1968 Open Championship

1968 Open Championship

Tournament information
Dates	10–13 July 1968
Location	Angus, Scotland
Course(s)	Carnoustie Golf Links Championship Course
Statistics
Par	72
Length	7,252 yards (6,631 m)
Field	130 players 70 after 1st cut 45 after 2nd cut
Cut	155 (+11) (1st cut) 228 (+12) (2nd cut)
Prize fund	£20,000
Winner's share	£3,000 $7,200
Champion
Gary Player
289 (+1)

Carnoustie

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Location in Scotland

Carnoustie

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Location in Angus, Scotland

The 1968 Open Championship was the 97th Open Championship, played 10–13 July at Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland. Gary Player won the second of his three Open titles, two strokes ahead of runners-up Bob Charles and Jack Nicklaus. It was the fifth of Player's nine major titles.

This Open introduced the second cut at 54 holes, used through 1985. In addition, starting with this Championship all past Open champions were exempt from qualifying (though, eventually, an age restriction was placed on past champions).

The inaugural Greater Milwaukee Open was held in the United States during the same week, with a first prize of $40,000, over five times the winner's share of the Open Championship, which was $7,200 (£3,000).

The PGA Championship was played the next week in San Antonio, Texas, the fifth and final time in the 1960s that these two majors were played in consecutive weeks in July. The PGA Championship moved permanently to August in 1969 (except 1971, when it was played in late February) and remained there until 2019, when it moved to May between The Masters and U.S. Open.

Course

Carnoustie Golf Links - Championship Course

Hole	Name	Yards	Par	Hole	Name	Yards	Par
1	Cup	406	4	10	South America	446	4
2	Gulley	468	4	11	Dyke	370	4
3	Jockie's Burn	343	4	12	Southward Ho	473	4
4	Hillocks	429	4	13	Whins	168	3
5	Brae	389	4	14	Spectacles	485	5
6	Long	565	5	15	Lucky Slap	460	4
7	Plantation	386	4	16	Barry Burn	243	3
8	Short	163	3	17	Island	458	4
9	Railway	475	4	18	Home	525	5
Out		3,624	36	In		3,628	36
				Total		7,252	72

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 10 July 1968

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Brian Barnes	70	−2
	Michael Bonallack (a)
T3	Maurice Bembridge	71	−1
	Peter Mills
T5	Billy Casper	72	E
	Bob Charles
	Tony Jacklin
	Paddy Skerritt
T9	Peter Alliss	73	+1
	Billy Casper
	Sebastián Miguel
	Sandy Wilson

Second round

Thursday, 11 July 1968

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Billy Casper	72-68=140	−4
T2	Brian Barnes	70-74=144	E
	Bob Charles	72-72=144
	Tony Jacklin	72-72=144
T5	Jack Nicklaus	76-69=145	+1
	Gary Player	74-71=145
	Paddy Skerritt	72-73=145
T8	Maurice Bembridge	71-75=146	+2
	Dave Thomas	75-71=146
T10	Harry Bannerman	74-73=147	+3
	Michael Bonallack (a)	70-77=147
	Gay Brewer	74-73=147
	Brian Huggett	76-71=147
	Peter Mills	71-76=147

Amateurs: Bonallack (+3), Monguzzi (+8), O'Connor (+12), Sweeny Jr (+12), Shade (+13), Oosterhuis (+16), Saddler (+16).

Third round

Friday, 13 July 1968

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Billy Casper	72-68-74=214	−2
2	Bob Charles	72-72-71=215	−1
3	Gary Player	74-71-71=216	E
4	Jack Nicklaus	76-69-73=218	+2
T5	Maurice Bembridge	71-75-73=219	+3
	Gay Brewer	74-73-72=219
	Tony Jacklin	72-72-75=219
8	Arnold Palmer	77-71-72=220	+4
9	Michael Bonallack (a)	70-77-74=221	+5
T10	Neil Coles	75-76-71=222	+6
	Bruce Devlin	77-73-72=222
	Brian Huggett	76-71-75=222
	Paddy Skerritt	72-73-77=222

Amateurs: Bonallack (+5), Monguzzi (+18).

Final round

Saturday, 13 July 1968

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (£)
1	Gary Player	74-71-71-73=289	+1	3,000
T2	Bob Charles	72-72-71-76=291	+3	1,738
	Jack Nicklaus	76-69-73-73=291
4	Billy Casper	72-68-74-78=292	+4	1,225
5	Maurice Bembridge	71-75-73-74=293	+5	1,000
T6	Brian Barnes	70-74-80-71=295	+7	658
	Gay Brewer	74-73-72-76=295
	Neil Coles	75-76-71-73=295
9	Al Balding	74-76-74-72=296	+8	475
T10	Roberto De Vicenzo	77-72-74-74=297	+9	402
	Bruce Devlin	77-73-72-75=297
	Arnold Palmer	77-71-72-77=297

Amateurs: Bonallack (+12).

External links

• Carnoustie 1968 (Official site)