| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 10–13 July 1974 |
| Location | Lancashire,England |
| Course | Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club |
| Tour(s) | European Tour PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 71[1] |
| Length | 6,822 yards (6,238 m)[1] |
| Field | 154 players 81 after 1st cut 60 after 2nd cut[1] |
| Cut | 156 (+14) (1st cut) 231 (+18) (2nd cut)[1] |
| Prize fund | £50,000[1] $120,000 |
| Winner's share | £5,500[1] $13,200 |
| Champion | |
 Gary Player | |
| 282 (−2) | |
The1974 Open Championship was the 103rdOpen Championship, held from 10 to 13 July atRoyal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club inLancashire,England.Gary Player won his third Open Championship, four strokes ahead of runner-upPeter Oosterhuis.[2][3] It was the eighth of his ninemajor titles and second of the year; he won theMasters in April.[4] In the other two majors in1974, theU.S. Open and thePGA Championship, Player had top ten finishes.
The use of the larger USGA specification ball (diameter 1.68 in, 42.67 mm) was made compulsory. In previous Opens, players could use the smaller Royal & Ancient specification ball(1.62 in, 41.15 mm).[5][6][7] By 1990, the Royal & Ancient changed the UK Rules of Golf to the 1.68 inch ball.
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 206 | 436 | 458 | 393 | 212 | 486 | 551 | 394 | 162 | 3,298 | 334 | 542 | 201 | 339 | 445 | 468 | 356 | 453 | 386 | 3,524 | 6,822 |
| Par | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 35 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 71 |
Source:[8]
Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):[1]
Wednesday, 10 July 1974
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 |  John Morgan | 69 | −2 |
| Gary Player | |||
| T3 | Bobby Cole | 70 | −1 |
 Danny Edwards | |||
| T5 | Hubert Green | 71 | E |
 John O'Leary | |||
| Peter Oosterhuis | |||
| T8 |  David Chillas | 72 | +1 |
| Neil Coles | |||
 Lu Liang-Huan | |||
| Johnny Miller | |||
| Tom Weiskopf |
Source:[9]
Thursday, 11 July 1974
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Player | 69-68=137 | −5 |
| T2 | Bobby Cole | 70-72=142 | E |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 71-71=142 | ||
| 4 | Danny Edwards | 70-73=143 | +1 |
| T5 | Lu Liang-Huan | 72-72=144 | +2 |
| John Morgan | 69-75=144 | ||
| Tom Weiskopf | 72-72=144 | ||
| 8 | Hubert Green | 71-74=145 | +3 |
| T9 | Al Geiberger | 76-70=146 | +4 |
| Noel Hunt | 73-73=146 | ||
| Jack Nicklaus | 74-72=146 |
Amateurs:Lyle (+10),James (+16), Clark (+21), Burch (+22), Homer (+23), Shaw (+31).
Friday, 12 July 1974
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Player | 69-68-75=212 | −1 |
| 2 | Peter Oosterhuis | 71-71-73=215 | +2 |
| 3 | Jack Nicklaus | 74-72-70=216 | +3 |
| 4 | Hubert Green | 71-74-72=217 | +4 |
| T5 | Bobby Cole | 70-72-76=218 | +5 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 72-72-74=218 | ||
| T7 | Danny Edwards | 70-73-76=219 | +6 |
| Lu Liang-Huan | 72-72-75=219 | ||
| T9 | Johnny Miller | 72-75-73=220 | +7 |
| John Morgan | 69-75-76=220 |
Source:[10]
Amateurs: Lyle (+23), James (+24).
Saturday, 13 July 1974
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Player | 69-68-75-70=282 | −2 | 5,500 |
| 2 | Peter Oosterhuis | 71-71-73-71=286 | +2 | 4,000 |
| 3 | Jack Nicklaus | 74-72-70-71=287 | +3 | 3,250 |
| 4 | Hubert Green | 71-74-72-71=288 | +4 | 2,750 |
| T5 | Danny Edwards | 70-73-76-73=292 | +8 | 2,300 |
| Lu Liang-Huan | 72-72-75-73=292 | |||
| T7 | Bobby Cole | 70-72-76-75=293 | +9 | 1,717 |
 Donald Swaelens | 77-73-74-69=293 | |||
| Tom Weiskopf | 72-72-74-75=293 | |||
| 10 | Johnny Miller | 72-75-73-74=294 | +10 | 1,500 |
53°44′58″N3°01′05″W / 53.7495°N 3.0180°W /53.7495; -3.0180