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]
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 4–6 July 1956 |
| Location | Hoylake, England |
| Course(s) | Royal Liverpool Golf Club |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 71[1] |
| Length | 6,960 yards (6,364 m)[2] |
| Field | 96 players, 49 after cut[3] |
| Cut | 153 (+11) |
| Prize fund | £3,750 $10,500 |
| Winner's share | £1,000 $2,800 |
| Champion | |
 Peter Thomson | |
| 286 (+2) | |
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
editFirst round
editWednesday, 4 July 1956
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Dennis Smalldon |
68 | −3 |
| 2 |  Enrique Bertolino |
69 | −2 |
| T3 |  Al Balding |
70 | −1 |
 Eric Lester
| |||
| Dave Thomas
| |||
| Peter Thomson
| |||
| T7 |  Carlos Celles |
71 | E |
| Roberto De Vicenzo
| |||
| Ángel Miguel
| |||
 Gary Player
| |||
 Flory Van Donck
|
Second round
editThursday, 5 July 1956
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Thomson |
70-70=140 | −2 |
| T2 | Enrique Bertolino |
69-72=141 | −1 |
| Roberto De Vicenzo |
71-70=141 | ||
| T4 | Ángel Miguel |
71-74=145 | +3 |
| Flory Van Donck |
71-74=145 | ||
| 6 | Eric Lester |
70-76=146 | +4 |
| T7 | Gary Player |
71-76=147 | +5 |
| Dennis Smalldon |
68-79=147 | ||
| T9 | Henry Cotton |
72-76=148 | +6 |
| Bernard Hunt |
75-73=148 | ||
 Mike Souchak |
74-74=148 | ||
| Frank Stranahan |
72-76=148 | ||
| Dave Thomas |
70-78=148 | ||
| Charlie Ward |
73-75=148 | ||
| Harry Weetman |
72-76=148 |
Amateurs: Carr (+8), Sharp (+12), Jones (+12), Tate (+14), Shepperson (+17), Thirlwell (+18), Fogarty (+21).
Third round
editFriday, 6 July 1956 - (morning)
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Thomson |
70-70-72=212 | −1 |
| 2 | Flory Van Donck |
71-74-70=215 | +2 |
| 3 | Enrique Bertolino |
69-72-76=217 | +4 |
| 4 | Henry Cotton |
72-76-71=219 | +6 |
| T5 | Roberto De Vicenzo |
71-70-79=220 | +7 |
| Ángel Miguel |
71-74-75=220 | ||
| Gary Player |
71-76-73=220 | ||
| Frank Stranahan |
72-76-72=220 | ||
| 9 | Antonio Cerdá |
72-81-68=221 | +8 |
| T10 |  John Panton |
74-76-72=222 | +9 |
| Mike Souchak |
74-74-74=222 |
Final round
editFriday, 6 July 1956 - (afternoon)
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Thomson |
70-70-72-74=286 | +2 | 1,000 |
| 2 | Flory Van Donck |
71-74-70-74=289 | +5 | 500 |
| 3 | Roberto De Vicenzo |
71-70-79-70=290 | +6 | 350 |
| 4 | Gary Player |
71-76-73-71=291 | +7 | 200 |
| 5 | John Panton |
74-76-72-70=292 | +8 | 150 |
| T6 | Enrique Bertolino |
69-72-76-76=293 | +9 | 87 |
| Henry Cotton |
72-76-71-74=293 | |||
| T8 | Antonio Cerdá |
72-81-68-73=294 | +10 | 62 |
| Mike Souchak |
74-74-74-72=294 | |||
| T10 |  Christy O'Connor Snr |
73-78-74-70=295 | +11 | 40 |
| Harry Weetman |
72-76-75-72=295 |
Amateur: Carr (+22).
References
edit- ^ a b "Thomson wins third straight British Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 7 July 1956. p. 11. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
- ^ "Smalldon leads British Open, Al Balding tied for third". Montreal Gazette. Canadian Press. 5 July 1956. p. 34.
- ^ "Media Guide". The Open Championship. 2011. p. 80. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ^ "New measure in Open golf - Threesomes in two qualifying rounds". The Times. 7 June 1956. p. 3.
- ^ "Player and Thomson lead qualifiers in Open - Unexpected failure of Mills". The Times. 4 July 1956. p. 5.