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1983 / Royal Birkdale

Hitting one of the best shots of his career, Tom Watson won his fifth Open title, putting him alongside James Braid, JH Taylor and Peter Thomson and one behind Harry Vardon’s record six Claret Jugs.

It was his first victory in England and came in fine conditions at a Royal Birkdale course that was receptive to scoring, as Craig Stadler’s opening 64 showed.

Graham Marsh became the first player to score a 64 in the final round to take fourth place, while Hale Irwin and Andy Bean’s eight-under score became the target for Watson to beat.

He had taken the lead after 54 holes but dropped two shots going out and Nick Faldo had briefly taken the lead before dropping back on the second nine to finish eighth, following his fourth place in 1982.

Watson birdied the 11th, the 13th and the 16th holes and needed to par the last for a famous victory. After he drove onto the fairway, he had 218 yards to the flag and produced the sweetest of swings with a 2-iron just when he needed it.

He had wasted no time, just two waggles of the club head, but maintained superb rhythm. “I busted that 2-iron as well as I could hit it,” he said. He two-putted from 20 feet and an historic fifth Open was his.

In other oddities from the week, Bill Rogers holed a 1-iron for an albatross on the first day, Denis Durnian, a club professional from Manchester, set a new record of 28 for the first nine on the second day, missing from 10 feet at the ninth for a 27.

Meanwhile, at the 14th hole on Saturday Irwin stubbed his putter and had an air shot while trying to tap in from one inch. He lost by one.

Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Tom WATSON
Champion Golfer
1
67
68
70
70
275
-
Hale IRWIN
2
69
68
72
67
276
-
Andy BEAN
2
70
69
70
67
276
-
Graham MARSH
4
69
70
74
64
277
-
Lee TREVINO
5
69
66
73
70
278
-
Seve BALLESTEROS
6
71
71
69
68
279
-
Harold HENNING
6
71
69
70
69
279
-
Christy O'CONNOR JR
8
72
69
71
68
280
-
Sir Nick FALDO
8
68
68
71
73
280
-
Denis DURNIAN
8
73
66
74
67
280
-
Bill ROGERS
8
67
71
73
69
280
-
Craig STADLER
12
64
70
72
75
281
-
Peter JACOBSEN
12
72
69
70
70
281
-
Ray FLOYD
14
72
66
69
75
282
-
Mike SULLIVAN
14
72
68
74
68
282
-
Gary KOCH
14
75
71
66
70
282
-
Fuzzy ZOELLER
14
71
71
67
73
282
-
David GRAHAM
14
71
69
67
75
282
-
Bernard GALLACHER
19
72
71
70
70
283
-
Greg NORMAN
19
75
71
70
67
283
-
Hubert GREEN
19
69
74
72
68
283
-
Simon HOBDAY
19
70
73
70
70
283
-
Brian WAITES
19
70
70
73
70
283
-
Tienie BRITZ
19
71
74
69
69
283
-
Jay HAAS
19
73
72
68
70
283
-
Howard CLARK
26
71
72
69
72
284
-
Eamonn DARCY
26
69
72
74
69
284
-
Rodger DAVIS
26
70
71
70
73
284
-
Tom KITE
29
71
72
72
70
285
-
Tohru NAKAMURA
29
73
69
72
71
285
-
Lanny WADKINS
29
72
73
72
68
285
-
Terry GALE
29
72
66
72
75
285
-
Hal SUTTON
29
68
71
75
71
285
-
Chien-Soon LU
29
71
72
74
68
285
-
Michael MCCULLOUGH
29
74
69
72
70
285
-
Jack NICKLAUS
29
71
72
72
70
285
-
Curtis STRANGE
29
74
68
70
73
285
-
Mark JAMES
29
70
70
74
71
285
-
Tony JACKLIN
39
71
75
71
69
286
-
Chris MOODY
39
74
69
70
73
286
-
Kikuo ARAI
39
74
67
75
70
286
-
Ian COLLINS
39
70
75
68
73
286
-
Vicente FERNANDEZ
39
70
72
72
72
286
-
Bob GILDER
39
70
76
70
70
286
-
Manuel PINERO
45
74
72
71
70
287
-
Clive TUCKER
45
73
71
73
70
287
-
Graham BURROUGHS
45
71
74
71
71
287
-
Mark MCNULTY
45
72
69
68
78
287
-
Tim SIMPSON
45
73
69
72
73
287
-
Masahiro KURAMOTO
45
70
74
73
70
287
-
Vaughan SOMERS
45
68
75
71
73
287
-
Tom WEISKOPF
45
73
73
69
72
287
-
Bobby CLAMPETT
53
74
72
71
71
288
-
Sam TORRANCE
53
68
73
74
73
288
-
Larry NELSON
53
70
73
73
72
288
-
Mark JOHNSON
56
70
72
71
76
289
-
Bernhard LANGER
56
67
72
76
74
289
-
Arnold PALMER
56
72
74
68
75
289
-
John O'LEARY
59
74
68
69
79
290
-
Manuel CALERO
59
70
75
69
76
290
-
Ronan RAFFERTY
61
75
67
73
76
291
-
Mike INGHAM
62
71
73
70
78
292
-
Yu-Shu HSIEH
63
71
72
74
78
295
-
Manuel GARCIA
WD
71
74
73
-
-
-
Sandy LYLE
WD
73
71
74
-
-
-
Massimo MANNELLI
WD
75
70
73
-
-
-
Paul HOAD
WD
73
70
75
-
-
-
Manuel BALLESTEROS
WD
73
72
73
-
-
-
Neil COLES
WD
73
72
74
-
-
-
Mike FERGUSON
WD
68
76
75
-
-
-
John BLAND
WD
72
71
76
-
-
-
Ian MOSEY
WD
73
72
74
-
-
-
Peter FOWLER
WD
73
72
74
-
-
-
Paul CARRIGILL
WD
71
75
74
-
-
-
Hugh BAIOCCHI
WD
72
72
76
-
-
-
Wayne GRADY
WD
71
73
76
-
-
-
Warren HUMPHREYS
WD
74
71
75
-
-
-
Paul WAY
WD
72
71
78
-
-
-
Manuel MONTES
WD
73
72
76
-
-
-
Craig DEFOY
WD
73
73
76
-
-
-
Gordon J. BRAND
WD
75
71
77
-
-
-
David DUNK
WD
69
77
77
-
-
-
David THORP
WD
75
71
80
-
-
-
Peter COWEN
M/C
75
72
-
-
-
M/C
Eddie POLLAND
M/C
75
72
-
-
-
M/C
Juan ANGLADA
M/C
75
72
-
-
-
M/C
Gary PLAYER
M/C
76
71
-
-
-
M/C
Philip PARKIN
M/C
69
78
-
-
-
M/C
Tony JOHNSTONE
M/C
74
73
-
-
-
M/C
Gordon BRAND JR
M/C
74
73
-
-
-
M/C
Richard BOXALL
M/C
74
73
-
-
-
M/C
David FROST
M/C
73
74
-
-
-
M/C
Antonio GARRIDO
M/C
70
77
-
-
-
M/C
Peter OOSTERHUIS
M/C
75
73
-
-
-
M/C
Carl MASON
M/C
73
75
-
-
-
M/C
Ken BROWN
M/C
74
74
-
-
-
M/C
Ben CRENSHAW
M/C
74
75
-
-
-
M/C
Des SMYTH
M/C
76
73
-
-
-
M/C
David VAUGHAN
M/C
76
73
-
-
-
M/C
Glenn RALPH
M/C
76
73
-
-
-
M/C
Bob SHEARER
M/C
73
76
-
-
-
M/C
Alan MEW
M/C
75
74
-
-
-
M/C
David GILFORD
M/C
76
73
-
-
-
M/C
Ross DRUMMOND
M/C
72
77
-
-
-
M/C
Nick JOB
M/C
78
71
-
-
-
M/C
Garry CULLEN
M/C
78
72
-
-
-
M/C
Hedley MUSCROFT
M/C
77
73
-
-
-
M/C
Steve HADFIELD
M/C
72
78
-
-
-
M/C
Ian WOOSNAM
M/C
77
73
-
-
-
M/C
Nick PRICE
M/C
76
74
-
-
-
M/C
Jeff HALL
M/C
76
74
-
-
-
M/C
Wayne WESTNER
M/C
77
73
-
-
-
M/C
Pip ELSON
M/C
77
73
-
-
-
M/C
Brian EVANS
M/C
73
78
-
-
-
M/C
Jose Maria CANIZARES
M/C
78
73
-
-
-
M/C
Charlie BOLLING
M/C
71
80
-
-
-
M/C
Jimmy HEGGARTY
M/C
73
78
-
-
-
M/C
Bob LARRATT
M/C
74
78
-
-
-
M/C
Robert MCMILLAN
M/C
75
77
-
-
-
M/C
Torsten GIEDEON
M/C
73
80
-
-
-
M/C
Jaime GONZALEZ
M/C
79
74
-
-
-
M/C
Tony CHARNLEY
M/C
74
79
-
-
-
M/C
Tom PURTZER
M/C
77
76
-
-
-
M/C
David J RUSSELL
M/C
74
79
-
-
-
M/C
Mike MILLER
M/C
70
83
-
-
-
M/C
Malcolm GREGSON
M/C
77
76
-
-
-
M/C
Ian PALMER
M/C
82
72
-
-
-
M/C
Magnus PERSSON
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Mark MOULAND
M/C
74
80
-
-
-
M/C
Jonathan PLAXTON
M/C
78
76
-
-
-
M/C
Martyn THOMPSON
M/C
78
76
-
-
-
M/C
Simon WOOD
M/C
78
76
-
-
-
M/C
Ignacio DELEON
M/C
81
74
-
-
-
M/C
Mike INGLIS
M/C
78
77
-
-
-
M/C
Stephen HAMER
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
Paul THOMAS
M/C
81
74
-
-
-
M/C
Juan QUIROS
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
Ross WHITEHEAD
M/C
78
77
-
-
-
M/C
Ian YOUNG
M/C
78
78
-
-
-
M/C
Keith WATERS
M/C
79
77
-
-
-
M/C
Jeremy BENNETT
M/C
78
78
-
-
-
M/C
Grant TURNER
M/C
80
76
-
-
-
M/C
Nicholas MITCHELL
M/C
77
80
-
-
-
M/C
Gary COLES
M/C
79
78
-
-
-
M/C
John CLIFFORD
M/C
74
83
-
-
-
M/C
Ian RICHARDSON
M/C
74
84
-
-
-
M/C
Richard EMERY
M/C
79
79
-
-
-
M/C
Nathaniel CROSBY
M/C
79
80
-
-
-
M/C
J.A. BUTLER
M/C
83
81
-
-
-
M/C
Simon SHERRATT
M/C
81
85
-
-
-
M/C
Denis WATSON
Wd
85
-
-
-
-
M/C

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