1981 Open Championship: Bill Rogers wins at Royal St George's Golf Club
Bill Rogers won the 1981 Open Championship at Royal St George's Golf Club, Sandwich, England with 276 (−4), by 4 strokes over Bernhard Langer.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1981 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 16 July 1981 to 19 July 1981
- Course
- Royal St George's Golf Club, Sandwich, England
- Edition
- 110th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Par
- 70
- Field
- 153
- Made the cut
- 61 (cut at 150)
- Purse
- £200,000 · winner's share £25,000
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Bill Rogers · age 29 · USA · born Waco, USA
- Champion's title
- 1st Open title
- Winning score
- 72-66-67-71 = 276 (−4) · won by 4 strokes
- Runner-up
- Bernhard Langer (280)
- 54-hole leader
- Bill Rogers (205)
- Low amateur
- Hal Sutton (295)
Top 10 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bill Rogers | 72 | 66 | 67 | 71 | 276 | −4 |
| 2 | Bernhard Langer | 73 | 67 | 70 | 70 | 280 | E |
| T3 | Raymond Floyd | 74 | 70 | 69 | 70 | 283 | +3 |
| T3 | Mark James | 72 | 70 | 68 | 73 | 283 | +3 |
| 5 | Sam Torrance | 72 | 69 | 73 | 70 | 284 | +4 |
| T6 | Bruce Lietzke | 76 | 69 | 71 | 69 | 285 | +5 |
| T6 | Manuel Pinero | 73 | 74 | 68 | 70 | 285 | +5 |
| T8 | Brian Jones | 73 | 76 | 66 | 71 | 286 | +6 |
| T8 | Howard Clark | 72 | 76 | 70 | 68 | 286 | +6 |
| T8 | Ben Crenshaw | 72 | 67 | 76 | 71 | 286 | +6 |
What happened at the 1981 Open Championship
A double bogey by Rogers at the 7th in the final round let Langer close to within one, but Rogers birdied the 9th, 10th and 12th to pull clear.
Rogers nearly missed his first-round tee time after misreading the start sheet. Nicklaus opened with an 83 and followed it with a 66 to make the cut.
No single hole is named: after a double bogey at the 7th let Langer close to one, SI says Rogers' birdies at the 9th, 10th and 12th "shut the door."
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).