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1982 / Royal Troon
Tom Watson won a fourth Open title on a fourth different Scottish links as he reigned supreme at Royal Troon – joining an illustrious club in the process.
His triumph saw him match Bobby Jones (twice), Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Lee Trevino in winning both the U.S. Open, where he beat Jack Nicklaus in another thrilling duel at Pebble Beach, and The Open in the same summer.
Yet Watson only entered the story late on at Royal Troon, which had received its Royal Charter in its centenary year of 1978.
Bobby Clampett, a 22-year-old American playing in his first Open, had a 67 and then a 66 to lead Zimbabwe’s Nick Price by five strokes at the halfway stage.
Two early birdies in the third round put Clampett seven clear of the field with 31 holes to play. Then, the fairy tale turned into a nightmare.
At the par-5 sixth, the longest championship hole in Britain at 577 yards, Clampett found three bunkers and took a triple-bogey 8. A 78 still left him one ahead of Price but a 77 on the final day dropped Clampett into a tie for 10th. Watson had gone along steadily with rounds of 69, 71 and 74.
He had been seven off the lead after 36 holes and three adrift with a round to play. Out in 35, he hit a 3-iron to three feet for an eagle at the 11th and in the deteriorating conditions dropped only one shot coming home for a 70 and four under par.
With birdies at the 10th, 11th and 12th holes, Price led by three but he bogeyed the 13th, had a double bogey at the 15th after hitting his second shot into a bunker and dropped another shot at the par-3 17th.
He shared second place with Peter Oosterhuis. Watson said: “I didn’t win this Championship, I had it handed to me.”
Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Peter OOSTERHUIS
2
74
67
74
70
285
-
Masahiro KURAMOTO
4
71
73
71
71
286
-
Tom PURTZER
4
76
66
75
69
286
-
Des SMYTH
4
70
69
74
73
286
-
Fuzzy ZOELLER
8
73
71
73
70
287
-
Sam TORRANCE
12
73
72
73
71
289
-
Curtis STRANGE
15
72
73
76
70
291
-
Ray FLOYD
15
74
73
77
67
291
-
Denis WATSON
15
75
69
73
74
291
-
Ken BROWN
19
70
71
79
72
292
-
Isao AOKI
20
75
69
75
74
293
-
Tohru NAKAMURA
20
77
68
77
71
293
-
Jose Maria CANIZARES
22
71
72
79
72
294
-
Graham MARSH
25
76
76
72
71
295
-
Bernard GALLACHER
25
75
71
74
75
295
-
David GRAHAM
27
73
70
76
77
296
-
Jay HAAS
27
78
72
75
71
296
-
Mark THOMAS
32
72
74
75
76
297
-
Mike MILLER
32
74
72
78
73
297
-
Larry NELSON
32
77
69
77
74
297
-
Craig STADLER
35
71
74
79
74
298
-
Eamonn DARCY
35
75
73
78
72
298
-
David J RUSSELL
35
72
72
76
78
298
-
Paul WAY
35
72
75
78
73
298
-
Jack FERENZ
35
76
69
80
73
298
-
Brian BARNES
35
75
69
76
78
298
-
Harold HENNING
41
74
74
76
75
299
-
Neil COLES
42
73
73
72
82
300
-
Malcolm LEWIS
42
74
74
77
75
300
-
Terry GALE
42
76
74
75
75
300
-
Bob SHEARER
42
73
72
81
74
300
-
Tienie BRITZ
47
81
70
74
76
301
-
Brian WAITES
47
75
77
73
76
301
-
Roger CHAPMAN
47
75
76
74
76
301
-
Bill LONGMUIR
47
77
72
77
75
301
-
Mark JAMES
51
74
73
79
76
302
-
Sheng-San HSU
51
75
75
75
77
302
-
Manuel PINERO
51
75
75
74
78
302
-
Keith WATERS
54
73
78
71
81
303
-
Martin POXON
54
74
70
78
81
303
-
Mark MCNULTY
54
76
