| 1971 British Open | |
Mr. Lu made a splash. Mr. Trevino grabbed the cash. Lee Trevino held off Liang-Huan Lu to win the 1971 British Open, the first of Trevino's back-to-back wins in the Open Championship.
Lu, known as Mr. Lu to his competitors and among many fans, had won tournaments in Asia (he was from Taiwan). But his first international exposure to a large golf audience was here at the 1971 British Open. He certainly made Trevino take notice.
After three rounds, Trevino held the lead by one over Lu. They had matched 69s in the third, after matching 70s in the second. Trevino's 69 to Lu's 70 in the first round was the difference.
And that single stroke remained the difference in the tournament as Trevino and Lu again matched scores in the final round, both shooting 70. Trevino went out in 31, taking a 4-stroke lead over Lu. But Trevino nearly gave it away with a double-bogey on the 71st hole, which cut the margin to just one. Both players birdied the last hole.
His victory here marked Trevino's third major championship win. In addition to earlier winning the 1971 U.S. Open, Trevino also earlier won the Canadian Open. When he won here, Trevino became the first golfer to win the Canadian, U.S. and British opens in the same year.
Lu went on the very next week to win the French Open.
Also of note at the 1971 British Open: Four-time champion Bobby Locke made the cut for the last time in an Open, finishing 49th. Five-time winner Peter Thomson finished tied for ninth, his last Top 10 finish in the tournament.
1971 British Open Golf Tournament Scores
Results from the 1971 British Open golf tournament played at the par-72 Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England (a-amateur):
| Lee Trevino | 69-70-69-70--278 |
| Liang-Huan Lu | 70-70-69-70--279 |
| Tony Jacklin | 69-70-70-71--280 |
| Craig Defoy | 72-72-68-69--281 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 71-71-72-69--283 |
| Charles Coody | 74-71-70-68--283 |
| Gary Player | 71-70-71-72--284 |
| Billy Casper | 70-72-75-67--284 |
| Peter Thomson | 70-73-73-69--285 |
| Doug Sanders | 73-71-74-67--285 |
| Ramon Sota | 72-72-70-73--287 |
| Harry Bannerman | 73-71-72-71--287 |
| Roberto De Vicenzo | 71-70-72-74--287 |
| Dave Stockton | 74-74-68-71--287 |
| Kel Nagle | 70-75-73-69--287 |
| Bert Yancey | 75-70-71-71--287 |
| Dale Hayes | 71-72-70-75--288 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 76-71-66-76--289 |
| Bob Charles | 77-71-71-70--289 |
| Bernard Hunt | 74-73-73-70--290 |
| Howie Johnson | 69-76-72-73--290 |
| Hugh Jackson | 71-73-72-75--291 |
| a-Michael Bonallack | 71-72-75-73--291 |
| Neil Coles | 76-72-72-71--291 |
| Peter Butler | 73-73-73-73--292 |
| Brian Huggett | 73-73-74-72--292 |
| Doug Sewell | 73-74-74-71--292 |
| John Lister | 74-71-74-73--292 |
| Bill Large | 73-75-73-71--292 |
| Randall Vines | 75-71-73-73--292 |
| Malcolm Gregson | 71-71-73-77--292 |
| Vicente Fernandez | 69-79-73-71--292 |
| Guy Wolstenholme | 75-72-73-73--293 |
| Min Nan Hsieh | 77-70-74-72--293 |
| Christy O'Connor Sr. | 74-72-76-72--294 |
| John Garner | 76-74-71-73--294 |
| Bruce Devlin | 74-71-75-75--295 |
| Bernard Gallacher | 72-76-75-72--295 |
| Tommy Horton | 70-72-79-74--295 |
| Peter Townsend | 73-75-75-73--296 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 75-73-75-73--296 |
| John O'Leary | 70-75-75-76--296 |
| Eric Brown | 75-72-72-77--296 |
| Lionel Platts | 78-72-73-73--296 |
| Walter Godfrey | 72-79-71-74--296 |
| Jimmy Kinsella | 74-68-80-74--296 |
| Peter Alliss | 74-76-72-75--297 |
| Johnny Miller | 72-76-70-79--297 |
| Jack Wilkshire | 75-71-76-76--298 |
| Bobby Locke | 75-73-74-76--298 |
| a-Steve Melnyk | 76-74-74-74--298 |
| Valentin Barrios | 72-74-77-75--298 |
| Jack Newton | 73-72-76-77--298 |
| John Sharkey | 73-75-72-78--298 |
| Tienie Britz | 73-78-73-74--298 |
| a-Donald Swaelens | 75-73-72-78--298 |
| Graham Marsh | 75-73-72-79--299 |
| David Snell | 75-75-74-76--300 |
| Brian Waites | 70-79-72-79--300 |
| Maurice Bembridge | 75-73-76-77--301 |
| Miller Barber | 71-74-77-79--301 |
| Roger Manning | 73-72-76-80--301 |
| David Talbot | 77-72-75-78--302 |
| Brian Barnes | 76-75-73-79--303 |
Return to British Open Winners index for more tournament recaps
1970 British Open | 1972 British Open
More on the British Open
Other Major Champions
• British Open FAQ
• British Open Quizzes
• British Open Index
• Masters Winners
• US Open Winners
• PGA Championship Winners
