1979 Open Championship
The 1979 Open Championship was the 108th Open Championship, held 18–21 July at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. Seve Ballesteros, 22, won the first of his five major titles, three strokes ahead of runners-up Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw. It was the first of his three Open Championship victories; he raised the Claret Jug again in 1984 and 1988.
This was the last Open scheduled to end on Saturday; in 1980 it moved to a Sunday final round, similar to the other three majors.Course
Hole #6 was a par 4 in 2012.
Lengths of the course for The Open Championship :
- 1974:, par 71
- 1969:, par 71
- 1963:, par 70
- 1958:, par 71
- 1952:
Made both cuts
Source:Source:Round summaries
First round
Wednesday, 18 July 1979
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| 1 | Bill Longmuir | | 65 | −6 |
| 2 | Hale Irwin | | 68 | −3 |
| 3 | Jerry Pate | | 69 | −2 |
| 4 | Isao Aoki | | 70 | −1 |
| T5 | Terry Gale | | 71 | E |
| T5 | Peter McEvoy | | 71 | E |
| T5 | Orville Moody | | 71 | E |
| T5 | Lee Trevino | | 71 | E |
| T9 | Hugh Baiocchi | | 72 | +1 |
| T9 | Ken Brown | | 72 | +1 |
| T9 | Dennis Clark | | 72 | +1 |
| T9 | Ben Crenshaw | | 72 | +1 |
| T9 | Gary Cullen | | 72 | +1 |
| T9 | Jack Nicklaus | | 72 | +1 |
| T9 | Tom Watson | | 72 | +1 |
Source:Second round
Thursday, 19 July 1979
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| 1 | Hale Irwin | | 68-68=136 | −6 |
| 2 | Seve Ballesteros |  Spain | 73-65=138 | −4 |
| 3 | Bill Longmuir | | 65-74=139 | −3 |
| 4 | Tom Watson | | 72-68=140 | −2 |
| T5 | Dennis Clark | | 72-69=141 | −1 |
| T5 | Jack Nicklaus | | 72-69=141 | −1 |
| 7 | Graham Marsh | | 74-68=142 | E |
| T8 | Ken Brown | | 72-71=143 | +1 |
| T8 | Bob Byman | | 73-70=143 | +1 |
| T8 | Ben Crenshaw | | 72-71=143 | +1 |
| T8 | Jerry Pate | | 69-74=143 | +1 |
Source:
Amateurs: McEvoy, Player , Hallberg, Hoad,
Bennett, Myers, Guy, Whelan.Third round
Friday, 20 July 1979
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| 1 | Hale Irwin | | 68-68-75=211 | −2 |
| 2 | Seve Ballesteros | Spain | 73-65-75=213 | E |
| T3 | Mark James | | 76-69-69=214 | +1 |
| T3 | Jack Nicklaus | | 72-69-73=214 | +1 |
| T5 | Rodger Davis | | 75-70-70=215 | +2 |
| T5 | Bob Byman | | 73-70-72=215 | +2 |
| T5 | Ben Crenshaw | | 72-71-72=215 | +2 |
| T8 | Isao Aoki | | 70-74-72=216 | +3 |
| T8 | Greg Norman | | 73-71-72=216 | +3 |
| T8 | Tom Watson | | 72-68-76=216 | +3 |
| T8 | Bill Longmuir | | 65-74-77=216 | +3 |
Amateurs: McEvoy , Player.Final round
Saturday, 21 July 1979
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money |
| 1 | Seve Ballesteros | Spain | 73-65-75-70=283 | −1 | 15,000 |
| T2 | Ben Crenshaw | | 72-71-72-71=286 | +2 | 11,250 |
| T2 | Jack Nicklaus | | 72-69-73-72=286 | +2 | 11,250 |
| 4 | Mark James | | 76-69-69-73=287 | +3 | 7,500 |
| 5 | Rodger Davis | | 75-70-70-73=288 | +4 | 6,500 |
| 6 | Hale Irwin | | 68-68-75-78=289 | +5 | 6,000 |
| T7 | Graham Marsh | | 74-68-75-74=291 | +7 | 5,000 |
| T7 | Isao Aoki | | 70-74-72-75=291 | +7 | 5,000 |
| T7 | Bob Byman | | 73-70-72-76=291 | +7 | 5,000 |
| T10 | Bob Charles | | 78-72-70-72=292 | +8 | 4,000 |
| T10 | Masashi Ozaki | | 75-69-75-73=292 | +8 | 4,000 |
| T10 | Greg Norman | | 73-71-72-76=292 | +8 | 4,000 |
Source:
Amateurs: McEvoy
