1958 Open Championship: Peter Thomson wins at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
Peter Thomson won the 1958 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, England with 278, beating Dave Thomas in a playoff.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1958 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 2 July 1958 to 5 July 1958
- Course
- Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, England
- Edition
- 87th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Field
- 96
- Made the cut
- 40 (cut at 147)
- Purse
- £4,850
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Peter Thomson · age 28 · Australia · born Brunswick (Melbourne), Australia
- Champion's title
- 4th Open title
- Winning score
- 66-72-67-73 = 278
- Runner-up
- Dave Thomas (278)
- 54-hole leader
- Peter Thomson (205)
- Playoff
- 36-hole stroke play; beat Dave Thomas; Thomson 139 (68-71); Thomas 143 (69-74)
- Low amateur
- Joe Carr
Top 10 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Thomson | 66 | 72 | 67 | 73 | 278 |
| 2 | Dave Thomas | 70 | 68 | 69 | 71 | 278 |
| T3 | Eric Brown | 73 | 70 | 65 | 71 | 279 |
| T3 | Christy O'Connor Snr | 67 | 68 | 73 | 71 | 279 |
| T5 | Leopoldo Ruiz | 71 | 65 | 72 | 73 | 281 |
| T5 | Flory Van Donck | 70 | 70 | 67 | 74 | 281 |
| 7 | Gary Player | 68 | 74 | 70 | 71 | 283 |
| T8 | Henry Cotton | 68 | 75 | 69 | 72 | 284 |
| T8 | Harry Weetman | 73 | 67 | 73 | 71 | 284 |
| T8 | Eric Lester | 73 | 66 | 71 | 74 | 284 |
What happened at the 1958 Open Championship
On the 72nd green Thomson had a putt of about 10-12 feet to win outright and missed it, setting up a tie with Thomas at a record-low 278.
Eric Brown and Christy O'Connor both drove into the bunker off the 18th tee, costing a 6 and a 5 and missing the playoff by one, while Leopoldo Ruiz took 7 there.
Thomson beat Dave Thomas 139 to 143 over 36 holes, pulling away over holes 8 to 11 of the afternoon round; no source names a single playoff hole.
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).