1957 Open Championship

The 1957 Open Championship was the 86th Open Championship, played 3–5 July at the Old Course at St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland. Bobby Locke, age 39, won his fourth and final Open title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Peter Thomson, who had won the three previous titles.

Contents

• First round
• Second round
• Third round
• Final round
• References

The 1957 Open was originally scheduled for Muirfield. However the "Suez Crisis" in late 1956 led to serious fuel shortages in Britain and rationing of petrol. In early 1957, the R&A decided that St Andrews, being served by a railway line, would be an easier place for players and spectators to get to than Muirfield, and so the Championship was moved there. Petrol rationing ended in May 1957 but it was then too late to switch back to the original venue. St Andrews had hosted the Open just two years earlier. Muirfield was allocated the 1959 Championship instead.

Qualifying took place on 1–2 July. Entries played 18 holes on the Old Course and 18 holes on the New Course. With an entry of 295 compared to the record 360 entries the previous year qualifying was in pairs rather than the three-balls used in 1956. The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100. Ties for 100th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 149 and 96 players qualified. Bernard Hunt and Bobby Locke led the qualifiers on 137. The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was set at 50. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut.

There were 15 American entries, many of them amateurs but only four were in the field of 96: professionals Cary Middlecoff and Frank Stranahan finished in the top twenty and the two amateurs missed the cut.

During the first round on Wednesday, competitors playing behind Middlecoff demonstratively complained of his slow play. They officially protested to the R&A, which sided with Middlecoff, who had completed his 18-hole round with Antonio Cerdá in three hours and 18 minutes.

This was the first Open Championship in which the leaders after 36 holes went off last for the final 36 holes. Previously a random draw had been used. Flory Van Donck and Eric Brown, the leading two players after 36 holes were paired together in the final group for the final two rounds.

A mini-controversy surrounded the ending of the championship. Lying two, Bobby Locke was only four feet from the cup on the 72nd hole when he moved his ball marker one putter-head length to avoid the line of fellow competitor Bruce Crampton's putt. After Crampton holed out, Locke forgot to replace his ball to its original position and proceeded to sink his four-foot putt. Only much later were tournament officials made aware of Locke's mistake. The Championship Committee decreed that no advantage had been gained and that the result, and Locke's three-stroke victory, stood.