Golf Network News
Sunday 20 July 1997European Tour · PGA TourYear in Review
Leonard wins the Open
Royal Troon Golf Club, Troon, Scotland · Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 July 1997 · Justin Leonard’s win no. 3 on the European Tour · purse £1,600,000 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
16 h 26 m
of daylight on the final day, the sun 55° up at noon, and that night a full moon (computed from the date and the place).
- R117°/12°C · wind 21 km/h NW, gusts 36 · 0.1 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
- R218°/12°C · wind 14 km/h NNW, gusts 23 · 0 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
- R321°/12°C · wind 10 km/h SW, gusts 19 · 0 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
- R422°/13°C · wind 8 km/h ESE, gusts 15 · 0.1 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
- Jesper Parnevik SWE · 275Led by four at one point in the final round but missed a five-foot birdie putt on 16 and bogeyed 17 and 18 for a 73 Leonard shoots 65 to win his first major championship (GOLFonline, 20 July 1997, Wayback)
- Darren Clarke NIR · 275Second-round leader; closed with a 71, birdieing the last to tie Parnevik for second Leonard shoots 65 to win his first major championship (GOLFonline, 20 July 1997, Wayback)
156 started · cut +5, 70 made it
Same week
Men's major
The Open
Royal Troon Golf Club (Old Course), Troon
4 of 5 researched
Winner
Runner-up: Darren Clarke, Jesper Parnevik
From the papers
GOLFonline (Golf Magazine)
20 July 1997
Just to be able to come through with the tournament on the line, that's the kind of confidence I'll be able to take away from here.
GOLFonline (Golf Magazine)
20 July 1997
That was the tournament right there
GOLFonline (Golf Magazine)
20 July 1997
This one hurts a lot more than Turnberry. I think the pressure was too much. It was a struggle all day.
Top 10
| Pos | Player | Rounds | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Leonard | 69 · 66 · 72 · 65 | 272 | −12 |
| T2 | Darren Clarke | 67 · 66 · 71 · 71 | 275 | −9 |
| T2 | Jesper Parnevik | 70 · 66 · 66 · 73 | 275 | −9 |
| 4 | Jim Furyk | 67 · 72 · 70 · 70 | 279 | −5 |
| T5 | Pádraig Harrington | 75 · 69 · 69 · 67 | 280 | −4 |
| T5 | Stephen Ames | 74 · 69 · 66 · 71 | 280 | −4 |
| T7 | Peter O'Malley | 73 · 70 · 70 · 68 | 281 | −3 |
| T7 | Eduardo Romero | 74 · 68 · 67 · 72 | 281 | −3 |
| T7 | Fred Couples | 69 · 68 · 70 · 74 | 281 | −3 |
| T10 | Davis Love III | 70 · 71 · 74 · 67 | 282 | −2 |
| T10 | Retief Goosen | 75 · 69 · 70 · 68 | 282 | −2 |
| T10 | Frank Nobilo | 74 · 72 · 68 · 68 | 282 | −2 |
| T10 | Tom Kite | 72 · 67 · 74 · 69 | 282 | −2 |
| T10 | Mark Calcavecchia | 74 · 67 · 72 · 69 | 282 | −2 |
| T10 | Shigeki Maruyama | 74 · 69 · 70 · 69 | 282 | −2 |
| T10 | Ernie Els | 75 · 69 · 69 · 69 | 282 | −2 |
| T10 | Tom Watson | 71 · 70 · 70 · 71 | 282 | −2 |
| T10 | Robert Allenby | 76 · 68 · 66 · 72 | 282 | −2 |
| T10 | Lee Westwood | 73 · 70 · 67 · 72 | 282 | −2 |
The golfer
born 1972-06-15, Dallas, Texas; USA; turned pro 1994; age 25 that week; tour wins to date: 3; majors to date: 1; world No. 19 that week (OWGR rankBefore 19 (events table, Open week 29 1997; adjustedPoints 0 throughout 1997)).
What’s in the bag
No bag on file yet