1964 Open Championship: Tony Lema wins at Old Course, St Andrews
Tony Lema won the 1964 Open Championship at Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland with 279 (−9), by 5 strokes over Jack Nicklaus.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1964 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 8 July 1964 to 10 July 1964
- Course
- Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland
- Edition
- 93rd Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Par
- 72
- Field
- 120
- Made the cut
- 45
- Purse
- £8,500 · winner's share £1,500
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Tony Lema · age 30 · USA · born Oakland, USA
- Champion's title
- 1st Open title
- Winning score
- 73-68-68-70 = 279 (−9) · won by 5 strokes
- Runner-up
- Jack Nicklaus (284)
- 54-hole leader
- Tony Lema (209)
- Final-day weather
- fine: "The last 36 holes of the tournament were played on a lovely fresh day, with the worst of the wind gone and the sun shining."
- Caddie
- Tip Anderson
Top 10 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony Lema | 73 | 68 | 68 | 70 | 279 | −9 |
| 2 | Jack Nicklaus | 76 | 74 | 66 | 68 | 284 | −4 |
| 3 | Roberto De Vicenzo | 76 | 72 | 70 | 67 | 285 | −3 |
| 4 | Bernard Hunt | 73 | 74 | 70 | 70 | 287 | −1 |
| 5 | Bruce Devlin | 72 | 72 | 73 | 73 | 290 | +2 |
| T6 | Christy O'Connor Snr | 71 | 73 | 74 | 73 | 291 | +3 |
| T6 | Harry Weetman | 72 | 71 | 75 | 73 | 291 | +3 |
| T8 | Harold Henning | 78 | 73 | 71 | 70 | 292 | +4 |
| T8 | Ángel Miguel | 73 | 76 | 72 | 71 | 292 | +4 |
| T8 | Gary Player | 78 | 71 | 73 | 70 | 292 | +4 |
What happened at the 1964 Open Championship
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.
No source names a deciding hole; Lema won by five from Nicklaus.
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).