1981 British Open Results

The 1981 British Open was the 110th time the tournament was played. The story goes that Bill Rogers only played this tournament because his friend Ben Crenshaw talked him into making the trip. So when Rogers took a 1-stroke lead after a second-round 66, it's somehow appropriate that it was Crenshaw in second place. Crenshaw fell away over the final two rounds, but Rogers didn't — he led by five after Round 3 and won by four.

Winner: Bill Rogers, 276

Where it was played: Royal St. George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England

Tournament dates: July 16-19, 1981

Leader after first round: Nick Job and Vicente Fernandez, 70

Leader after second round: Bill Rogers, 138

Leader after third round: Bill Rogers, 205

What Happened at the 1981 British Open

The year 1981 was a pretty good one for Bill Rogers. He won four PGA Tour titles, won once on the Japan Tour, and won twice in Australia. He played for the American side in the 1981 Ryder Cup. He was named PGA Player of the Year. And one of his victories was the 1981 British Open.

Rogers tied for second a month earlier at the 1981 U.S. Open. At the Open Championship, he left no doubt. Rogers opened with a 72, but middle rounds of 66 and 67 sent him to a 5-stroke lead. In the final round, nobody could catch him. Rogers carded a 71 and won by four over Bernhard Langer. Langer was the only golfer to finish closer than seven strokes to Rogers.

Langer, a 2-time Masters champ, never won the British Open; this was one of two runner-up finishes he had. This was Rogers' only win in a major, and he soon experienced a dramatic fall-off in the level of his play.

Jack Nicklaus opened the tournament with a round of 83, the second-highest score Nicklaus ever posted in a major championship. But Nicklaus then shot a second-round 66 — an improvement of 17 strokes — and made the cut.

A fun coincidence: Four Open champions — Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Tony Jacklin — finished tied for 23rd. For both Palmer and Jacklin, it was their last time finishing inside the Top 25 at any major.

This was the first Open Championship played at Royal St. George's since 1949. Hal Sutton finished as low amateur, tied for 47th.

1981 British Open Final Scores

Bill Rogers	72-66-67-71—276
Bernhard Langer	73-67-70-70—280
Mark James	72-70-68-73—283
Raymond Floyd	74-70-69-70—283
Sam Torrance	72-69-73-70—284
Manuel Pinero	73-74-68-70—285
Bruce Lietzke	76-69-71-69—285
Ben Crenshaw	72-67-76-71—286
Howard Clark	72-76-70-68—286
Brian Jones	73-76-66-71—286
Isao Aoki	71-73-69-74—287
Lee Trevino	77-67-70-73—287
Nick Faldo	77-68-69-73—287
Sandy Lyle	73-73-71-71—288
David Graham	71-71-74-72—288
Nick Job	70-69-75-74—288
Brian Barnes	76-70-70-72—288
Eamonn Darcy	79-69-70-70—288
Peter Townsend	73-70-73-73—289
Jerry Pate	73-73-69-74—289
Graham Marsh	75-71-72-71—289
Gordon J. Brand	78-65-74-72—289
Arnold Palmer	72-74-73-71—290
Mark McNulty	74-74-74-68—290
Tony Jacklin	71-71-73-75—290
Simon Owen	71-74-70-75—290
Tom Watson	73-69-75-73—290
Hubert Green	75-72-74-69—290
Nick Price	77-68-76-69—290
Jack Nicklaus	83-66-71-70—290
Greg Norman	72-75-72-72—291
Trevor Powell	75-68-73-75—291
Des Smyth	77-67-73-74—291
John Morgan	77-72-73-69—291
Jumbo Ozaki	75-72-71-74—292
Tommy Horton	75-73-73-71—292
Billy Dunk	76-67-77-72—292
Bob Charles	77-71-71-73—292
Rodger Davis	74-71-74-74—293
Neil Coles	74-73-73-73—293
Seve Ballesteros	75-72-74-72—293
Johnny Miller	71-73-73-76—293
Florentino Molina	78-68-74-73—293
Ken Brown	74-72-74-74—294
Terry Gale	73-73-71-77—294
Ron Streck	78-70-72-74—294
Mark O'Meara	74-73-73-75—295
Jaime Gonzalez	76-70-76-73—295
a-Hal Sutton	71-77-73-74—295
David Thorp	76-69-74-77—296
David Jones	77-71-74-74—296
Brian Waites	75-69-74-78—296
Eddie Polland	75-75-72-75—297
Garry Cullen	78-70-73-76—297
Mike Ferguson	75-72-71-79—297
Noel Hunt	74-73-75-76—298
Warren Humphreys	76-71-74-77—298
John O'Leary	73-74-75-77—299
Payne Stewart	73-75-74-77—299
a-Geoffrey Godwin	75-71-72-81—299
Dick McLean	75-73-72-83—303

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