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)
← 1955
1957 →
Hoylake is located in England
Hoylake
Hoylake

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

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First round

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Wednesday, 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

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Thursday, 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

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Friday, 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

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Friday, 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

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  1. ^ a b "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.
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53°23′06″N 3°11′24″W / 53.385°N 3.190°W / 53.385; -3.190