1956 Open Championship

The 1956 Open Championship was the 85th Open Championship, held 4–6 July at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Two-time defending champion Peter Thomson of Australia won his third consecutive Open, three strokes ahead of runner-up Flory Van Donck of Belgium. It was the third of five Open titles for the 26-year-old Thomson.[1]

1956 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates4–6 July 1956
LocationHoylake, England
Course(s)Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Statistics
Par71[1]
Length6,960 yards (6,364 m)[2]
Field96 players, 49 after cut[3]
Cut153 (+11)
Prize fund£3,750
$10,500
Winner's share£1,000
$2,800
Champion
Australia Peter Thomson
286 (+2)
Hoylake is located in England
Hoylake
Hoylake
Location in England

Qualifying took place on 2–3 July. Entries played 18 holes on the Championship course and 18 holes at Wallasey. With a record 360 entries it was decided that, for the first time, qualifying would be in groups of three rather than the usual two.[4] The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100. Ties for 100th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 152 and 96 players qualified. Gary Player and Peter Thomson led the qualifiers on 140.[5] The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was set at 50. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut. Prize money was unchanged with £1,000 for the winner out of a total purse of £3,750.

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 4 July 1956

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1Wales Dennis Smalldon68−3
2Argentina Enrique Bertolino69−2
T3Canada Al Balding70−1
England Eric Lester
Wales Dave Thomas
Australia Peter Thomson
T7Spain Carlos Celles71E
Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo
Spain Ángel Miguel
South Africa Gary Player
Belgium Flory Van Donck

Second round

Thursday, 5 July 1956

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1Australia Peter Thomson70-70=140−2
T2Argentina Enrique Bertolino69-72=141−1
Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo71-70=141
T4Spain Ángel Miguel71-74=145+3
Belgium Flory Van Donck71-74=145
6England Eric Lester70-76=146+4
T7South Africa Gary Player71-76=147+5
Wales Dennis Smalldon68-79=147
T9England Henry Cotton72-76=148+6
England Bernard Hunt75-73=148
United States Mike Souchak74-74=148
United States Frank Stranahan72-76=148
Wales Dave Thomas70-78=148
England Charlie Ward73-75=148
England Harry Weetman72-76=148

Amateurs: Carr (+8), Sharp (+12), Jones (+12), Tate (+14), Shepperson (+17), Thirlwell (+18), Fogarty (+21).

Third round

Friday, 6 July 1956 - (morning)

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1Australia Peter Thomson70-70-72=212−1
2Belgium Flory Van Donck71-74-70=215+2
3Argentina Enrique Bertolino69-72-76=217+4
4England Henry Cotton72-76-71=219+6
T5Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo71-70-79=220+7
Spain Ángel Miguel71-74-75=220
South Africa Gary Player71-76-73=220
United States Frank Stranahan72-76-72=220
9Argentina Antonio Cerdá72-81-68=221+8
T10Scotland John Panton74-76-72=222+9
United States Mike Souchak74-74-74=222

Final round

Friday, 6 July 1956 - (afternoon)

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (£)
1Australia Peter Thomson70-70-72-74=286+21,000
2Belgium Flory Van Donck71-74-70-74=289+5500
3Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo71-70-79-70=290+6350
4South Africa Gary Player71-76-73-71=291+7200
5Scotland John Panton74-76-72-70=292+8150
T6Argentina Enrique Bertolino69-72-76-76=293+987
England Henry Cotton72-76-71-74=293
T8Argentina Antonio Cerdá72-81-68-73=294+1062
United States Mike Souchak74-74-74-72=294
T10Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr73-78-74-70=295+1140
England Harry Weetman72-76-75-72=295

Amateur: Carr (+22).

References
  1. "Thomson wins third straight British Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 7 July 1956. p. 11. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  2. "Smalldon leads British Open, Al Balding tied for third". Montreal Gazette. Canadian Press. 5 July 1956. p. 34.
  3. "Media Guide". The Open Championship. 2011. p. 80. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  4. "New measure in Open golf - Threesomes in two qualifying rounds". The Times. 7 June 1956. p. 3.
  5. "Player and Thomson lead qualifiers in Open - Unexpected failure of Mills". The Times. 4 July 1956. p. 5.

53.385°N 3.190°W / 53.385; -3.190

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