1961 British Open: Fit For a King
The 1961 British Open was the 90th time the tournament was played. And the winner was a King.
Winner: Arnold Palmer, 284
Where it was played: Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England
Tournament dates: July 12-15, 1961
Leader after first round: Dai Rees, Harold Henning and Kel Nagle, 68
Leader after second round: Dai Rees and Harold Henning, 142
Leader after third round: Arnold Palmer, 212
Notable Notes: One year after making his British Open debut, Arnold Palmer scored his first victory in golf's oldest tournament. Welshman Dai Rees had a share of the lead the first two days, but Palmer's third-round 69 moved him one stroke in front. That was the final winning margin, Palmer by one over Rees.
Final Scores
| Arnold Palmer | 70-73-69-72—284 |
| Dai Rees | 68-74-71-72—285 |
| Neil Coles | 70-77-69-72—288 |
| Christy O'Connor | 71-77-67-73—288 |
| Eric Brown | 73-76-70-70—289 |
| Kel Nagle | 68-75-75-71—289 |
| Peter Thomson | 75-72-70-73—290 |
| Ken Bousfield | 71-77-75-68—291 |
| Peter Alliss | 73-75-72-71—291 |
| Syd Scott | 76-75-71-71—293 |
| Harold Henning | 68-74-75-76—293 |
| Ramon Sota | 71-76-72-76—295 |
| Tony Coop | 71-79-73-74—297 |
| Miguel Angel Martin | 73-79-74-72—298 |
| Reg Knight | 71-80-73-74—298 |
| Sebastian Miguel | 71-80-70-77—298 |
| a-Norman Johnson | 69-80-70-79—298 |
| Paul Runyan | 75-77-75-72—299 |
| Denis Hutchinson | 72-80-74-73—299 |
| John Jacobs | 71-79-76-74—300 |
| Harry Bradshaw | 73-75-78-74—300 |
| Peter Butler | 72-76-78-74—300 |
| Dave Thomas | 71-77-77-75—300 |
| Lionel Platts | 70-80-71-79—300 |
| a-Ralph Moffitt | 73-80-73-75—301 |
| Jean Garaialde | 69-81-76-75—301 |
| Brian Huggett | 72-77-75-77—301 |
| Eric Lester | 71-77-75-78—301 |
| David Miller | 69-79-80-74—302 |
| George Will | 74-75-75-78—302 |
| Brian Wilkes | 72-76-77-78—303 |
| Guy Wolstenholme | 72-80-77-75—304 |
| Henry Cotton | 76-77-74-77—304 |
| John Panton | 73-78-75-78—304 |
| Bill McHardy | 76-76-76-77—305 |
| James Henderson | 72-78-77-78—305 |
| Sam King | 70-77-79-79—305 |
| Eric Green | 75-78-77-76—306 |
| a-Ronald White | 71-79-80-76—306 |
| a-George Low | 76-76-76-78—306 |
| David Snell | 72-81-77-77—307 |
| Frank Phillips | 74-79-76-78—307 |
| Tom Haliburton | 74-79-76-78—307 |
| Fred Boobyer | 74-79-81-74—308 |
| a-Martin Christmas | 71-79-79-79—308 |
| Willian Branch | 77-76-78-78—309 |
| Christy Greene | 77-76-78-78—309 |
