1956 Open Championship

1956 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates4–6 July 1956
LocationHoylake, England
Course(s)Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Statistics
Par71[1]
Length6,960 yards (6,364 m)[2]
Field96 players, 49 after cut[3]
Cut153 (+11)
Prize fund£3,750
$10,500
Winner's share£1,000
$2,800
Champion
Australia Peter Thomson
286 (+2)
← 1955
1957 →
Hoylake is located in England
Hoylake
Hoylake

The 1956 Open Championship was the 85th Open Championship, held 4–6 July at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Two-time defending champion Peter Thomson of Australia won his third consecutive Open, three strokes ahead of runner-up Flory Van Donck of Belgium. It was the third of five Open titles for the 26-year-old Thomson.[1]

Qualifying took place on 2–3 July. Entries played 18 holes on the Championship course and 18 holes at Wallasey. With a record 360 entries it was decided that, for the first time, qualifying would be in groups of three rather than the usual two.[4] The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100. Ties for 100th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 152 and 96 players qualified. Gary Player and Peter Thomson led the qualifiers on 140.[5] The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was set at 50. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut. Prize money was unchanged with £1,000 for the winner out of a total purse of £3,750.

  1. ^ a b "Thomson wins third straight British Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 7 July 1956. p. 11. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Smalldon leads British Open, Al Balding tied for third". Montreal Gazette. Canadian Press. 5 July 1956. p. 34.
  3. ^ "Media Guide". The Open Championship. 2011. p. 80. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  4. ^ "New measure in Open golf - Threesomes in two qualifying rounds". The Times. 7 June 1956. p. 3.
  5. ^ "Player and Thomson lead qualifiers in Open - Unexpected failure of Mills". The Times. 4 July 1956. p. 5.