1974 Open Championship: Gary Player wins at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
Gary Player won the 1974 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, England with 282 (−2), by 4 strokes over Peter Oosterhuis.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1974 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 10 July 1974 to 13 July 1974
- Course
- Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, England
- Edition
- 103rd Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Par
- 71
- Field
- 154
- Made the cut
- 60 (cut at 156)
- Purse
- £50,000 · winner's share £5,500
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Gary Player · age 38 · South Africa · born Johannesburg, South Africa
- Champion's title
- 3rd Open title
- Winning score
- 69-68-75-70 = 282 (−2) · won by 4 strokes
- Runner-up
- Peter Oosterhuis (286)
- 54-hole leader
- Gary Player (212)
- Deciding hole
- No. 6, round 4
Top 10 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Player | 69 | 68 | 75 | 70 | 282 | −2 |
| 2 | Peter Oosterhuis | 71 | 71 | 73 | 71 | 286 | +2 |
| 3 | Jack Nicklaus | 74 | 72 | 70 | 71 | 287 | +3 |
| 4 | Hubert Green | 71 | 74 | 72 | 71 | 288 | +4 |
| T5 | Danny Edwards | 70 | 73 | 76 | 73 | 292 | +8 |
| T5 | Lu Liang-Huan | 72 | 72 | 75 | 73 | 292 | +8 |
| T7 | Bobby Cole | 70 | 72 | 76 | 75 | 293 | +9 |
| T7 | Donald Swaelens | 77 | 73 | 74 | 69 | 293 | +9 |
| T7 | Tom Weiskopf | 72 | 72 | 74 | 75 | 293 | +9 |
| 10 | Johnny Miller | 72 | 75 | 73 | 74 | 294 | +10 |
What happened at the 1974 Open Championship
As Oosterhuis threatened, Player chipped in from the back of the 13th green for a birdie.
Player lost his ball for a while in the rough at the 17th, and at the 18th he putted left-handed with his ball inches from the clubhouse wall. This was the first Open in which the larger 1.68-inch ball was compulsory.
Player hit a 2-iron onto the par-5 6th green to seven feet for an eagle 3, which SI called "checkout time, folks"; Oosterhuis never got within three.
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).