The 1957 Open Championship was the 86th

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

, played 3–5 July at the

Old Course The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links, St Andrews ...

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Bobby Locke Arthur D'Arcy "Bobby" Locke (20 November 1917 – 9 March 1987) was a South African professional golfer. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won The Open Championship four times and 15 PGA Tour events in total ...

, age 39, won his fourth and final Open title, three strokes ahead of runner-up

Peter Thomson Peter Thomson may refer to: * Peter Thomson (golfer) (1929–2018), Australian golfer * Peter Thomson (diplomat) (born 1948), Fiji's Permanent Representative to the United Nations * Peter Thomson (footballer) (born 1977), English footballer * Peter ...

, who had won the three previous Opens. The Open, last played at the Old Course just two years prior, was originally scheduled for

Muirfield Muirfield is a privately owned golf links which is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Located in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the Firth of Forth, Muirfield is one of the golf courses used in rotation for The ...

, but the "

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

" in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

in late 1956 led to serious fuel shortages in Britain and rationing of

petrol Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

. In early 1957, the Royal and Ancient decided that St Andrews, on a

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

, would be an easier place for players and spectators to get to than Muirfield, and so it was moved. Petrol rationing ended in May 1957 but it was then too late to switch back to the original venue and Muirfield was allocated the

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

edition. Qualifying took place on 1–2 July, Monday and Tuesday, with 18 holes on the Old Course and 18 holes on the New Course. With an entry of 295, compared to the record 360 entries the previous year, qualifying was in pairs rather than the three-balls used in 1956. The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100, and ties for 100th place were not included.

Bernard Hunt Bernard John Hunt, MBE (2 February 1930 – 21 June 2013) was an English professional golfer. Hunt was born in Atherstone, Warwickshire. He turned professional in 1946 and was a leading player on the European circuit in the 1950s and 1960s. He ...

and

led the qualifiers at 137; the qualifying score was 149 and 96 players advanced to the opening round on Wednesday. There were fifteen American entries, many of them amateurs, but only four qualified for the field of 96: professionals and

Frank Stranahan Frank Richard Stranahan (August 5, 1922 – June 23, 2013) was an American sportsman. He had significant success in both amateur and professional golf. He was ranked number one in his weight class in powerlifting, from 1945 to 1954, and he became ...

finished in the top twenty and the two amateurs missed the cut. During the first round on Wednesday, competitors playing behind Middlecoff demonstratively complained of his slow play. They officially protested to the R&A, which sided with Middlecoff, who had completed his 18-hole round with

Antonio Cerdá Antonio Cerdá (10 December 1921 – 28 November 2010) was an Argentine professional golfer. Cerdá finished second in the 1951 Open Championship to Max Faulkner, and second in the 1953 Open Championship to Ben Hogan, among seven consecutive top ...

in three hours and 18 minutes. The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was set at fifty, and ties for 50th place were not included. This was the first Open Championship in which the leaders after 36 holes went off last for the final 36 holes. Previously a random draw had been used.

Flory Van Donck Flory Van Donck (23 June 1912 – 14 January 1992) was a Belgian professional golfer. Van Donck is widely regarded as the greatest ever Belgian golfer. During his career, he won more than fifty tournaments worldwide, including many of the mo ...

and Eric Brown, the leading two players after 36 holes were paired together in the final group for the final two rounds. A mini-controversy surrounded the ending of the championship. Lying two, Bobby Locke was only from the cup on the 72nd hole when he moved his ball marker one putter-head length to avoid the line of fellow competitor

Bruce Crampton Bruce Crampton (born 28 September 1935) is an Australian professional golfer. Early life Crampton was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and attended Kogarah High School from 1948 to 1950. In August 1953 he reached final of the New South Wales ...

's putt. After Crampton holed out, Locke forgot to replace his ball to its original position and sank his putt. Only much later were officials made aware of Locke's mistake; the Championship Committee decreed that no advantage had been gained and that the result, and Locke's three-stroke victory, stood. Australian golfer

was reportedly the person who informed officials of the infraction. Thomson was watching the end of the event on television that night and noticed the mistake. Though Locke still won, the incident "caused a deep divide between Thomson and Locke who had been good friends."

Card of the course

^ The 10th hole was posthumously named for Bobby Jones in 1972

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Round summaries

First round

''Wednesday, 3 July 1957'' Source:

Second round

''Thursday, 4 July 1957'' Source:
Amateurs: ''Smith (–1), Galloway (+2)'',

Joe Carr Joseph Benedict Carr (22 February 1922 – 3 June 2004) was an Irish amateur golfer. Carr was born in Inchicore, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, to George and Margaret Mary "Missie" Waters (the fifth of seven children). At 10 days old, he was ado ...

(+6), Shepperson (+7), Sinclair (+7),
Butler (+8), Texier (+8), Will (+8), Lawrie (+9), Andrews (+10), Allan (+12), Reid (+12), Keck (+21).

Third round

''Friday, 5 July 1957 - (morning)'' Source:

Final round

''Friday, 5 July 1957 - (afternoon)'' Source:
Amateurs: Smith (–2), Galloway (+12).

References

External links

St Andrews 1957 (Official site)
{{coord, 56.343, -2.803, type:event, display=title The Open Championship Golf tournaments in Scotland