1980 British Open Golf Tournament Results
The 1980 British Open was the 109th time the tournament was played. The final two rounds belonged to Tom Watson, who won this major championship for the third time.
Winner: Tom Watson, 271
Where it was played: Muirfield in Gullane, Scotland
Tournament dates: July 17-20, 1980
Leader after first round: Lee Trevino and Tom Watson, 68
Leader after second round: Lee Trevino, 135
Leader after third round: Tom Watson, 202
What Happened at the 1980 British Open
The final leaderboard at the 1980 British Open was chock full of great names. Lee Trevino finished second and Ben Crenshaw third; Jack Nicklaus tied for fourth and Hubert Green tied for fifth.But none of them were threats after Tom Watson fired a 64 in the third round. Watson's score wasn't the low round of the tournament, or even of the day. Isao Aoki carded a third-round 63, just the second 63 ever posted in a British Open. But Aoki wasn't in contention prior to his great round, while Watson was.
Watson took a 4-stroke lead into the final round, and that's the lead with which he ended the day. His 69 tied the best score of the day, and Watson essentially sealed the deal when he reeled off five birdies in the six holes from No. 7 through No. 12. It was Watson's third Open Championship victory and his fourth win in a major.
Nicklaus and Trevino were both 40 years old, and both were former winners at Muirfield, site of the 1980 Open. Defending champ Seve Ballesteros finished tied for 19th. Arnold Palmer missed the cut, his first missed cut in an Open Championship.
There was a change in scheduling at the Open this year. From 1966 through 1979, the British Open was played Wednesday-Saturday. Beginning in 1980, it switched to the more common Thursday-Sunday schedule. This was the first time the Open was scheduled to end on a Sunday.
1980 British Open Final Scores
| Tom Watson | 68-70-64-69—271 |
| Lee Trevino | 68-67-71-69—275 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 70-70-68-69—277 |
| Carl Mason | 72-69-70-69—280 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 73-67-71-69—280 |
| Andy Bean | 71-69-70-72—282 |
| Craig Stadler | 72-70-69-71—282 |
| Ken Brown | 70-68-68-76—282 |
| Hubert Green | 77-69-64-72—282 |
| Gil Morgan | 70-70-71-72—283 |
| Jack Newton | 69-71-73-70—283 |
| Larry Nelson | 72-70-71-71—284 |
| Sandy Lyle | 70-71-70-73—284 |
| Nick Faldo | 69-74-71-70—284 |
| Isao Aoki | 74-74-63-73—284 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 72-72-71-70—285 |
| John Bland | 73-70-70-72—285 |
| Jerry Pate | 71-67-74-73—285 |
| Seve Ballesteros | 72-68-72-74—286 |
| Norio Suzuki | 74-68-72-72—286 |
| Bruce Lietzke | 74-69-73-70—286 |
| Bill Rogers | 76-73-68-69—286 |
| Mark McNulty | 71-73-72-71—287 |
| Garry Cullen | 72-72-69-74—287 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 72-71-75-69—287 |
| Bill McColl | 75-73-68-71—287 |
| Tom Kite | 72-72-74-70—288 |
| Nick Price | 72-71-71-74—288 |
| Neil Coles | 75-69-69-76—289 |
| David Graham | 73-71-68-77—289 |
| Hugh Baiocchi | 76-67-69-77—289 |
| Tony Jacklin | 72-74-71-73—290 |
| Brian Waites | 75-72-69-74—290 |
| Mark Hayes | 70-73-76-71—290 |
| Tommy Horton | 76-71-71-72—290 |
| John Mahaffey | 77-71-69-73—290 |
| Howard Clark | 72-70-70-78—290 |
| a-Jay Sigel | 72-72-74-73—291 |
| Rodger Davis | 74-70-73-74—291 |
| Sam Torrance | 74-71-73-73—291 |
| Bill Brask Jr. | 74-71-71-75—291 |
| Dale Hayes | 71-70-74-76—291 |
| Toru Nakamura | 76-72-69-74—291 |
| Stewart Ginn | 77-70-70-74—291 |
| Graham Marsh | 73-72-72-75—292 |
| Andy North | 75-72-72-73—292 |
| Mark James | 69-72-75-76—292 |
| Vicente Fernandez | 69-76-71-76—292 |
| Eamonn Darcy | 75-68-73-76—292 |
| Wally Armstrong | 77-72-70-73—292 |
| Antonio Garrido | 74-71-73-75—293 |
| Bob Gilder | 75-71-72-75—293 |
| Bernhard Langer | 73-72-72-76—293 |
| Bob Shearer | 76-71-70-76—293 |
| Simon Hobday | 76-71-71-75—293 |
| Derrick Cooper | 71-70-75-77—293 |
| Harold Henning | 77-71-69-76—293 |
| Manuel Pinero | 72-72-75-75—294 |
| Brian Barnes | 73-71-72-78—294 |
| Bob Charles | 75-71-73-76—295 |
| David Jagger | 72-77-69-77—295 |
| Jumbo Ozaki | 73-68-73-81—295 |
| Peter Tupling | 76-70-73-77—296 |
| Simon Owen | 72-73-72-80—297 |
| Don Bies | 73-74-72-79—298 |
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1979 British Open - 1981 British Open
