1976 Open Championship: Johnny Miller wins at Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Johnny Miller won the 1976 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, England with 279 (−9), by 6 strokes over Seve Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1976 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 7 July 1976 to 10 July 1976
- Course
- Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, England
- Edition
- 105th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Par
- 72
- Field
- 155
- Made the cut
- 66 (cut at 152)
- Purse
- £75,000 · winner's share £7,500
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Johnny Miller · age 29 · USA · born San Francisco, USA
- Champion's title
- 1st Open title
- Winning score
- 72-68-73-66 = 279 (−9) · won by 6 strokes
- Runners-up
- Seve Ballesteros (285), Jack Nicklaus (285)
- 54-hole leader
- Seve Ballesteros (211) · Johnny Miller was 2 strokes back
Top 13 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Miller | 72 | 68 | 73 | 66 | 279 | −9 |
| T2 | Seve Ballesteros | 69 | 69 | 73 | 74 | 285 | −3 |
| T2 | Jack Nicklaus | 74 | 70 | 72 | 69 | 285 | −3 |
| 4 | Raymond Floyd | 76 | 67 | 73 | 70 | 286 | −2 |
| T5 | Hubert Green | 72 | 70 | 78 | 68 | 288 | E |
| T5 | Tom Kite | 70 | 74 | 73 | 71 | 288 | E |
| T5 | Tommy Horton | 74 | 69 | 72 | 73 | 288 | E |
| T5 | Mark James | 76 | 72 | 74 | 66 | 288 | E |
| T5 | Christy O'Connor Jr | 69 | 73 | 75 | 71 | 288 | E |
| T10 | Peter Butler | 74 | 72 | 73 | 70 | 289 | +1 |
| T10 | Vicente Fernandez | 79 | 71 | 69 | 70 | 289 | +1 |
| T10 | Norio Suzuki | 69 | 75 | 75 | 70 | 289 | +1 |
| T10 | George Burns | 75 | 69 | 75 | 70 | 289 | +1 |
What happened at the 1976 Open Championship
In the final round, 19-year-old 54-hole leader Ballesteros double-bogeyed the 6th and triple-bogeyed the 11th, while Miller eagled the 13th on his way to a closing 66.
Ballesteros eagled the 17th, then played a chip-and-run between two bunkers at the 18th to tie Nicklaus for second.
No source names a deciding hole for Miller's six-shot win; the R&A says he "could relax" after Ballesteros double-bogeyed the 6th and triple-bogeyed the 11th.
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).