| 1966 British Open | |
Jack Nicklaus turned pro in 1962, and won the U.S. Open that same year. In 1963, he won the Masters and PGA Championship. Which left the British Open as the major yet to be won by the Bear. Nicklaus finished 32nd in his first Open Championship in 1962, then third, second and 12th.
Tied for second behind Nicklaus were Dave Thomas and Doug Sanders. Sanders never won a major, and his most famous missed opportunity was a playoff loss to Nicklaus at the 1970 British Open. There, Sanders missed a short putt on the 72nd hole that would have won him the tournament.
Neither Sanders nor Thomas gave this title away; both finished par-par as all three players were tied going into the 17th hole. But Nicklaus birdied the par-5 17th, then parred the last to secure the one-stroke victory.
The third-round leader was Nicklaus' friend Phil Rodgers, who led the Bear by two. But Rodgers dropped back with a final-round 76.
Tony Lema, the 1964 British Open champion, played the Open for the final time and finished tied for 30th. Lema was killed in a plane crash about a month later.
1966 British Open Golf Tournament Scores
Results from the 1966 British Open golf tournament played at the par-71 Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland (a-amateur):
| Jack Nicklaus | 70-67-75-70--282 |
| Doug Sanders | 71-70-72-70--283 |
| Dave Thomas | 72-73-69-69--283 |
| Bruce Devlin | 73-69-74-70--286 |
| Kel Nagle | 72-68-76-70--286 |
| Gary Player | 72-74-71-69--286 |
| Phil Rodgers | 74-66-70-76--286 |
| Dave Marr | 73-76-69-70--288 |
| Sebastian Miguel | 74-72-70-72--288 |
| Arnold Palmer | 73-72-69-74--288 |
| Peter Thomson | 73-75-69-71--288 |
| Dick Sikes | 73-72-73-72--290 |
| Harold Henning | 71-69-75-76--291 |
| Christy O'Connor Sr. | 73-72-74-72--291 |
| Julius Boros | 73-71-76-72--292 |
| Peter Butler | 73-65-80-75--293 |
| Alex Caygill | 72-71-73-77--293 |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 70-77-74-72--293 |
| a-Ronnie Shade | 71-70-75-77--293 |
| Peter Alliss | 74-72-75-73--294 |
| Roberto De Vicenzo | 74-72-71-77--294 |
| Doug Sewell | 76-69-74-75--294 |
| Eric Brown | 78-72-71-74--295 |
| a-Peter Townsend | 73-75-72-75--295 |
| George Will | 74-75-73-73--295 |
| Keith MacDonald | 75-74-70-77--296 |
| a-Michael Bonallack | 73-76-75-73--297 |
| Denis Hutchinson | 74-73-73-77--297 |
| Bobby Stanton | 73-72-73-79--297 |
| Fred Boobyer | 72-76-77-73--298 |
| a-Bobby Cole | 73-75-73-77--298 |
| Christy Greene | 72-76-76-74--298 |
| Alan Henning | 73-73-74-78--298 |
| Tony Jacklin | 74-76-72-76--298 |
| Tony Lema | 71-76-76-75--298 |
| Dai Rees | 75-72-77-75--299 |
| Barry Franklin | 77-72-79-72--300 |
| Richardo Bernardini | 76-73-73-78--300 |
| Bob Charles | 74-74-77-75--300 |
| David Snell | 73-75-76-76--300 |
| Guy Wolstenholme | 73-76-73-78--300 |
| Cyril Pennington | 74-75-76-76--301 |
| Jock Burns | 76-73-76-77--302 |
| Brian Huggett | 76-73-80-73--302 |
| Hedley Muscroft | 73-75-79-75--302 |
| Bobby Walker | 74-72-76-80--302 |
| Malcolm Gregson | 79-71-74-79--303 |
| Eric Lester | 74-76-74-79--303 |
| George Low | 75-72-79-77--303 |
| Gordon Cunningham | 75-75-76-79--305 |
| John Panton | 78-72-81-74--305 |
| Craig Defoy | 76-73-79-78--306 |
| Vid Miller | 73-77-78-78--306 |
| Frank Rennie | 74-75-81-76--306 |
| Reg Knight | 77-73-77-80--307 |
| Lionel Platts | 74-74-78-81--307 |
| Sandy Wilson | 76-74-76-81--307 |
| Tony Coop | 74-76-79-79--308 |
| Tony Grubb | 79-70-84-76--309 |
| John Carter | 72-77-85-77--311 |
| Bill Hector | 76-72-78-85--311 |
| Lew Taylor | 77-71-78-87--313 |
| Iain Clark | 77-70-86-82--315 |
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More on the British Open
• Masters Winners
• U.S. Open Winners
• PGA Championship Winners
• British Open Index on About.com
