| 1965 British Open | |
Australian great Peter Thomson won the 1965 British Open, cementing his reputation as one of the greatest links players in golf history, and validating his earlier accomplishments.
Why do we say Thomson "validated" his achievements? His win here was Thomson's fifth Open Championship title. His previous four British Open wins were all in the 1950s, when few (if any) of the top golfers on the USPGA crossed the ocean to play.
But at the 1965 British Open, Thomson did beat the best: Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus were in the field, and Thomson bested them by 10 strokes and nine strokes, respectively; he bettered defending champ Tony Lema by four.
Thomson never played the USPGA much during his prime, but many years later he did spend one full season playing the Champions Tour. And he dominated, winning nine times in 1985.
As noted, this was Thomson's fifth (and last) British Open victory. From 1952 through 1958, he won the tournament four times and finished no worse than second place.
Christy O'Connor Sr., one of the best players in Europe and a stalwart on Great Britain & Ireland Ryder Cup teams over two decades, never won the Open Championship, but did finish in the Top 10 ten times. This year, O'Connor had his best finish in the Open, a tie for second with Brian Huggett. Huggett was another GB&I star, and this was also his best showing in the Open.
1965 British Open Golf Tournament Scores
Results from the 1965 British Open golf tournament played at the par-72 Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England (a-amateur):
| Peter Thomson | 74-68-72-71--285 |
| Brian Huggett | 73-68-76-70--287 |
| Christy O'Connor Sr. | 69-73-74-71--287 |
| Roberto De Vicenzo | 74-69-73-72--288 |
| Bernard Hunt | 74-74-70-71--289 |
| Tony Lema | 68-72-75-74--289 |
| Kel Nagle | 74-70-73-72--289 |
| Bruce Devlin | 71-69-75-75--290 |
| Sebastian Miguel | 72-73-72-73--290 |
| Max Faulkner | 74-72-74-73--293 |
| John Panton | 74-74-75-70--293 |
| Hugh Boyle | 73-69-76-76--294 |
| Neil Coles | 73-74-77-70--294 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 73-71-77-73--294 |
| Lionel Platts | 72-72-73-77--294 |
| Arnold Palmer | 70-71-75-79--295 |
| Eric Brown | 72-70-77-77--296 |
| Tommy Horton | 75-73-76-72--296 |
| Cobie Legrange | 76-73-75-72--296 |
| Guy Wolstenholme | 72-75-77-72--296 |
| Brian Bamford | 72-76-74-75--297 |
| Christy Green | 72-77-74-74--297 |
| Denis Hutchinson | 74-72-76-75--297 |
| George Will | 75-69-74-79--297 |
| Fred Boobyer | 74-73-73-78--298 |
| Tony Jacklin | 75-73-73-77--298 |
| Doug Sewell | 72-75-74-77--298 |
| Ramon Sota | 75-70-78-75--298 |
| a-Michael Burgess | 74-73-78-74--299 |
| Harry Weetman | 76-69-80-74--299 |
| Tony Coop | 78-71-78-74--301 |
| Bill Large | 76-73-74-78--301 |
| Doug Beattie | 73-74-76-79--302 |
| a-Michael Bonallack | 75-72-79-76--302 |
| a-Joe Carr | 70-72-81-79--302 |
| David Miller | 77-70-76-79--302 |
| Bill Hector | 76-70-79-78--303 |
| George Low | 74-75-77-77--303 |
| Dave Thomas | 73-73-78-80--304 |
| Terry Dill | 75-72-79-79--305 |
| Angel Galladrod | 77-71-80-77--305 |
| Robert Mandeville | 72-76-77-80--305 |
| David Talbot | 75-72-76-82--305 |
| Gordon Cunningham | 74-75-79-78--306 |
| Jim McAlister | 72-75-77-82--306 |
| Ross Newdick | 75-72-80-80--307 |
| Peter Alliss | 73-73-82-80--308 |
| Barry Franklin | 77-70-84-77--308 |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 75-74-85-76--310 |
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More on the British Open
• Masters Winners
• U.S. Open Winners
• PGA Championship Winners
• British Open Index on About.com
