Golf Network News
Sunday 21 July 1985PGA TourYear in Review
Lyle wins the Open
Royal St George's Golf Club, Sandwich, England · Thursday 18 to Sunday 21 July 1985 · Sandy Lyle’s win no. 1 on the PGA Tour · purse £530,000 GBP
The headline is set by GNN from the record. Reports from the papers of the day are below as they are found.
The weather
15 h 41 m
of daylight on the final day, the sun 59° up at noon, and that night a waxing crescent moon (computed from the date and the place).
- R118°/13°C · wind 27 km/h SW, gusts 48 · 1.4 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
- R218°/13°C · wind 36 km/h SW, gusts 55 · 2.8 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
- R317°/13°C · wind 31 km/h WSW, gusts 64 · 0.4 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
- R419°/11°C · wind 24 km/h WSW, gusts 39 · 0.5 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
The name over time
- The Open
1860–2026 in our record, 154 editions.
The ones it got away from
- Payne Stewart USA · 283finished one stroke behind with a closing 68 (Wikipedia event article) 1985 Open Championship - Wikipedia
153 started · cut +9, 61 made it
Same week
Men's major
The Open
Royal St George's Golf Club, Sandwich
4 of 5 researched
Winner
Runner-up: Payne Stewart
From the papers
Sports Illustrated
29 July 1985 From the print archive
It was fantastic. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife. You got earaches from both left and right. I was talking to my caddie and he couldn't hear me.
Sports Illustrated
29 July 1985 From the print archive
I always thought I would win it. I didn't know when.
Sports Illustrated (SI Vault, Wayback)
29 July 1985
I knew I was back in it then. Tears came to my eyes.
Top 10
| Pos | Player | Rounds | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandy Lyle | 68 · 71 · 73 · 70 | 282 | +2 |
| 2 | Payne Stewart | 70 · 75 · 70 · 68 | 283 | +3 |
| T3 | David Graham | 68 · 71 · 70 · 75 | 284 | +4 |
| T3 | Bernhard Langer | 72 · 69 · 68 · 75 | 284 | +4 |
| T3 | Christy O'Connor Jnr | 64 · 76 · 72 · 72 | 284 | +4 |
| T3 | Mark O'Meara | 70 · 72 · 70 · 72 | 284 | +4 |
| T3 | José Rivero | 74 · 72 · 70 · 68 | 284 | +4 |
| T8 | Anders Forsbrand | 70 · 76 · 69 · 70 | 285 | +5 |
| T8 | Tom Kite | 73 · 73 · 67 · 72 | 285 | +5 |
| T8 | D. A. Weibring | 69 · 71 · 74 · 71 | 285 | +5 |
The golfer
born 1958-02-09, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England; SCO; turned pro 1977; age 27 that week.
What’s in the bag
No bag on file yet