The 1977 Open Championship was the 106th Open Championship, held 6–9 July on the Ailsa Course at Turnberry, Scotland. Tom Watson won the second of his five Open titles by one stroke over runner-up Jack Nicklaus.[2] The two played together in the final two rounds and had separated themselves from the field under clear skies, leading this Open to be remembered as the "Duel in the Sun." This was the first Open held at Turnberry, which renamed its 18th hole after the duel.[3][4] Three months earlier, Watson had held off Nicklaus to win his first green jacket at the Masters.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6–9 July 1977 |
| Location | Ayrshire, Scotland |
| Course(s) | Ailsa Course, Turnberry |
| Tour(s) | European Tour PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 70[1] |
| Length | 6,875 yards (6,286 m)[1] |
| Field | 156 players 87 after 1st cut 64 after 2nd cut[1] |
| Cut | 150 (+10) (1st cut) 221 (+11) (2nd cut)[1] |
| Prize fund | £100,000[1] $170,000 |
| Winner's share | £10,000 $17,000 |
| Champion | |
 Tom Watson | |
| 268 (−12) | |
In the second round, Mark Hayes rebounded from his opening 76 (+6) with 63 to establish a new single round record at The Open Championship by two strokes. The previous record of 65 was set by Henry Cotton in the second round in 1934 at Royal St. George's and later equaled by nine others.[5][6] Lightning briefly interrupted play in the third round on Friday.[7]
Americans dominated the final leaderboard, filling the top eight spots and eleven of the first twelve.[8][9] The first page of the leaderboard was loaded with future members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
The leader after 36 holes, Roger Maltbie, finished with 80 for 289 (+9), in a tie for 26th place.
The previous year, Watson was defending champion, but missed the 54-hole cut after an 80 in the third round, while Nicklaus finished in a tie for second.
Duel in the Sun
Watson's victory is considered by many to be the finest tournament played in the latter half of the 20th century. After two rounds, he and Nicklaus were one shot out of the lead, in a four-way tie for second, and were paired for the third round on Friday.[6] Both shot five-under 65 for 203 (−7), three shots clear of Ben Crenshaw and six ahead of the remainder of the field after 54 holes.[10][11][12]
Paired again for the final round on Saturday afternoon, Nicklaus birdied twice and was up by three strokes after four holes. Watson birdied three of the next four to pull even at two-under for the round, then bogeyed the ninth hole to fall one back at the turn. Nicklaus birdied the 12th hole to go two strokes ahead, then Watson birdied 13 and the par-3 15th, rolling in a putt from off the green to even up the round at three-under.[13]
After halving the 16th with pars, it was on to the reachable par-5 17th, where Nicklaus missed the green to the right but chipped his third to four feet (1.2 m) from the cup. Watson missed an eagle putt and tapped in for birdie, but then Nicklaus two-putted for par to go a stroke down with one hole remaining. On the 18th tee, Watson drove to an ideal position in the fairway, but Nicklaus went right and into the rough. Watson's 7-iron approach stopped pin-high and two feet left of the flag, and with Nicklaus in trouble, appeared to seal the victory. But Nicklaus slashed his 8-iron recovery onto the front of the green and sank his 35-foot (11 m) putt for a remarkable birdie and a bogey-free 66. Now needing a seventh birdie of the round to avoid an 18-hole playoff, Watson sank the two-footer for his second straight 65, second Open, and third major title. With birdies on four of the final six holes, his total of 268 was eight strokes better than the previous best score in the Open.[3][4]
Watson and Nicklaus finished well ahead of the other challengers, and shot the same score every day, except on Saturday. The third-place finisher, reigning U.S. Open champion Hubert Green, shot a final round 67 and was a distant ten strokes behind Nicklaus, who won his third Open (and third career grand slam) the following year at St. Andrews.[13]
Course
Ailsa Course
| Hole | Name | Yards | Par | Hole | Name | Yards | Par | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ailsa Craig | 355 | 4 | 10 | Dinna Fouter | 452 | 4 | |
| 2 | Mak Siccar | 428 | 4 | 11 | Maidens | 177 | 3 | |
| 3 | Blaw Wearie | 462 | 4 | 12 | Monument | 391 | 4 | |
| 4 | Woe-Be-Tide | 167 | 3 | 13 | Tickly Tap | 411 | 4 | |
| 5 | Fin Me Oot | 411 | 4 | 14 | Risk-An-Hope | 440 | 4 | |
| 6 | Tappie Toorie | 222 | 3 | 15 | Ca' Canny | 209 | 3 | |
| 7 | Roon The Ben | 528 | 5 | 16 | Wee Burn | 409 | 4 | |
| 8 | Goat Fell | 427 | 4 | 17 | Lang Whang | 500 | 5 | |
| 9 | Bruce's Castle | 455 | 4 | 18 | Ailsa Hame ^ | 431 | 4 | |
| Out | 3,455 | 35 | In | 3,420 | 35 | |||
| Source:[14] | Total | 6,875 | 70 | |||||
^ The 18th hole was renamed "Duel in the Sun" in 2003.
