Royal Liverpool Capsules

HOYLAKE, England (AP) — A capsule look at the previous 11 British Opens held at Royal Liverpool:

Year: 2006

Winner: Tiger Woods.

Runner-up: Chris DiMarco

Winning score: 270.

Margin: 2 shots.

First-place money: 720,000 pounds

Noteworthy: Woods became the first player since Tom Watson (1982-83) to win The Open in back-to-back years.

Summary: One month after missing the cut in a major for the first time, Woods won his third British Open title by seizing control with a 65 in the second round and closing with a 67. He hit only one drive all week on the baked out fairways, and that went on the adjacent fairway. Woods won his 11th major, tied with Walter Hagen. It was memorable for how he broke down and sobbed on the 18th green. It was his first major victory since the death of his father.

___

Year: 1967

Winner: Roberto De Vicenzo.

Runner-up: Jack Nicklaus.

Winning score: 278.

Margin: 2 shots.

First-place money: 21,000 pounds.

Noteworthy: De Vicenzo became the only South American to win a major until Angel Cabrera 40 years later in the U.S. Open at Oakmont.

Summary: De Vicenzo tied Gary Player for a course-record 67 in the third round to build a two-shot lead over Player, with Nicklaus another shot behind. The Argentine was one shot ahead of Nicklaus, who had already closed with a 69, when he played a 3-wood over the out-of-bounds area on the 16th hole and safely onto the green for a two-putt birdie. He closed with two pars for a 70 and finally won the Open after finishing no worse than third in the previous six championships.

___

Year: 1956

Winner: Peter Thomson.

Runner-up: Flory van Donck.

Winning score: 286.

Margin: 3 shots.

First-place money: 1,000 pounds.

Noteworthy: Thomson is the last player to have won three straight British Open titles.

Summary: The two-time defending champion built a three-shot lead going into the final round, and no one could catch him. Van Donck took a double bogey on the second hole and recovered to shoot 74, and Thomson closed with a 74 to win his third straight claret jug. Gary Player made his British Open debut and finished fourth.

___

Year: 1947

Winner: Fred Daly.

Runner-up: Reg Horne, Frank Stranahan.

Winning score: 293.

Margin: 1 shot.

First-place money: 150 pounds.

Noteworthy: Daly was the only Irishman to win the British Open until Padraig Harrington 60 years later.

Summary: Daly was in a four-way tie for the lead going into the final round and struggled to a 38 on the outward nine, but he played strong on the back for a 72, making a birdie on the final hole to post at 293. Horne played well in increasing wind until bogeys on the 16th and 17th, and his birdie try on the 18th lipped out. Stranahan, the American amateur, needed to hole his shot from the 18th fairway for force a playoff, and the approach finished a foot from the hole.

___

Year: 1936

Winner: Alf Padgham.

Runner-up: Jimmy Adams.

Winning score: 287.

Margin: 1 shot.

First-place money: 100 pounds.

Noteworthy: This was the first course over 7,000 yards (7,078) for any major championship.

Summary: Padgham shot 71-71 on the final day for his only Open title. He made a 15-foot birdie on the 18th hole to post at 287, and Adams was the only player who could catch him. He took bogey from a bunker on the 17th, and then needed a birdie on the 18th to force a playoff. Adams had a 35-foot birdie putt that rimmed around the cup and popped back onto the green.

___

Year: 1930

Winner: Bobby Jones.

Runner-up: Leo Diegel, MacDonald Smith.

Winning score: 291.

Margin: 2 shots.

First-place money: $0 (Jones was an amateur).

Noteworthy: Jones won the second leg of his Grand Slam.

Summary: A few weeks after winning the British Amateur, Jones closed with a 75 for a two-shot victory and broke by one the 72-hole record Walter Hagen had set the year before. Jones took a 7 on the eighth hole, but posted early at 291. Diegel was even with Jones through 13 holes, but dropped shots at the 14th and 16th. Smith needed to birdie the last two holes and made par. Jones became the first amateur to win the Open three times.

___

1924

Winner: Walter Hagen.

Runner-up: Ernest Whitcombe.

Winning score: 301.

First-place money: 75 pounds.

Margin: 1 shot.

Noteworthy: Walter Hagen never won the British Open with Bobby Jones in the field.

Summary: Hagen and Whitcombe were tied for the lead going into the final round, but played an hour apart. Whitcombe went out in 43 and closed with a 78. Hagen also went out in 43, and then got word on the 12th hole that Whitcombe finished at 302, and that Hagen would need seven 4s to win. He saved par on the 12th and 13th, then holed a 6-foot putt on the 18th hole for a 77 to win by one.

___

Year: 1913

Winner: J.H. Taylor.

Runner-up: Ted Ray.

Winning score: 304.

Margin: 8 shots.

First-place money: 50 pounds.

Noteworthy: Two-time U.S. Open champion John McDermott was the first American-born player to compete in the British Open.

Summary: Taylor won his fifth Open championship by eight shots, using his low trajectory in gale-force wind to shoot 77 in the third round to build a three-shot lead. He clinched victory on the 14th when his approach landed between two bunkers, and he pitched in for 3 from 50 yards. He closed with a 79, while Ray took an 8 at No. 3 and wound up with an 84.

___

Year: 1907

Winner: Arnaud Massy.

Runner-up: J.H. Taylor.

Winning score: 312.

Margin: 2 shots.

First-place money: 50 pounds.

Noteworthy: Massy is the only Frenchman to have won a major.

Summary: After three straight runner-up finishes, Taylor had a one-shot lead going into the final round but took a 7 on the third hole when he sliced his second into the long grass. He went out in 41 and closed with 80. Massy took control on the outward nine with a 38, and he matched shots with Taylor coming in to win by two with a 77.

___

Year: 1902

Winner: Sandy Herd.

Runner-up: James Braid, Harry Vardon.

Winning score: 307.

Margin: 1 shot.

First-place money: 50 British pounds.

Noteworthy: Herd was the first player using the rubber-core Haskell ball to win the British Open.

Summary: Herd pulled away with a 73 in the third round, then shot 81 in the final round and had to wait to see if Vardon or Braid could catch him. Vardon had a 6-foot putt on the 18th hole to tie, but the ball stopped on the edge of the hole and gave him a 79. Braid was eight shots behind going into the last round, but missed a medium-length putt at the last to shoot 74 and finish one shot behind.

___

Year: 1897

Winner: Harold Hilton.

Runner-up: James Braid.

Winning score: 314.

First-place money: $0 (Hilton was an amateur).

Margin: 1 shot.

Noteworthy: Hilton became the first amateur to win multiple times at the British Open.

Summary: Hilton closed with a 75 in the debut of Royal Liverpool on the Open rotation. Braid had the lead through three rounds, and still had a chance to win with three holes to play. But he went over the par-5 16th and failed to get up-and-down. Needing a 3 on the 18th, his approach came within a foot of the hole, rolling 20 feet by. He missed the putt to shoot 79 and finish one shot behind.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Related topics