1967 British Open Golf Tournament Winner and Scores
The 1967 British Open was the 96th time the tournament was played. The winner was from Argentina, and he was, therefore, the first South American golfer to win one of the men's professional majors.
Winner: Roberto De Vicenzo, 278
Where it was played: Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England
Tournament dates: July 12-15, 1967
Leader after first round: Lionel Platts, 68
Leader after second round: Bruce Devlin and Jack Nicklaus, 140
Leader after third round: Roberto De Vicezno, 208
What Happened at the 1967 Open Championship
One year before his infamous goof that cost him a chance to win the 1968 Masters, Argentine great Roberto De Vicenzo earned his first, and only, major championship victory at the 1967 British Open.De Vicenzo was 44 years, 93 days old, which made him the third-oldest winner of any of the men's professional majors at that time. And it made De Vicenzo the oldest winner of the British Open post-1900 (Old Tom Morris was 46 when he won in 1867).
The defending champion was Jack Nicklaus, and Nicklaus shared the lead at the midway point. De Vicenzo shot 67 in the third round to Nicklaus' 71, taking a 2-stroke lead over Gary Player and a 3-stroke lead over Nicklaus into the final round.
And in the final round, De Vicenzo — who had six previous Top 3 finishes in the Open Championship and eight previous Top 6 finishes dating to 1948 — held off Nicklaus' challenge while Player fell back with a 74.
De Vicenzo shot 70 in the final round and Nicklaus 69, producing the final 2-stroke margin of victory. A key moment in the final round was the par-5 16th hole, where De Vicenzo's drive missed the fairway to the right. When he pulled a wood from his bag, signalling a risky attempt to reach the green out of the rough, with out-of-bounds areas menacing, there were audible gasps from the spectators.
But De Vicenzo struck the shot pure, and his ball finished in the middle of the green. He two-putted for birdie. Afterward, De Vicenzo said of the shot, "I play for it, I make it. It was my greatest shot."
It was Nicklaus' second runner-up finish in an Open; he eventually finished second a record seven times in this major. Tony Jacklin, who went on to win the 1969 British Open as well as a U.S. Open, finished fifth. It was his first Top 10 finish in any major.
One year later, De Vicenzo finished 72 holes of the 1968 Masters tied with Bob Goalby. But he failed to notice an error before signing his scorecard. The subsequent penalty cost him the spot in the playoff and a chance to win the Green Jacket.
1967 British Open Final Scores
Roberto De Vicenzo | 70-71-67-70—278 |
Jack Nicklaus | 71-69-71-69—280 |
Clive Clark | 70-73-69-72—284 |
Gary Player | 72-71-67-74—284 |
Tony Jacklin | 73-69-73-70—285 |
Harold Henning | 74-70-71-71—286 |
Sebastian Miguel | 72-74-68-72—286 |
Al Balding | 74-71-69-73—287 |
Hugh Boyle | 74-74-71-68—287 |
Bruce Devlin | 70-70-72-75—287 |
Tommy Horton | 74-74-69-70—287 |
Peter Thomson | 71-74-70-72—287 |
Deane Beman | 72-76-68-73—289 |
Mike Hoyle | 74-75-69-71—289 |
Stan Peach | 71-75-73-70—289 |
Lionel Platts | 68-73-72-76—289 |
Guy Wolstenholme | 74-71-73-71—289 |
Barry Coxon | 73-76-71-70—290 |
Hedley Muscroft | 72-73-72-73—290 |
Doug Sanders | 71-73-73-73—290 |
Christy O'Connor Sr. | 70-74-71-76—291 |
Denis Hutchinson | 73-72-71-76—292 |
Peter Mills | 72-75-73-72—292 |
Kel Nagle | 70-74-69-79—292 |
Brian Barnes | 71-75-74-73—293 |
Robin Davenport | 76-69-75-73—293 |
Barry Franklin | 70-74-73-76—293 |
Brian Huggett | 73-75-72-73—293 |
Fred Boobyer | 70-71-74-79—294 |
Jimmy Hume | 69-72-73-80—294 |
Brian Allen | 71-77-76-71—295 |
Gordon Cunningham | 74-74-73-74—295 |
Doug Sewell | 71-77-74-73—295 |
David Snell | 77-70-73-75—295 |
Harry Weetman | 76-69-79-71—295 |
Roberto Bernardini | 75-74-74-74—297 |
Neil Coles | 74-72-76-75—297 |
Bernard Hunt | 74-73-73-77—297 |
Malcolm Leeder | 72-76-75-74—297 |
David Melville | 74-74-74-75—297 |
Cyril Pennington | 77-72-74-74—297 |
Harry Bannerman | 74-75-74-75—298 |
David Bonthron | 69-75-79-75—298 |
Eric Brown | 74-75-76-73—298 |
Phil Rodgers | 74-73-77-74—298 |
Bert Yancey | 75-73-71-79—298 |
David Butler | 75-74-75-75—299 |
Jean Garaialde | 76-71-78-74—299 |
John Panton | 73-76-75-75—299 |
Jack Wilkshire | 69-78-79-73—299 |
Richard Emery | 73-75-77-75—300 |
Malcolm Gregson | 76-73-73-78—300 |
Sewsunker Sewgolum | 73-75-77-76—301 |
Ken Bousfield | 73-74-79-76—302 |
John Cockin | 71-78-76-78—303 |
Bill Ferguson | 74-74-80-80—308 |
Jimmy Martin | 75-73-80-80—308 |
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