Tony Lema
Summary
- First major 1964 The Open
- Ryder Cup 2 Cups · 8-1-2 · 9 points (81.8%)
- Runner-up in majors 1 time
Wins
- 1964 The Open Old Course, St Andrews · 279 (-9) · by 5 strokes from Jack Nicklaus
Near misses
- 1963 The Masters Augusta National Golf Club · runner-up to Jack Nicklaus · 287
- 1965 The Open Royal Birkdale Golf Club · finished T5 · 289
Ryder Cup
2 Cups, 11 matches: 8 won, 1 lost, 2 halved, 9 points. Foursomes 3-0-1, four-ball 2-1-0, singles 3-0-1.
Rivals
Beat him
Ryder Cup partners
Ryder Cup opponents
Next in the chain: Jack Nicklaus' rivals →
Moments
- 1964 Open In 65-mph gusts in round one Lema, on caddie Tip Anderson's advice, left out his wedge and played low pitch-and-runs; in round two he drove the 12th green and holed a 30-foot putt for eagle.
- 1964 Open Nicklaus tied the Old Course record with a third-round 66 and closed 68, but Lema - who had played only nine practice holes - finished with a chip-and-run through the Valley of Sin to set up a closing birdie and won by five.
- 1965 Ryder Cup Peter Alliss and Tony Lema each went 5-1-0, the first players to earn five points in a single Ryder Cup.
Records and firsts
- — Ryder Cup Other big single-Cup records (Tony Lema and Peter Alliss 5-1-0 (1965); Jacklin 4-0-2 (1969); Nicklaus 5-1-0 (1971))
Results by championship
Best day
1964 The Open
Old Course, St Andrews · 279 (-9) · by 5 strokes from Jack Nicklaus
In 65-mph gusts in round one Lema, on caddie Tip Anderson's advice, left out his wedge and played low pitch-and-runs; in round two he drove the 12th green and holed a 30-foot putt for eagle.
Nicklaus tied the Old Course record with a third-round 66 and closed 68, but Lema - who had played only nine practice holes - finished with a chip-and-run through the Valley of Sin to set up a closing birdie and won by five.
Chosen by rule: his widest winning margin in a major. Year page: 1964.
Career line, 1963–1965
5 results. Hover or tap a mark; click it for the year.
- Major win
- Runner-up
- Top 10
- Ryder Cup, USA
Tony Lema was born on February 25, 1934, in Oakland, USA. Lema won one major championship: the 1964 Open. Lema played in 2 Ryder Cups for USA (1963, 1965), winning 8, losing 1 and halving 2 of 11 matches for 9 points.
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The record
Wins in the majors (1)
- 1964 The Open Old Course, St Andrews · 279 (-9) · by 5 strokes from Jack Nicklaus
Near misses
Top-10 finishes are listed for The Open, the one championship with a full top 10 every year.
- 1963 The Masters Augusta National Golf Club · runner-up to Jack Nicklaus · 287
- 1965 The Open Royal Birkdale Golf Club · finished T5 · 289
Ryder Cup
Lema played 2 Ryder Cups for USA: 11 matches, 8 won, 1 lost, 2 halved, 9 points (81.8% of those available). By format: foursomes 3-0-1, four-ball 2-1-0, singles 3-0-1 (won-lost-halved).
- 1963 Atlanta Athletic Club (East Lake course) USA · USA won 23–9 · 3-0-2, 4 points
- 1965 Royal Birkdale Golf Club USA · USA won 19.5–12.5 · 5-1-0, 5 points
Partners, with matches played together: Julius Boros (5), Johnny Pott (1), Ken Venturi (1).
Records and firsts
Rows from our record tables that name this player, worded as the tables word them.
- — Ryder Cup Other big single-Cup records (Tony Lema and Peter Alliss 5-1-0 (1965); Jacklin 4-0-2 (1969); Nicklaus 5-1-0 (1971))
Sources
Elsewhere: Wikipedia.
Every fact on this page comes from Golf Network News data sets compiled in October 2026 (Masters, PGA Championship, The Open, U.S. Women's Open, Ryder Cup, PGA Tour 2024–2026, major host sites, Champions Dinner menus, and the U.S. Open and state rooms). These are the sources those rows cite.