Round summaries
First round
Wednesday, 6 July 1977
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Schroeder | 66 | −4 |
| 2 |  Martin Foster | 67 | −3 |
| T3 | Jack Nicklaus | 68 | −2 |
| Lee Trevino | |||
| Tom Watson | |||
| T6 |  Seve Ballesteros | 69 | −1 |
| Gaylord Burrows | |||
| Johnny Miller | |||
| T9 | George Burns | 70 | E |
| Raymond Floyd | |||
| Tommy Horton | |||
 Hsu Chi-san | |||
| Hale Irwin | |||
 Ian Stanley |
Source:[15]
Second round
Thursday, 7 July 1977
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roger Maltbie | 71-66=137 | −3 |
| T2 | Hubert Green | 72-66=138 | −2 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 68-70=138 | ||
| Lee Trevino | 68-70=138 | ||
| Tom Watson | 68-70=138 | ||
| T6 | Peter Butler | 71-68=139 | −1 |
| Mark Hayes | 76-63=139 | ||
| T8 | Seve Ballesteros | 69-71=140 | E |
| George Burns | 70-70=140 | ||
| Howard Clark | 72-68=140 | ||
| Ben Crenshaw | 71-69=140 | ||
| Hsu Chi-san | 70-70=140 | ||
| John Schroeder | 66-74=140 |
Source:[6][16]
Amateurs: Garner (+13), McEvoy (+13), Powell (+13), Carrick (+15), Lyle (+15), Pierse (+16), Wilson (+16), Cosh (+21), Chapman (+25).
Third round
Friday, 8 July 1977
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Jack Nicklaus | 68-70-65=203 | −7 |
| Tom Watson | 68-70-65=203 | ||
| 3 | Ben Crenshaw | 71-69-66=206 | −4 |
| T4 | Tommy Horton | 70-74-65=209 | −1 |
| Gaylord Burrows | 69-72-68=209 | ||
| Roger Maltbie | 71-66-72=209 | ||
| T7 | Johnny Miller | 69-74-67=210 | E |
| Lee Trevino | 68-70-72=210 | ||
| T9 | Raymond Floyd | 70-73-68=211 | +1 |
| Mark Hayes | 76-63-72=211 |
Final round
Saturday, 9 July 1977
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Watson | 68-70-65-65=268 | −12 | 10,000 |
| 2 | Jack Nicklaus | 68-70-65-66=269 | −11 | 8,000 |
| 3 | Hubert Green | 72-66-74-67=279 | −1 | 6,000 |
| 4 | Lee Trevino | 68-70-72-70=280 | E | 5,000 |
| T5 | George Burns | 70-70-72-69=281 | +1 | 4,250 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 71-69-66-75=281 | |||
| 7 | Arnold Palmer | 73-73-67-69=282 | +2 | 3,750 |
| 8 | Raymond Floyd | 70-73-68-72=283 | +3 | 3,500 |
| T9 | John Schroeder | 66-74-73-71=284 | +4 | 2,875 |
| Mark Hayes | 76-63-72-73=284 | |||
| Johnny Miller | 69-74-67-74=284 | |||
| Tommy Horton | 70-74-65-75=284 |
Scorecard
Final round
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Watson | −7 | −6 | −6 | −6 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −9 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 | −10 | −10 | −11 | −12 |
| Nicklaus | −7 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −11 |
| Green | +2 | +1 | +1 | +1 | E | E | E | E | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | E | E | E | E | −1 | −1 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Birdie Bogey
Source:[9]