1970 Open Championship: Jack Nicklaus wins at Old Course, St Andrews
Jack Nicklaus won the 1970 Open Championship at Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland with 283 (−5), beating Doug Sanders in a playoff.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1970 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 8 July 1970 to 12 July 1970
- Course
- Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland
- Edition
- 99th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Par
- 72
- Field
- 134
- Made the cut
- 57 (cut at 149)
- Purse
- £40,000 · winner's share £5,250
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Jack Nicklaus · age 30 · USA · born Columbus, USA
- Champion's title
- 2nd Open title
- Winning score
- 68-69-73-73 = 283 (−5)
- Runner-up
- Doug Sanders (283)
- 54-hole leader
- Lee Trevino (208) · Jack Nicklaus was 2 strokes back
- Playoff
- 18-hole stroke play; beat Doug Sanders; Nicklaus 72; Sanders 73
- Deciding hole
- No. 18, round 4
- Caddie
- Jimmy Dickinson
- Low amateur
- Steve Melnyk (298)
Top 11 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Nicklaus | 68 | 69 | 73 | 73 | 283 | −5 |
| 2 | Doug Sanders | 68 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 283 | −5 |
| T3 | Harold Henning | 67 | 72 | 73 | 73 | 285 | −3 |
| T3 | Lee Trevino | 68 | 68 | 72 | 77 | 285 | −3 |
| 5 | Tony Jacklin | 67 | 70 | 73 | 76 | 286 | −2 |
| T6 | Neil Coles | 65 | 74 | 72 | 76 | 287 | −1 |
| T6 | Peter Oosterhuis | 73 | 69 | 69 | 76 | 287 | −1 |
| 8 | Hugh Jackson | 69 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 288 | E |
| T9 | Peter Thomson | 68 | 74 | 73 | 74 | 289 | +1 |
| T9 | John Panton | 72 | 73 | 73 | 71 | 289 | +1 |
| T9 | Tommy Horton | 66 | 73 | 75 | 75 | 289 | +1 |
What happened at the 1970 Open Championship
Needing a par at the 72nd hole (18th) to win, Doug Sanders missed a par putt of about 2½-3 feet after stopping to pick something off his line.
In the Sunday playoff Nicklaus took off his sweater, drove through the 18th green (about 360 yards), chipped to 8 feet and holed for a birdie 3, winning 72-73.
Needing a par at the 72nd hole to win outright, Doug Sanders missed a putt of about three feet after a poor pitch, and lost the next day's 18-hole playoff to Nicklaus 72–73.
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).