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LeeTrevinocCropped1971

1971 / Royal Birkdale

The 100th Open, played in fine weather at Royal Birkdale, featured two charismatic players of differing pedigrees.

Lee Trevino won the Claret Jug for the first time and, following triumphs at the U.S. Open and the Canadian Open, completed a unique hat-trick of victories within only four weeks.

He was playing in his third Open. Lu Liang Huan, of Chinese Taipei, had been a professional since 1955 and had played in The Open only once before. Doffing his pork pie hat wherever he went, “Mr Lu”, as he was known, immediately became a crowd favourite.

Trevino shared the lead on each of the first two days and led by one from Lu and Tony Jacklin going into the final round. He was in irresistible form early on, with four birdies in the first six holes.

At the turn he led by six strokes, but Lu made birdies at the 13th and 15th holes and then Trevino had a double-bogey seven at the 17th so the lead was down to one at the last.

Both would birdie the last but it was a traumatic finish for Lu as his second shot hit a female spectator on the head. Visibly distressed, he composed himself to take second.

Other than the first day, when Trevino had a 69 to Lu’s 70, the pair had returned identical scores all week: 70, 69 and 70, with Trevino winning on 278.

Jacklin, with three birdies to finish, took third place, ahead of Coombe Hill’s Craig DeFoy. Peter Oosterhuis set a new course record of 66 in the third round but ended with a 76 the next day.

Trevino went on to defend his title the following year, while it was also in 1972 that Lu had his greatest moment, helping his country win the World Cup of Golf.

Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Lee TREVINO
Champion Golfer
1
69
70
69
70
278
-
Liang Huan LU
2
70
70
69
70
279
-
Tony JACKLIN
3
69
70
70
71
280
-
Craig DEFOY
4
72
72
68
69
281
-
Charles COODY
5
74
71
70
68
283
-
Jack NICKLAUS
5
71
71
72
69
283
-
Gary PLAYER
7
71
70
71
72
284
-
Billy CASPER
7
70
72
75
67
284
-
Peter THOMSON
9
70
73
73
69
285
-
Doug SANDERS
9
73
71
74
67
285
-
Kel NAGLE
11
70
75
73
69
287
-
Bert YANCEY
11
75
70
71
71
287
-
Harry BANNERMAN
11
73
71
72
71
287
-
Ramon SOTA
11
72
72
70
73
287
-
Roberto DE VICENZO
11
71
70
72
74
287
-
Dave STOCKTON
11
74
74
68
71
287
-
Dale HAYES
17
71
72
70
75
288
-
Peter OOSTERHUIS
18
76
71
66
76
289
-
Sir Bob CHARLES
18
77
71
71
70
289
-
Bernard HUNT
20
74
73
73
70
290
-
Howie JOHNSON
20
69
76
72
73
290
-
Hugh JACKSON
22
71
73
72
75
291
-
Michael BONALLACK
22
71
72
75
73
291
-
Neil COLES
22
76
72
72
71
291
-
Peter BUTLER
25
73
73
73
73
292
-
Bill LARGE
25
73
75
73
71
292
-
John LISTER
25
74
71
74
73
292
-
Randall VINES
25
75
71
73
73
292
-
Doug SEWELL
25
73
74
74
71
292
-
Malcolm GREGSON
25
71
71
73
77
292
-
Brian HUGGETT
25
73
73
74
72
292
-
Vicente FERNANDEZ
25
69
79
73
71
292
-
Min Nan HSIEH
33
77
70
74
72
293
-
Guy WOLSTENHOLME
33
75
72
73
73
293
-
Christy O'CONNOR SR
35
74
72
76
72
294
-
John GARNER
35
76
74
71
73
294
-
Bernard GALLACHER
37
72
76
75
72
295
-
Tommy HORTON
37
70
72
79
74
295
-
Bruce DEVLIN
37
74
71
75
75
295
-
Walter GODFREY
40
72
79
71
74
296
-
Peter TOWNSEND
40
73
75
75
73
296
-
Eric BROWN
40
75
72
72
77
296
-
Lionel PLATTS
40
78
72
73
73
296
-
Tom WEISKOPF
40
75
73
75
73
296
-
Jimmy KINSELLA
40
74
68
80
74
296
-
John O'LEARY
40
70
75
75
76
296
-
Johnny MILLER
47
72
76
70
79
297
-
Peter ALLISS
47
74
76
72
75
297
-
Bobby LOCKE
49
75
73
74
76
298
-
Donald SWAELENS
49
75
73
72
78
298
-
Valentin BARRIOS
49
72
74
77
75
298
-
Jack WILKSHIRE
49
75
71
76
76
298
-
Steve MELNYK
49
76
74
74
74
298
-
Jack SHARKEY
49
73
75
72
78
298
-
Tienie BRITZ
49
73
78
73
74
298
-
Jack NEWTON
49
73
72
76
77
298
-
Graham MARSH
57
75
73
72
79
299
-
Brian WAITES
58
70
79
72
79
300
-
David SNELL
58
75
75
74
76
300
-
Miller BARBER
60
71
74
77
79
301
-
Roger MANNING
60
73
72
76
80
301
-
Maurice BEMBRIDGE
60
75
73
76
77
301
-
David TALBOT
63
77
72
75
78
302
-
Brian BARNES
64
76
75
73
79
303
-
David RIDLEY
WD
74
76
75
-
-
-
Tadashi KITTA
WD
79
72
74
-
-
-
Clive CLARK
WD
75
76
74
-
-
-
Alistair PALMER
WD
74
77
74
-
-
-
Dai REES
WD
76
75
75
-
-
-
Tomas LOPEZ
WD
77
73
76
-
-
-
Roberto BERNARDINI
WD
73
77
76
-
-
-
Ralph MOFFITT
WD
76
75
75
-
-
-
Jim HISKEY
WD
74
76
77
-
-
-
Paul BOTTELL
WD
72
75
81
-
-
-
Richard LIVINGSTON
WD
76
73
79
-
-
-
David GRAHAM
WD
73
73
82
-
-
-
Francisco ABREU
WD
73
77
79
-
-
-
Chris BAKER
WD
72
78
79
-
-
-
Alan SNAPE
WD
77
72
80
-
-
-
Stuart BROWN
WD
75
76
80
-
-
-
Ronnie SHADE
WD
78
72
82
-
-
-
Simon FOGARTY
WD
78
72
83
-
-
-
Richard DAVIES
M/C
73
79
-
-
-
M/C
John FOURIE
M/C
75
77
-
-
-
M/C
Jan DORRESTEIN
M/C
76
76
-
-
-
M/C
Frank CONNOR
M/C
74
78
-
-
-
M/C
David VAUGHAN
M/C
78
74
-
-
-
M/C
Warren HUMPHREYS
M/C
72
80
-
-
-
M/C
Angel GALLARDO
M/C
79
73
-
-
-
M/C
John PANTON
M/C
80
72
-
-
-
M/C
Norman WOOD
M/C
78
75
-
-
-
M/C
Derek SMALL
M/C
78
75
-
-
-
M/C
Sean HUNT
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
William FERGUSON
M/C
73
80
-
-
-
M/C
John COOK
M/C
79
74
-
-
-
M/C
Peter BERRY
M/C
77
76
-
-
-
M/C
Ian RICHARDSON
M/C
78
75
-
-
-
M/C
Doug MCCLELLAND
M/C
80
74
-
-
-
M/C
Bill EVANS
M/C
79
75
-
-
-
M/C
Frank BEARD
M/C
73
81
-
-
-
M/C
Florentino MOLINA
M/C
75
79
-
-
-
M/C
Frank RENNIE
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Cyril PENNINGTON
M/C
78
76
-
-
-
M/C
Christy GREENE
M/C
80
74
-
-
-
M/C
Joe CARR
M/C
76
78
-
-
-
M/C
David MILLER
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Hedley MUSCROFT
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
Alex CAYGILL
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
Bill HECTOR
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
Peter WILCOCK
M/C
74
81
-
-
-
M/C
Alfiero PELLIGRINI
M/C
79
76
-
-
-
M/C
Richard KEMP JR
M/C
78
77
-
-
-
M/C
Eddie POLLAND
M/C
80
75
-
-
-
M/C
Martin FOSTER
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
Jose CABO
M/C
73
83
-
-
-
M/C
William WILKINSON
M/C
81
75
-
-
-
M/C
Bill MURRAY
M/C
78
78
-
-
-
M/C
Peter GREEN
M/C
78
78
-
-
-
M/C
Tertius CLAASSENS
M/C
82
74
-
-
-
M/C
Jimmy MARTIN
M/C
78
78
-
-
-
M/C
Norman DREW
M/C
76
81
-
-
-
M/C
Max FAULKNER
M/C
77
80
-
-
-
M/C
Vivian LAW
M/C
76
81
-
-
-
M/C
S.G. BIRTWELL
M/C
79
78
-
-
-
M/C
Adam GOUGH
M/C
75
82
-
-
-
M/C
Alan BIRD
M/C
77
81
-
-
-
M/C
Johnny JOHNSON
M/C
83
75
-
-
-
M/C
Alex KING
M/C
75
83
-
-
-
M/C
George WILL
M/C
82
76
-
-
-
M/C
Maurice MOIR
M/C
80
78
-
-
-
M/C
John RICHARDSON
M/C
77
81
-
-
-
M/C
George PARTON
M/C
74
84
-
-
-
M/C
Malcolm GUNN
M/C
76
83
-
-
-
M/C
Keith ASHDOWN
M/C
78
81
-
-
-
M/C
Gary BALESON
M/C
81
78
-
-
-
M/C
Stephen ROLLEY
M/C
85
75
-
-
-
M/C
Robert BROWNE
M/C
79
81
-
-
-
M/C
Peter TUPLING
M/C
83
77
-
-
-
M/C
John BYARD
M/C
84
77
-
-
-
M/C
Jean GARAIALDE
M/C
83
78
-
-
-
M/C
John FOWLER
M/C
79
82
-
-
-
M/C
David LLEWELLYN
M/C
84
78
-
-
-
M/C
Michael GRANTHAM
M/C
80
82
-
-
-
M/C
Guy HUNT
M/C
79
83
-
-
-
M/C
Francis RABAIN
M/C
85
79
-
-
-
M/C
John FREW
M/C
81
83
-
-
-
M/C
James THOMSON
M/C
81
84
-
-
-
M/C
Jose RODRIGUEZ
M/C
84
82
-
-
-
M/C
Simon HOBDAY
Wd
89
-
-
-
-
M/C
Nick JOB
Wd
89
-
-
-
-
M/C

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