1957 Open Championship: Bobby Locke wins at Old Course, St Andrews
Bobby Locke won the 1957 Open Championship at Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland with 279, by 3 strokes over Peter Thomson.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1957 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 3 July 1957 to 5 July 1957
- Course
- Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland
- Edition
- 86th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Purse
- £3,750
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Bobby Locke · age 39 · South Africa · born Germiston, South Africa
- Champion's title
- 4th Open title
- Winning score
- 69-72-68-70 = 279 · won by 3 strokes
- Runner-up
- Peter Thomson (282)
- 54-hole leader
- Bobby Locke (209)
- Low amateur
- Dickson (W.D.) Smith
Top 11 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bobby Locke | 69 | 72 | 68 | 70 | 279 |
| 2 | Peter Thomson | 73 | 69 | 70 | 70 | 282 |
| 3 | Eric Brown | 67 | 72 | 73 | 71 | 283 |
| 4 | Ángel Miguel | 72 | 72 | 69 | 72 | 285 |
| T5 | Tom Haliburton | 72 | 73 | 68 | 73 | 286 |
| T5 | W.D. (Dickson) Smith (a) | 71 | 72 | 72 | 71 | 286 |
| T5 | Dave Thomas | 72 | 74 | 70 | 70 | 286 |
| T5 | Flory Van Donck | 72 | 68 | 74 | 72 | 286 |
| T9 | Antonio Cerda | 71 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 287 |
| T9 | Henry Cotton | 74 | 72 | 69 | 72 | 287 |
| T9 | Max Faulkner | 74 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 287 |
What happened at the 1957 Open Championship
On the 72nd green Locke moved his marker a putter-head to clear Bruce Crampton's line, forgot to move it back and holed a four-footer from the wrong spot; the committee ruled no advantage was gained.
Switched from Muirfield to St Andrews because of Suez Crisis petrol rationing, it was the first Open with the leaders paired last and the final stages shown live on the BBC.
No source names a deciding hole; Locke won by three, then a marker error on the 18th green was ruled to have given no advantage.
How this was built
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's The Open data. A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the organizer's own record is used.
Data: the-open.json (The Open room's data), with GNN's Open Championship addendum tables L (top ten by round), H (deciding hole), W (final-day weather).