Skip to main content
Basket
Our patrons
Your Cookies

Accepting all cookies will ensure you have the best experience possible when visiting TheOpen.com.

Some of these cookies are necessary to make our site work, while others help us to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used.

Manage your cookie settings
Cookie Policy
Jack Nicklaus

1978 / St Andrews

Just to add to his lengthy list of accomplishments, Jack Nicklaus became the first player in the modern era to win two Opens at St Andrews, and the fourth in all after Bob Martin, JH Taylor and James Braid.

His third Open title, and 15th major, came a year after his “Duel in the Sun” with Tom Watson at Turnberry and it was the defending Champion Golfer who led, alongside Peter Oosterhuis, with a round to play.

Following a switch in the wind, so that it was against going out and behind coming home for the final round, Watson surprisingly slipped out of contention with a 76 and Oosterhuis had a 73.

Instead, The Open seemed to be between Nicklaus and Simon Owen, both of whom had started one behind.

Owen was a tall New Zealander who had pre-qualified, but with three birdies around the “Loop” and two more at the 14th and the 15th, where he chipped in, he became an unlikely new leader.

However, at the 16th there was a two-shot swing in favour of Nicklaus, and Owen had a second bogey in a row when he went onto the road over the green at the 17th.

Nicklaus made three birdies in his closing 69, but, crucially, he did not drop a stroke and won on a total of 281 by two from Owen, Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite.

Isao Aoki had been among the leaders for the first two days and fellow Japanese player Tommy Nakajima had a putt at the 17th to tie the lead in the third round only to putt into the Road Hole Bunker.

After four strokes to escape, he took a nine and the treacherous bunker became known as the “Sands of Nakajima”. So popular was this Open that the attendance record was broken by the end of the third day.

Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Jack NICKLAUS
Champion Golfer
1
71
72
69
69
281
-
Simon OWEN
2
70
75
67
71
283
-
Ray FLOYD
2
69
75
71
68
283
-
Tom KITE
2
72
69
72
70
283
-
Ben CRENSHAW
2
70
69
73
71
283
-
Peter OOSTERHUIS
6
72
70
69
73
284
-
Bob SHEARER
7
71
69
74
71
285
-
Isao AOKI
7
68
71
73
73
285
-
Sir Nick FALDO
7
71
72
70
72
285
-
John SCHROEDER
7
74
69
70
72
285
-
Orville MOODY
11
73
69
74
70
286
-
Michael CAHILL
11
71
72
75
68
286
-
Dale HAYES
11
74
70
71
71
286
-
Masashi OZAKI
14
72
69
75
71
287
-
Mark HAYES
14
70
75
75
67
287
-
Tom WATSON
14
73
68
70
76
287
-
Seve BALLESTEROS
17
69
70
76
73
288
-
Tsuneyuki NAKAJIMA
17
70
71
76
71
288
-
Bob BYMAN
17
72
69
74
73
288
-
Tom WEISKOPF
17
69
72
72
75
288
-
Guy HUNT
17
71
73
71
73
288
-
Nick JOB
22
73
75
68
73
289
-
Bernard GALLACHER
22
72
71
76
70
289
-
Peter THOMSON
24
72
70
72
76
290
-
Antonio GARRIDO
24
73
71
76
70
290
-
Hale IRWIN
24
75
71
76
68
290
-
Jack NEWTON
24
69
76
71
74
290
-
Carl MASON
24
70
74
72
74
290
-
Tienie BRITZ
29
73
74
72
72
291
-
John MORGAN
29
74
68
77
72
291
-
Hubert GREEN
29
78
70
67
76
291
-
Lee TREVINO
29
75
72
73
71
291
-
Greg NORMAN
29
72
73
74
72
291
-
Brian BARNES
34
71
74
75
72
292
-
Arnold PALMER
34
71
71
75
75
292
-
Garry CULLEN
34
73
67
79
73
292
-
Gary PLAYER
34
74
71
76
71
292
-
Ken BROWN
34
73
72
71
76
292
-
Peter MCEVOY
39
71
74
76
72
293
-
Nick PRICE
39
74
73
74
72
293
-
Mike KRANTZ
39
75
72
75
71
293
-
David GRAHAM
39
73
74
70
76
293
-
Guy WOLSTENHOLME
39
73
74
71
75
293
-
Manuel BALLESTEROS
44
73
71
74
76
294
-
Howard CLARK
44
70
75
73
76
294
-
Francisco ABREU
44
73
73
76
72
294
-
Mike MILLER
44
70
74
74
76
294
-
Sir Bob CHARLES
48
73
70
79
73
295
-
Allan BRODIE
48
73
72
75
75
295
-
Andy BEAN
48
72
76
72
75
295
-
Neil COLES
48
71
73
73
78
295
-
Vaughan SOMERS
52
72
72
76
76
296
-
Rocky THOMPSON
52
73
73
76
74
296
-
Bill LONGMUIR
52
75
71
75
75
296
-
David GOOD
52
75
73
74
74
296
-
Simon HOBDAY
52
73
71
77
75
296
-
Rodger DAVIS
52
73
72
73
78
296
-
John BLAND
52
72
73
77
74
296
-
Peter BUTLER
59
71
74
75
77
297
-
Bob WYNN
60
73
72
76
77
298
-
Geoff GODWIN
60
74
73
75
76
298
-
Peter DAWSON
62
75
72
75
77
299
-
Ewen MURRAY
63
76
70
76
78
300
-
Jerry PATE
Wd
76
72
74
-
-
-
Noel HUNT
WD
73
74
76
-
-
-
Baldovino DASSU
WD
71
77
75
-
-
-
Martin POXON
WD
75
71
77
-
-
-
Manuel PINERO
WD
72
72
79
-
-
-
Denis DURNIAN
WD
73
74
76
-
-
-
Noel RATCLIFFE
WD
72
72
79
-
-
-
Brian HUGGETT
WD
71
77
75
-
-
-
Florentino MOLINA
WD
76
72
75
-
-
-
Mark JAMES
WD
74
74
76
-
-
-
George BURNS III
WD
73
71
80
-
-
-
Sam TORRANCE
WD
71
75
78
-
-
-
Doug MCCLELLAND
WD
76
71
77
-
-
-
Hugh BAIOCCHI
WD
73
75
77
-
-
-
David JONES
WD
72
72
81
-
-
-
Vince BAKER
WD
73
75
77
-
-
-
David DUNK
WD
74
72
80
-
-
-
Liam HIGGINS
M/C
75
74
-
-
-
M/C
Silvano LOCATELLI
M/C
76
73
-
-
-
M/C
Eamonn DARCY
M/C
78
71
-
-
-
M/C
Peter TOWNSEND
M/C
73
76
-
-
-
M/C
Craig DEFOY
M/C
76
73
-
-
-
M/C
Tony JACKLIN
M/C
75
74
-
-
-
M/C
Terry HEALY
M/C
74
75
-
-
-
M/C
Peter TUPLING
M/C
76
73
-
-
-
M/C
Lanny WADKINS
M/C
76
73
-
-
-
M/C
Paddy SKERRITT
M/C
74
75
-
-
-
M/C
Paul GALLAGHER
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
Jim FARMER
M/C
76
74
-
-
-
M/C
A.L. EVANGELISTA
M/C
74
76
-
-
-
M/C
Masahiro KURAMOTO
M/C
72
78
-
-
-
M/C
Christy O'CONNOR JR
M/C
76
74
-
-
-
M/C
Ed SNEED
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
Malcolm GREGSON
M/C
77
73
-
-
-
M/C
Roberto DE VICENZO
M/C
72
78
-
-
-
M/C
Bill LOCKIE
M/C
79
71
-
-
-
M/C
Vince HOOD
M/C
73
77
-
-
-
M/C
Graham MARSH
M/C
73
77
-
-
-
M/C
John FOURIE
M/C
77
73
-
-
-
M/C
Johnny MILLER
M/C
73
77
-
-
-
M/C
Ian STANLEY
M/C
73
77
-
-
-
M/C
Sandy LYLE
M/C
72
78
-
-
-
M/C
Bernhard LANGER
M/C
78
73
-
-
-
M/C
David JAGGER
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Peter COWEN
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Pip ELSON
M/C
78
73
-
-
-
M/C
Clive TUCKER
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Tim GILES
M/C
75
76
-
-
-
M/C
Robin FYFE
M/C
75
76
-
-
-
M/C
Gunnar MUELLER
M/C
77
75
-
-
-
M/C
Deray SIMON
M/C
75
77
-
-
-
M/C
Carlos ORDONEZ
M/C
75
77
-
-
-
M/C
Butch BAIRD
M/C
78
74
-
-
-
M/C
Joe JIMINEZ
M/C
77
75
-
-
-
M/C
Bill KRATZERT
M/C
76
76
-
-
-
M/C
Richard EMERY
M/C
78
74
-
-
-
M/C
Angel GALLARDO
M/C
74
78
-
-
-
M/C
David VAUGHAN
M/C
74
78
-
-
-
M/C
Robert JAMIESON
M/C
75
77
-
-
-
M/C
Malcolm LEWIS
M/C
74
78
-
-
-
M/C
Michael KING
M/C
81
72
-
-
-
M/C
Jeff THOMSEN
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
Alastair WEBSTER
M/C
81
72
-
-
-
M/C
Clive BONNER
M/C
74
80
-
-
-
M/C
Graham COWLEY
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Chris TICKNER
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Tommy HORTON
M/C
79
75
-
-
-
M/C
John POWELL
M/C
78
76
-
-
-
M/C
David ROBERTSON
M/C
75
79
-
-
-
M/C
Peter HEDGES
M/C
75
80
-
-
-
M/C
Peter BERRY
M/C
79
76
-
-
-
M/C
Tom MELVILLE
M/C
75
80
-
-
-
M/C
Mike INGHAM
M/C
75
80
-
-
-
M/C
Peter WILCOCK
M/C
77
79
-
-
-
M/C
D. BROWNLEE
M/C
80
76
-
-
-
M/C
Roddy WATKINS
M/C
78
78
-
-
-
M/C
Adan SOWA
M/C
79
77
-
-
-
M/C
Bill REID
M/C
82
75
-
-
-
M/C
Teruo SUGIHARA
M/C
84
73
-
-
-
M/C
Andrew CHANDLER
M/C
80
77
-
-
-
M/C
Stewart GINN
M/C
77
80
-
-
-
M/C
Grant TURNER
M/C
77
81
-
-
-
M/C
David J RUSSELL
M/C
82
76
-
-
-
M/C
Richard FISH
M/C
78
80
-
-
-
M/C
Colin MCLACHLAN
M/C
78
80
-
-
-
M/C
George LEVEN
M/C
79
80
-
-
-
M/C
Kel NAGLE
M/C
76
83
-
-
-
M/C
Massimo MANELLI
M/C
82
78
-
-
-
M/C
Antonio TRILLINI
M/C
80
80
-
-
-
M/C
Keith WALTERS
M/C
79
81
-
-
-
M/C
Bobby LOCKE
M/C
83
80
-
-
-
M/C
Johnny JOHNSON
M/C
81
82
-
-
-
M/C

Latest from the open

See more