FRANKLIN
37
77
72
79
72
300
-
Guy WOLSTENHOLME
37
73
76
73
78
300
-
David SNELL
37
73
75
76
76
300
-
Cyril PENNINGTON
42
74
75
76
76
301
-
Jock BURNS
43
76
73
76
77
302
-
Hedley MUSCROFT
43
73
75
79
75
302
-
Brian HUGGETT
43
76
73
80
73
302
-
Bobby WALKER
43
74
72
76
80
302
-
Adina Test
47
74
76
74
79
303
-
George LOW
47
75
72
79
77
303
-
Malcolm GREGSON
47
79
71
74
79
303
-
Gordon CUNNINGHAM
50
75
75
76
79
305
-
John PANTON
50
78
72
81
74
305
-
Frank RENNIE
52
74
75
81
76
306
-
Craig DEFOY
52
76
73
79
78
306
-
David MILLER
52
73
77
78
78
306
-
Sandy WILSON
55
76
74
76
81
307
-
Reg KNIGHT
55
77
73
77
80
307
-
Lionel PLATTS
55
74
74
78
81
307
-
Tony COOP
58
74
76
79
79
308
-
Tony GRUBB
59
79
70
84
76
309
-
John CARTER
60
72
77
85
77
311
-
Bill HECTOR
60
76
72
78
85
311
-
Lew TAYLOR
62
77
71
78
87
313
-
Iain CLARK
63
77
70
86
82
315
-
Harry WEETMAN
Wd
74
74
85
-
-
-
D.L. MELVILLE
M/C
74
77
-
-
-
M/C
Norman DREW
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Clive CLARK
M/C
75
76
-
-
-
M/C
M. HENDERSON
M/C
77
75
-
-
-
M/C
Cobie LEGRANGE
M/C
75
77
-
-
-
M/C
Finlay MORRIS
M/C
78
74
-
-
-
M/C
Tommy HORTON
M/C
76
76
-
-
-
M/C
Alberto CROCE
M/C
75
77
-
-
-
M/C
Ernie JONES
M/C
75
77
-
-
-
M/C
Eddie LARGE
M/C
76
76
-
-
-
M/C
D. LEWIS
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
Derek CRAIK
M/C
77
76
-
-
-
M/C
Mike HOYLE
M/C
78
75
-
-
-
M/C
Hugh LEWIS
M/C
78
75
-
-
-
M/C
Derek NASH
M/C
74
79
-
-
-
M/C
Hugh BOYLE
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
David TALBOT
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Stuart MURRAY
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Dudley MILLENSTED
M/C
76
78
-
-
-
M/C
Bill LARGE
M/C
78
76
-
-
-
M/C
Jack WILKSHIRE
M/C
78
76
-
-
-
M/C
Jimmy MARTIN
M/C
79
75
-
-
-
M/C
Alex FOX
M/C
74
80
-
-
-
M/C
Peter GREEN
M/C
78
77
-
-
-
M/C
Ian MACDONALD
M/C
78
77
-
-
-
M/C
Russell MEEK
M/C
76
79
-
-
-
M/C
Brian BARNES
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
Fred HAAS
M/C
75
80
-
-
-
M/C
Mario GONZALEZ
M/C
79
76
-
-
-
M/C
W.D. SMITH
M/C
79
76
-
-
-
M/C
D. CANONICA
M/C
80
76
-
-
-
M/C
Johnny JOHNSON
M/C
73
83
-
-
-
M/C
Maurice BEMBRIDGE
M/C
77
79
-
-
-
M/C
Neil COLES
M/C
79
77
-
-
-
M/C
W.C.A. HANCOCK
M/C
78
79
-
-
-
M/C
Marshall DOUGLAS
M/C
78
79
-
-
-
M/C
J. STIRLING
M/C
81
76
-
-
-
M/C
C.B. THOMSON
M/C
82
75
-
-
-
M/C
G. MACKAY
M/C
76
81
-
-
-
M/C
J.D. DUNLOP
M/C
83
75
-
-
-
M/C
A. ROBERTSON
M/C
78
80
-
-
-
M/C
G.J. WILSON
M/C
78
80
-
-
-
M/C
Malcolm LEEDER
M/C
82
76
-
-
-
M/C
Bernard HUNT
M/C
77
81
-
-
-
M/C
Aldo CASERA
M/C
78
81
-
-
-
M/C
Ken BOUSFIELD
M/C
83
76
-
-
-
M/C
Norman SUTTON
M/C
77
82
-
-
-
M/C
George EVANS
M/C
82
77
-
-
-
M/C
Vivian LAW
M/C
81
78
-
-
-
M/C
H.J. HORENZ
M/C
78
81
-
-
-
M/C
W. LYLE
M/C
74
85
-
-
-
M/C
John MACDONALD
M/C
76
83
-
-
-
M/C
R.B. ANDERSON
M/C
80
79
-
-
-
M/C
Brian ALLEN
M/C
82
78
-
-
-
M/C
Nick JOB
M/C
81
80
-
-
-
M/C
W.R. PATTERSON
M/C
73
89
-
-
-
M/C
Doug BEATTIE
M/C
79
83
-
-
-
M/C
Geoff DONALD
M/C
82
81
-
-
-
M/C
Adrian SADLER
M/C
83
81
-
-
-
M/C
Bob FALKENBURG
M/C
82
82
-
-
-
M/C
W.J. HENDERSON
M/C
83
82
-
-
-
M/C
Robin DAVENPORT
M/C
94
72
-
-
-
M/C
B.W. PATTERSON
M/C
81
85
-
-
-
M/C
A.B. SIMMONDS
M/C
84
83
-
-
-
M/C
G. CHRISTIE
M/C
86
82
-
-
-
M/C