1966 British Open Winner and Scores
The 1966 British Open was the 95th time the tournament was played. It was the first time the Golden Bear won it.
Winner: Jack Nicklaus, 282
Where it was played: Muirfield at Gullane, Scotland
Tournament dates: July 6-9, 1966
Leader after first round: Jack Nicklaus and Jimmy Hitchcock, 70
Leader after second round: Jack Nicklaus, 137
Leader after third round: Phil Rodgers, 210
What Happened in the 1966 Open Championship
Jack Nicklaus turned pro in 1962, and won the U.S. Open that same year. In 1963, he won the Masters and PGA Championship. Which left the British Open as the major yet to be won by the Bear. Nicklaus finished 32nd in his first Open Championship in 1962, then third, second and 12th.And then, in 1966 at Muirfield in Scotland, Nicklaus won the British Open, completing the career grand slam. (And it's no coincidence that the "home course" Nicklaus built in Ohio in the early 1970s is called Muirfield Village.)
Tied for second behind Nicklaus were Dave Thomas and Doug Sanders. Sanders never won a major, and his most famous missed opportunity was a playoff loss to Nicklaus at the 1970 British Open. There, Sanders missed a short putt on the 72nd hole that would have won him the tournament.
Neither Sanders nor Thomas gave this title away; both finished par-par as all three players were tied going into the 17th hole. But Nicklaus birdied the par-5 17th, then parred the last to secure the one-stroke victory.
Nicklaus led at the midway point following rounds of 70 and 67. But late in the third round, Nicklaus stumbled, dropping four shots and falling into second place, two behind Phil Rodgers. But Rodgers dropped back with a final-round 76.
Nicklaus was the fourth golfer all-time to complete the career Grand Slam (wins in all four of the professional majors). He did it one year after Gary Player became the third golfer on the career Grand Slam list. And Nicklaus was just the third golfer to this point to win The Masters and British Open in the same year (Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer had previously done it). This was Nicklaus' sixth career win in a major, and his 19th career PGA Tour win.
Tony Lema, the 1964 British Open champion, played the Open for the final time and finished tied for 30th. Lema was killed in a plane crash about a month later.
There was a change in Open format this year: For the first time, the tournament was scheduled over four days, 18 holes per day.
1966 British Open Final Scores
| Jack Nicklaus | 70-67-75-70—282 |
| Doug Sanders | 71-70-72-70—283 |
| Dave Thomas | 72-73-69-69—283 |
| Bruce Devlin | 73-69-74-70—286 |
| Kel Nagle | 72-68-76-70—286 |
| Gary Player | 72-74-71-69—286 |
| Phil Rodgers | 74-66-70-76—286 |
| Dave Marr | 73-76-69-70—288 |
| Sebastian Miguel | 74-72-70-72—288 |
| Arnold Palmer | 73-72-69-74—288 |
| Peter Thomson | 73-75-69-71—288 |
| Dick Sikes | 73-72-73-72—290 |
| Harold Henning | 71-69-75-76—291 |
| Christy O'Connor Sr. | 73-72-74-72—291 |
| Julius Boros | 73-71-76-72—292 |
| Peter Butler | 73-65-80-75—293 |
| Alex Caygill | 72-71-73-77—293 |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 70-77-74-72—293 |
| a-Ronnie Shade | 71-70-75-77—293 |
| Peter Alliss | 74-72-75-73—294 |
| Roberto De Vicenzo | 74-72-71-77—294 |
| Doug Sewell | 76-69-74-75—294 |
| Eric Brown | 78-72-71-74—295 |
| a-Peter Townsend | 73-75-72-75—295 |
| George Will | 74-75-73-73—295 |
| Keith MacDonald | 75-74-70-77—296 |
| a-Michael Bonallack | 73-76-75-73—297 |
| Denis Hutchinson | 74-73-73-77—297 |
| Bobby Stanton | 73-72-73-79—297 |
| Fred Boobyer | 72-76-77-73—298 |
| a-Bobby Cole | 73-75-73-77—298 |
| Christy Greene | 72-76-76-74—298 |
| Alan Henning | 73-73-74-78—298 |
| Tony Jacklin | 74-76-72-76—298 |
| Tony Lema | 71-76-76-75—298 |
| Dai Rees | 75-72-77-75—299 |
| Barry Franklin | 77-72-79-72—300 |
| Richardo Bernardini | 76-73-73-78—300 |
| Bob Charles | 74-74-77-75—300 |
| David Snell | 73-75-76-76—300 |
| Guy Wolstenholme | 73-76-73-78—300 |
| Cyril Pennington | 74-75-76-76—301 |
| Jock Burns | 76-73-76-77—302 |
| Brian Huggett | 76-73-80-73—302 |
| Hedley Muscroft | 73-75-79-75—302 |
| Bobby Walker | 74-72-76-80—302 |
| Malcolm Gregson | 79-71-74-79—303 |
| Eric Lester | 74-76-74-79—303 |
| George Low | 75-72-79-77—303 |
| Gordon Cunningham | 75-75-76-79—305 |
| John Panton | 78-72-81-74—305 |
| Craig Defoy | 76-73-79-78—306 |
| Vid Miller | 73-77-78-78—306 |
| Frank Rennie | 74-75-81-76—306 |
| Reg Knight | 77-73-77-80—307 |
| Lionel Platts | 74-74-78-81—307 |
| Sandy Wilson | 76-74-76-81—307 |
| Tony Coop | 74-76-79-79—308 |
| Tony Grubb | 79-70-84-76—309 |
| John Carter | 72-77-85-77—311 |
| Bill Hector | 76-72-78-85—311 |
| Lew Taylor | 77-71-78-87—313 |
| Iain Clark | 77-70-86-82—315 |
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