A look at British Opens held at Royal Lytham
Saturday - 7/14/2012, 12:02am ET
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
(AP) - A capsule look at the 10 previous British Opens held at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, where the 141st British Open will be played July 19-22:
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YEAR: 2001
WINNER: David Duval
SCORE: 274
RUNNER-UP: Niclas Fasth
MARGIN: 3 shots
EARNINGS: 600,000 pounds.
RECAP: No one paid close attention to David Duval until his 65 early Saturday, which was followed by calamity on the course from so many others. At the end of the day, Duval was among four players tied for the lead, with 13 players separated by only one shot going into the final round. One of them was Ian Woosnam, who tapped in for birdie on the opening hole, only to discover on the next tee box he had an extra driver _ making that 15 clubs _ in his bag and was assessed a two-shot penalty. Duval established himself quickly with three birdies on the outward nine, and a collection of good par saves as his challengers faded. Darren Clarke lost hope with a double bogey from the bunker on the 17th. Duval wound up with a three-shot win for his first _ and as it turned out, only _ major championship.
NOTEWORTHY: Duval's win meant that all 11 players to reach No. 1 in the world ranking had won a major championship.
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YEAR: 1996
WINNER: Tom Lehman
SCORE: 271.
RUNNER-UP: Ernie Els, Mark McCumber
MARGIN: 2 shots
EARNINGS: 200,000 pounds.
RECAP: Tom Lehman became the first American professional to win at Royal Lytham with a command performance. He set a 54-hole record at 198 that put him too far ahead for anyone to catch him _ not that Nick Faldo didn't have his chances. Three months after Faldo came from six shots behind to beat Greg Norman at the Masters, he was poised to do it again. His putter, however, refused to cooperate. Faldo missed four putts from inside 7 feet. Lehman was challenged briefly by Ernie Els and Mark McCumber, but he held on to win by two shots. It was the fourth time Lehman had been in contention in the last 10 majors. Jack Nicklaus, at 56, was within one shot of Lehman going into the weekend until a 77 in the third round dropped him from contention.
NOTEWORTHY: Tiger Woods, a 20-year-old at Stanford had a 66 in the second round and tied for 22nd. This was his last major as an amateur.
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YEAR: 1988
WINNER: Seve Ballesteros
SCORE: 273
RUNNER-UP: Nick Price
MARGIN: 2 shots
EARNINGS: 80,000 pounds
RECAP: This was the final major for Ballesteros, and an Open remembered as much for the star power on the leaderboard as the decisive shot by the Spaniard. He had to hold off Nick Price, Nick Faldo and Fred Couples. Price and Faldo were tied going into the final round, but Ballesteros quickly made up the two-shot deficit as Faldo faltered. The turning point again came on the 16th hole. Instead of hitting into a car park, however, Ballesteros drilled a 1-iron into the fairway, and then followed with a 9-iron that settled 3 inches from the cup for a birdie that broke the tie. He closed with a 65, effectively clinching the win with a pitch that stopped a foot from the cup. Heavy rain led to the first Monday finish in Open Championship history.
NOTEWORTHY: Ballesteros became the only player in British Open history to win the claret jug on Saturday (1979), Sunday (1984) and Monday (1988).
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YEAR: 1979
WINNER: Seve Ballesteros
SCORE: 283
RUNNER-UP: Ben Crenshaw, Jack Nicklaus
MARGIN: 3 shots
EARNINGS: 15,000 pounds
RECAP: Seve Ballesteros captured his first major championship and launched the legend of his charismatic game over four thrill-seeking days. He was eight shots behind after the first round before the Spaniard clawed his way back until he was only two adrift of Hale Irwin going into the final round. Ballesteros hit driver nine times in the fourth round and only once found the fairway. No matter. He recovered time after time, no shot more memorable than the 16th when he drove into an overflow car park. Given relief, his second shot finished on the edge of the green, and he holed a 30-footer for birdie. Some referred to him as the "Car Park Champion," though most knew better. This was a gifted player who went on to capture the claret jug twice more, along with two green jackets from the Masters.
NOTEWORTHY: Ballesteros became the first continental European to win the claret jug since Arnaud Massy of France in 1907.
