| 1974 British Open | |
Gary Player won the last of this three British Open titles here, winning by four strokes over Peter Oosterhuis.
Player opened with rounds of 69 and 68. There were only four sub-70 rounds all week over Royal Lytham & St. Annes, so Player had half of them in the first two rounds. He built such a lead that a 75 in the third round didn't hurt too much - Player went into the final round with a 3-stroke margin.
For Player, it was his eighth overall major championship victory (he would win one more at the 1978 Masters). He also became the second golfer (after Harry Vardon) to win the Open Championship in three different decades.
Oosterhuis posted eight career Top 10s in majors, including a tie for second at the 1982 British Open. His solo second here, in the 1974 British Open, was his highest finish.
The 1974 British Open marked the first use in this tourney of the so-called "American ball." Prior to 1974, the R&A and USGA disagreed on the size of the golf ball, and a "small ball" was in use in Europe and the British Open. The "British ball" was 1.62 inches in diameter, the American ball 1.68 inches. Prior to the 1974 British Open, the R&A and USGA finally agreed to standardized the size of the golf ball at the ever-so-slightly larger 1.68 inches.
Peter Alliss made his final major championship appearance here, missing the cut.
1974 British Open Golf Tournament Scores
Results from the 1974 British Open golf tournament played at Royal Lytham and St. Annes Golf Club in Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire, England:
| Gary Player | 69-68-75-70--282 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 71-71-73-71--286 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 74-72-70-71--287 |
| Hubert Green | 71-74-72-71--288 |
| Liang-Huan Lu | 72-72-75-73--292 |
| Danny Edwards | 70-73-76-73--292 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 72-72-74-75--293 |
| Bobby Cole | 70-72-76-75--293 |
| Donald Swaelens | 77-73-74-69--293 |
| Johnny Miller | 72-75-73-74--294 |
| David Graham | 76-74-76-69--295 |
| John Garner | 75-78-73-69--295 |
| Neil Coles | 72-75-75-74--296 |
| John Morgan | 69-75-76-76--296 |
| Al Geiberger | 76-70-76-74--296 |
| Alan Tapie | 73-77-73-73--296 |
| Peter Townsend | 79-76-72-69--296 |
| Peter Dawson | 74-74-73-76--297 |
| Tony Jacklin | 74-77-71-75--297 |
| Gene Littler | 77-76-70-74--297 |
| Dewitt Weaver | 73-80-70-74--297 |
| Lanny Wadkins | 78-71-75-74--298 |
| Ronnie Shade | 78-75-73-72--298 |
| Bernard Gallacher | 76-72-76-75--299 |
| Angel Gallardo | 74-77-75-73--299 |
| Christy O'Connor Jr. | 78-76-72-73--299 |
| Hale Irwin | 76-73-79-71--299 |
| Doug McClelland | 75-79-73-73--300 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 74-80-76-70--300 |
| David Jagger | 80-71-76-73--300 |
| Peter Butler | 75-77-77-72--301 |
| David Chillas | 72-78-77-74--301 |
| Hugh Jackson | 78-76-73-74--301 |
| Vicente Fernandez | 78-72-78-73--301 |
| Tommy Horton | 78-76-76-71--301 |
| Lee Trevino | 79-70-78-74--301 |
| Oscar Cerda | 80-74-77-70--301 |
| Gay Brewer | 78-77-74-73--302 |
| John Cook | 76-79-75-73--303 |
| Guy Hunt | 78-73-72-80--303 |
| Bruce Devlin | 81-74-73-75--303 |
| Derek Small | 73-75-77-79--304 |
| Bernard Hunt | 74-77-74-79--304 |
| Stuart Levermore | 77-77-76-75--305 |
| John Mahaffey | 78-77-75-75--305 |
| John O'Leary | 71-79-78-77--305 |
| Brian Barnes | 74-79-78-74--305 |
| Maurice Bembridge | 76-77-73-79--305 |
| Graham Marsh | 79-75-77-74--305 |
| Noel Hunt | 73-73-79-80--305 |
| Malcolm Gregson | 79-76-76-75--306 |
| Roberto De Vicenzo | 80-74-77-75--306 |
| Brian Waites | 78-74-74-81--307 |
| Norman Wood | 74-78-78-78--308 |
| Mike Slater | 77-74-80-77--308 |
| Christy O'Connor Sr. | 80-74-77-78--309 |
| Ian Stanley | 77-79-75-78--309 |
| John Panton | 77-75-77-80--309 |
| Bob Shearer | 77-79-73-81--310 |
| John Fourie | 79-73-77-81--310 |
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