74
76
77
303
-
Peter TOWNSEND
54
76
73
76
78
303
-
Philip HARRISON
58
78
74
74
78
304
-
Michael KING
59
73
78
74
80
305
-
Michael CAHILL
60
73
76
77
80
306
-
Peter DAWSON
WD
78
73
76
-
-
-
Jeff HAWKES
WD
79
73
75
-
-
-
Rex CALDWELL
WD
84
68
75
-
-
-
Warren HUMPHREYS
WD
76
75
76
-
-
-
Joey RASSETT
WD
76
76
76
-
-
-
Chip BECK
WD
75
73
80
-
-
-
John BLAND
WD
80
72
76
-
-
-
Tom KITE
WD
73
76
79
-
-
-
Brian JONES
WD
81
71
76
-
-
-
Paul HOAD
WD
73
79
76
-
-
-
Jeremy BENNETT
WD
74
73
82
-
-
-
Gil MORGAN
WD
74
74
81
-
-
-
Hugh BAIOCCHI
WD
77
75
77
-
-
-
Antonio GARRIDO
WD
75
77
77
-
-
-
Vaughan SOMERS
WD
78
73
78
-
-
-
Tommy HORTON
WD
77
73
79
-
-
-
Brian EVANS
WD
77
72
81
-
-
-
Hubert GREEN
WD
76
75
79
-
-
-
David MATTHEW
WD
76
76
78
-
-
-
Ian WOOSNAM
WD
78
73
80
-
-
-
Simon OWEN
WD
73
77
81
-
-
-
Gordon J. BRAND
WD
77
75
79
-
-
-
Tony JOHNSTONE
WD
75
77
80
-
-
-
Peter TUPLING
WD
75
77
81
-
-
-
Simon BISHOP
WD
76
75
83
-
-
-
Danny EDWARDS
WD
71
81
86
-
-
-
Brian MARCHBANK
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
Carl MASON
M/C
78
75
-
-
-
M/C
Denis SCANLAN
M/C
78
75
-
-
-
M/C
Steven CIPA
M/C
75
78
-
-
-
M/C
Jonathan PLAXTON
M/C
77
76
-
-
-
M/C
Mark JOHNSON
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
Denny HEPLER
M/C
78
75
-
-
-
M/C
Hal SUTTON
M/C
80
73
-
-
-
M/C
Andrew OLDCORN
M/C
79
74
-
-
-
M/C
Ed SNEED
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
Gordon BRAND JR
M/C
75
79
-
-
-
M/C
Robert JAMIESON
M/C
74
80
-
-
-
M/C
W.S.M. ROOKE
M/C
76
78
-
-
-
M/C
Martyn THOMPSON
M/C
78
76
-
-
-
M/C
Jaime GONZALEZ
M/C
78
76
-
-
-
M/C
Peter BERRY
M/C
79
75
-
-
-
M/C
Ian STANLEY
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Mike FERGUSON
M/C
76
78
-
-
-
M/C
Andrew STUBBS
M/C
74
80
-
-
-
M/C
Bruce LIETZKE
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
Pip ELSON
M/C
79
76
-
-
-
M/C
Greg POWERS
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
J. MCALISTER
M/C
79
76
-
-
-
M/C
Graham WALKER
M/C
80
75
-
-
-
M/C
John WILKINSON
M/C
83
72
-
-
-
M/C
Joe INMAN JR
M/C
79
76
-
-
-
M/C
Maurice BEMBRIDGE
M/C
79
76
-
-
-
M/C
Christy O'CONNOR JR
M/C
76
79
-
-
-
M/C
Paul BRADLEY
M/C
75
81
-
-
-
M/C
Gary BROADBENT
M/C
80
76
-
-
-
M/C
Andy ROSE
M/C
79
77
-
-
-
M/C
J. Allan THOMSON
M/C
79
77
-
-
-
M/C
Mike MCLEAN
M/C
81
75
-
-
-
M/C
David JAGGER
M/C
75
81
-
-
-
M/C
Magnus PERSSON
M/C
83
73
-
-
-
M/C
David FEHERTY
M/C
81
75
-
-
-
M/C
John FOWLER
M/C
76
81
-
-
-
M/C
David RAY
M/C
84
73
-
-
-
M/C
Bill PELHAM
M/C
78
79
-
-
-
M/C
Manuel CALERO
M/C
83
74
-
-
-
M/C
Ross WHITEHEAD
M/C
78
79
-
-
-
M/C
Rodger DAVIS
M/C
79
79
-
-
-
M/C
Peter COWEN
M/C
83
75
-
-
-
M/C
Andrew MURRAY
M/C
78
80
-
-
-
M/C
Howard CLARK
M/C
79
80
-
-
-
M/C
Steve MARTIN
M/C
81
78
-
-
-
M/C
Denis DURNIAN
M/C
82
78
-
-
-
M/C
Per ANDERSSON
M/C
81
79
-
-
-
M/C
Hedley MUSCROFT
M/C
81
79
-
-
-
M/C
Ian YOUNG
M/C
82
79
-
-
-
M/C
Keith LOBBAN
M/C
81
80
-
-
-
M/C
Carlo KNAUSS
M/C
79
82
-
-
-
M/C
David WILLIAMS
M/C
81
81
-
-
-
M/C
Jimmy HEGGARTY
M/C
81
82
-
-
-
M/C
Michael HIGGINS
M/C
83
80
-
-
-
M/C
Chris POXON
M/C
80
83
-
-
-
M/C
Nick JOB
M/C
83
80
-
-
-
M/C
Nathaniel CROSBY
M/C
82
84
-
-
-
M/C
Garry HAY
Wd
75
-
-
-
-
M/C
John O'LEARY
Wd
80
-
-
-
-
M/C
Jerry PATE
Wd
81
-
-
-
-
M/C