1963 Open Championship: Bob Charles wins at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
Bob Charles won the 1963 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, England with 277, beating Phil Rodgers in a playoff.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1963 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 10 July 1963 to 13 July 1963
- Course
- Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, England
- Edition
- 92nd Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Purse
- £8,500
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Bob Charles · age 27 · New Zealand · born Carterton, New Zealand
- Champion's title
- 1st Open title
- Winning score
- 68-72-66-71 = 277
- Runner-up
- Phil Rodgers (277)
- 54-hole leader
- Bob Charles (206)
- Playoff
- 36-hole stroke play (last 36-hole play-off); beat Phil Rodgers; Charles 140 (69-71); Rodgers 148 (72-76)
- Deciding hole
- No. 8, round playoff, playoff hole 26
Top 10 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bob Charles | 68 | 72 | 66 | 71 | 277 |
| 2 | Phil Rodgers | 67 | 68 | 73 | 69 | 277 |
| 3 | Jack Nicklaus | 71 | 67 | 70 | 70 | 278 |
| 4 | Kel Nagle | 69 | 70 | 73 | 71 | 283 |
| 5 | Peter Thomson | 67 | 69 | 71 | 78 | 285 |
| 6 | Christy O'Connor Snr | 74 | 68 | 76 | 68 | 286 |
| T7 | Gary Player | 75 | 70 | 72 | 70 | 287 |
| T7 | Ramón Sota | 69 | 73 | 73 | 72 | 287 |
| T9 | Jean Garaïalde | 72 | 69 | 72 | 75 | 288 |
| T9 | Sebastián Miguel | 73 | 69 | 73 | 73 | 288 |
What happened at the 1963 Open Championship
Jack Nicklaus bogeyed the 72nd hole and missed the playoff by a single stroke on 278.
Left-hander Charles one-putted 11 greens in the first playoff round and used 56 putts to Rodgers' 65 over 36 holes, winning by eight.
On the 8th hole of the afternoon playoff round, Charles "broke Rodgers' last challenge" on his way to a 140 to 148 win.
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).