1973 Open Championship

1973 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates11–14 July 1973
LocationTroon, South Ayrshire, Scotland
Course(s)Troon Golf Club,
Old Course
Tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72[1]
Length7,064 yards (6,459 m)[1][2][3]
Field153 players
84 after 1st cut
60 after 2nd cut[1]
Cut152 (+8) (1st cut)
224 (+8) (2nd cut)[1]
Prize fund£50,000
$130,000
Winner's share£5,500
$14,300
Champion
United States Tom Weiskopf
276 (−12)
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Troon Golf Club is located in Scotland
Troon Golf Club
Troon Golf Club
Troon Golf Club is located in South Ayrshire
Troon Golf Club
Troon Golf Club

The 1973 Open Championship was the 102nd Open Championship, played 11–14 July at Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland. Tom Weiskopf won his only major championship by three strokes over runners-up Neil Coles and Johnny Miller, the winner of the U.S. Open a month earlier. Weiskopf was a wire-to-wire winner and his four-round total of 12-under-par 276 matched the then-existing Open Championship record set by Arnold Palmer on the same course in 1962.[4]

Gene Sarazen, 71, made a hole-in-one in the first round at the famous 8th hole, a 126-yard (115 m) par-3 named the "Postage Stamp," due to its small green.[5][6][7] Lee Trevino's bid for a third straight Open fell short, thirteen strokes back in a tie for tenth place.[8]

This was the course's last Open Championship under the name Troon Golf Club; it became Royal Troon Golf Club five years later in 1978,[9] and next hosted in 1982.

  1. ^ a b c d "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 63, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  2. ^ "Nicklaus favored in Open". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. 11 July 1973. p. 16.
  3. ^ "Course card". Glasgow Herald. Scotland. 12 July 1973. p. 4.
  4. ^ "Weiskopf arrives with British Open win". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. 15 July 1973. p. 1C.
  5. ^ "Postage Stamp, hole #8". Royal Troon Golf Club. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Gene Sarazen gets ace in British Open golf". The Day. New London, Connecticut. Associated Press. 12 July 1973. p. 28.
  7. ^ Archer, Ian (12 July 1973). "Gene Sarazen gives Open Championship a touch of class". Glasgow Herald. Scotland. p. 4.
  8. ^ Jenkins, Dan (23 July 1973). "His first hurrah". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
  9. ^ "Now it's Royal Troon". Glasgow Herald. Scotland. 5 June 1978. p. 16.