| 1962 British Open | |
When Arnold Palmer made his Open Championship debut in 1960, Kel Nagle spoiled it for him, beating Arnie by a stroke for the title. At the 1962 British Open, it was Palmer who finished first and Nagle who finished second - but it wasn't close. Palmer led Nagle by five entering the final round, and finished with a 6-stroke victory. Nagle was another seven shots ahead of the third-place golfers, Brian Huggett and Phil Rodgers. So Palmer was 13 strokes better than the third-place finishers.
Palmer never finished higher than seventh in a British Open after this, and he won just one more major (the 1964 Masters). His victory here was Palmer's sixth of seven career majors.
Sam Snead played the British Open only five times. Two of those resulted in missed cuts when Snead was well past his prime. He finished 11th in 1937 and won in 1946. And here, in 1962, at age 50, Snead tied for sixth place.
And there was a significant - very significant - debut at the 1962 British Open. Jack Nicklaus made his Open Championship debut here, finishing tied for 32nd. Nicklaus went on to win this tournament three times, with seven more second-place finishes.
1962 British Open Golf Tournament Scores
Results from the 1962 British Open golf tournament played at the par-72 Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland (a-amateur):
| Arnold Palmer | 71-69-67-69--276 |
| Kel Nagle | 71-71-70-70--282 |
| Brian Huggett | 75-71-74-69--289 |
| Phil Rodgers | 75-70-72-72--289 |
| Bob Charles | 75-70-70-75--290 |
| Sam Snead | 76-73-72-71--292 |
| Peter Thomson | 70-77-75-70--292 |
| Peter Alliss | 77-69-74-73--293 |
| Dave Thomas | 77-70-71-75--293 |
| Syd Scott | 77-74-75-68--294 |
| Ralph Moffitt | 75-70-74-76--295 |
| Jean Garaialde | 76-73-76-71--296 |
| Sebastian Miguel | 72-79-73-72--296 |
| Harry Weetman | 75-73-73-75--296 |
| Ross Whitehead | 74-75-72-75--296 |
| Roger Foreman | 77-73-72-75--297 |
| Bernard Hunt | 74-75-75-73--297 |
| Denis Hutchinson | 78-73-76-70--297 |
| Jimmy Martin | 73-72-76-76--297 |
| Christy O'Connor Sr. | 74-78-73-72--297 |
| John Panton | 74-73-79-71--297 |
| Tony Coop | 76-75-75-72--298 |
| Donald Swaelens | 72-79-74-74--299 |
| Brian Bamford | 77-73-74-76--300 |
| Lionel Platts | 76-75-78-71--300 |
| Guy Wolstenholme | 78-74-76-72--300 |
| Hugh Boyle | 73-78-74-76--301 |
| Keith MacDonald | 69-77-76-79--301 |
| George Low | 77-75-77-73--302 |
| Harry Bradshaw | 72-75-81-75--303 |
| Harold Henning | 74-73-79-77--303 |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 78-74-72-79--303 |
| Doug Beattie | 72-75-79-78--304 |
| Eric Brown | 74-78-79-74--305 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 80-72-74-79--305 |
| John Johnson | 76-74-81-76--307 |
| Don Essig | 76-72-79-81--308 |
| a-Charlie Green | 76-75-81-76--308 |
| David Miller | 76-74-81-78--309 |
Back to list of British Open Winners
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More on the British Open
• Masters Winners
• U.S. Open Winners
• PGA Championship Winners
• British Open Index on About.com
