| 1981 British Open | |
The year 1981 was a pretty good one for Bill Rogers. He won four PGA Tour titles, won once on the Japan Tour, and won twice in Australia. He played for the American side in the Ryder Cup. He was named Player of the Year.
Rogers tied for second a month earlier at the 1981 U.S. Open. At the Open Championship, he left no doubt. Rogers opened with a 72, but middle rounds of 66 and 67 sent him to a 5-stroke lead. In the final round, nobody could catch him. Rogers carded a 71 and won by four over Bernhard Langer. Langer was the only golfer to finish closer than seven strokes to Rogers.
Jack Nicklaus opened the tournament with a round of 83, the second-highest score Nicklaus ever posted in a major championship. But Nicklaus then shot a second-round 66 - an improvement of 17 strokes - and made the cut.
1981 British Open Golf Tournament Scores
Results from the 1981 British Open golf tournament played on the par-70 Royal St. George's in Sandwich, Kent, England (a-amateur):
| Bill Rogers | 72-66-67-71--276 | $50,000 |
| Bernhard Langer | 73-67-70-70--280 | $35,000 |
| Mark James | 72-70-68-73--283 | $23,500 |
| Raymond Floyd | 74-70-69-70--283 | $23,500 |
| Sam Torrance | 72-69-73-70--284 | $17,000 |
| Manuel Pinero | 73-74-68-70--285 | $15,500 |
| Bruce Lietzke | 76-69-71-69--285 | $15,500 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 72-67-76-71--286 | $13,000 |
| Howard Clark | 72-76-70-68--286 | $13,000 |
| Brian Jones | 73-76-66-71--286 | $13,000 |
| Isao Aoki | 71-73-69-74--287 | $10,000 |
| Lee Trevino | 77-67-70-73--287 | $10,000 |
| Nick Faldo | 77-68-69-73--287 | $10,000 |
| Sandy Lyle | 73-73-71-71--288 | $6,480 |
| David Graham | 71-71-74-72--288 | $6,480 |
| Nick Job | 70-69-75-74--288 | $6,480 |
| Brian Barnes | 76-70-70-72--288 | $6,480 |
| Eamonn Darcy | 79-69-70-70--288 | $6,480 |
| Peter Townsend | 73-70-73-73--289 | $4,025 |
| Jerry Pate | 73-73-69-74--289 | $4,025 |
| Graham Marsh | 75-71-72-71--289 | $4,025 |
| Gordon Brand Jr. | 78-65-74-72--289 | $4,025 |
| Arnold Palmer | 72-74-73-71--290 | $2,437 |
| Mark McNulty | 74-74-74-68--290 | $2,437 |
| Tony Jacklin | 71-71-73-75--290 | $2,437 |
| Simon Owen | 71-74-70-75--290 | $2,437 |
| Tom Watson | 73-69-75-73--290 | $2,437 |
| Hubert Green | 75-72-74-69--290 | $2,437 |
| Nick Price | 77-68-76-69--290 | $2,437 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 83-66-71-70--290 | $2,437 |
| Greg Norman | 72-75-72-72--291 | $1,750 |
| Trevor Powell | 75-68-73-75--291 | $1,750 |
| Des Smyth | 77-67-73-74--291 | $1,750 |
| John Morgan | 77-72-73-69--291 | $1,750 |
| Jumbo Ozaki | 75-72-71-74--292 | $1,387 |
| Tommy Horton | 75-73-73-71--292 | $1,387 |
| Billy Dunk | 76-67-77-72--292 | $1,387 |
| Bob Charles | 77-71-71-73--292 | $1,387 |
| Rodger Davis | 74-71-74-74--293 | $1,180 |
| Neil Coles | 74-73-73-73--293 | $1,180 |
| Seve Ballesteros | 75-72-74-72--293 | $1,180 |
| Johnny Miller | 71-73-73-76--293 | $1,180 |
| Florentino Molina | 78-68-74-73--293 | $1,180 |
| Ken Brown | 74-72-74-74--294 | $1,150 |
| Terry Gale | 73-73-71-77--294 | $1,150 |
| Ron Streck | 78-70-72-74--294 | $1,150 |
| Mark O'Meara | 74-73-73-75--295 | $1,150 |
| Jaime Gonzalez | 76-70-76-73--295 | $1,150 |
| a-Hal Sutton | 71-77-73-74--295 | |
| David Thorp | 76-69-74-77--296 | $1,133 |
| David Jones | 77-71-74-74--296 | $1,133 |
| Brian Waites | 75-69-74-78--296 | $1,133 |
| Eddie Polland | 75-75-72-75--297 | $1,100 |
| Garry Cullen | 78-70-73-76--297 | $1,100 |
| Mike Ferguson | 75-72-71-79--297 | $1,100 |
| Noel Hunt | 74-73-75-76--298 | $1,100 |
| Warren Humphreys | 76-71-74-77--298 | $1,100 |
| John O'Leary | 73-74-75-77--299 | $1,100 |
| Payne Stewart | 73-75-74-77--299 | $1,100 |
| a-Geoffrey Godwin | 75-71-72-81--299 | |
| Dick McLean | 75-73-72-83--303 | $1,100 |
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1980 British Open | 1982 British Open
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