1984 Open Championship: Seve Ballesteros wins at Old Course, St Andrews
Seve Ballesteros won the 1984 Open Championship at Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland with 276 (−12), by 2 strokes over Bernhard Langer and Tom Watson.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1984 in The Open room, or every year on The Open winners list.
- Dates
- 19 July 1984 to 22 July 1984
- Course
- Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland
- Edition
- 113th Open Championship
- Format
- 72 holes of stroke play
- Par
- 72 · 6,933 yards
- Field
- 156
- Made the cut
- 63 (cut at 148)
- Purse
- £451,000 · winner's share £55,000
- Trophy
- Claret Jug (replica to winner)
- Champion
- Seve Ballesteros · age 27 · Spain · born Pedreña, Spain
- Champion's title
- 2nd Open title
- Winning score
- 69-68-70-69 = 276 (−12) · won by 2 strokes
- Runners-up
- Bernhard Langer (278), Tom Watson (278)
- 54-hole leaders
- Ian Baker-Finch, Tom Watson (205) · Seve Ballesteros was 2 strokes back
- Deciding hole
- No. 18, round 4
- Caddie
- Nick de Paul
Top 13 as recorded
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seve Ballesteros | 69 | 68 | 70 | 69 | 276 | −12 |
| T2 | Bernhard Langer | 71 | 68 | 68 | 71 | 278 | −10 |
| T2 | Tom Watson | 71 | 68 | 66 | 73 | 278 | −10 |
| T4 | Lanny Wadkins | 70 | 69 | 73 | 69 | 281 | −7 |
| T4 | Fred Couples | 70 | 69 | 74 | 68 | 281 | −7 |
| T6 | Nick Faldo | 69 | 68 | 76 | 69 | 282 | −6 |
| T6 | Greg Norman | 67 | 74 | 74 | 67 | 282 | −6 |
| 8 | Mark McCumber | 74 | 67 | 72 | 70 | 283 | −5 |
| T9 | Ian Baker-Finch | 68 | 66 | 71 | 79 | 284 | −4 |
| T9 | Sam Torrance | 74 | 74 | 66 | 70 | 284 | −4 |
| T9 | Graham Marsh | 70 | 74 | 73 | 67 | 284 | −4 |
| T9 | Hugh Baiocchi | 72 | 70 | 70 | 72 | 284 | −4 |
| T9 | Ronan Rafferty | 74 | 72 | 67 | 71 | 284 | −4 |
What happened at the 1984 Open Championship
At the 17th (Road Hole), Watson's 2-iron approach went over the green, close to the road and wall, and he bogeyed, while Ballesteros parred with a 6-iron and two putts.
At the 18th Ballesteros holed a 12-15-foot birdie putt that hung on the lip before dropping, and celebrated with his signature fist pump.
Ballesteros holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th green (it hung on the lip before dropping) at the same moment Watson was bogeying the Road Hole 17th behind him.
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).