1960 Open Championship: Kel Nagle wins at Old Course, St Andrews
Kel Nagle won the 1960 Open Championship at Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland with 278, by 1 stroke over Arnold Palmer.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1960 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 6 July 1960 to 9 July 1960
- Course
- Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland
- Edition
- 89th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Field
- 74
- Made the cut
- 47
- Purse
- £7,000
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Kel Nagle · age 39 · Australia · born North Sydney, Australia
- Champion's title
- 1st Open title
- Winning score
- 69-67-71-71 = 278 · won by 1 stroke
- Runner-up
- Arnold Palmer (279)
- 54-hole leader
- Kel Nagle (207)
- Deciding hole
- No. 18, round 4
- Low amateur
- Guy Wolstenholme (283)
Top 14 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kel Nagle | 69 | 67 | 71 | 71 | 278 |
| 2 | Arnold Palmer | 70 | 71 | 70 | 68 | 279 |
| T3 | Bernard Hunt | 72 | 73 | 71 | 66 | 282 |
| T3 | Harold Henning | 72 | 72 | 69 | 69 | 282 |
| T3 | Roberto De Vicenzo | 67 | 67 | 75 | 73 | 282 |
| 6 | Guy Wolstenholme (a) | 74 | 70 | 71 | 68 | 283 |
| 7 | Gary Player | 72 | 71 | 72 | 69 | 284 |
| 8 | Joe Carr (a) | 72 | 73 | 67 | 73 | 285 |
| T9 | Eric Brown | 75 | 68 | 72 | 71 | 286 |
| T9 | David Blair (a) | 70 | 73 | 71 | 72 | 286 |
| T9 | Syd Scott | 73 | 71 | 67 | 75 | 286 |
| T9 | Harry Weetman | 74 | 70 | 71 | 71 | 286 |
| T9 | Peter Thomson | 72 | 69 | 75 | 70 | 286 |
| T9 | Dai Rees | 73 | 71 | 73 | 69 | 286 |
What happened at the 1960 Open Championship
A torrential Friday-afternoon storm flooded the Old Course - 'water cascading down the steps of The R&A clubhouse' - and the final round was held over to Saturday.
Standing over a crucial putt on the 17th Road Hole, Nagle heard the roar for Palmer's birdie at the 18th, holed it for a 4 and parred the last to win by one.
In Nagle's own account he came to "the last hole, where I needed a four to win," hit a 9-iron to about four feet and two-putted for a one-shot win over Palmer.
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).