The 1983 Open Championship was a

men's major golf championship The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the major championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the most prestigious tournaments in golf. Historically, the national open and amateur championships of Great Britain a ...

and the 112th

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 ...

, held from 14 to 17 July at

Royal Birkdale Golf Club Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the United Kingdom in North West England, located in Southport, Merseyside. It is one of the clubs in the rotation for both the Open Championship and Women's British Open and has hosted the Open Champio ...

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was the sixth time the course had hosted, with the first in

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

. Defending champion Tom Watson won his fifth Open Championship, one stroke ahead of runners-up

Andy Bean Thomas Andrew Bean (born March 13, 1953) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. Bean has won numerous tournaments at both the amateur and professional level. Bean won 11 PGA Tour victories, includi ...

and

Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American professional golfer. He was one of the world's leading golfers from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He is one of the few players in history to win three U.S. Opens, becoming the oldest ever U.S. Op ...

. It was his second consecutive Open win and third in the last four, but was helped by Irwin "whiffing" a one-inch putt on the 14th hole on the third day, which cost him a chance of a play-off with Watson for the tournament. At age 33, this was Watson's eighth and final major title; he had won three of the last six majors, but had not won any event for twelve months. Watson was the fifth to win five Open Championships, last accomplished in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

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 ...

, also at Royal Birkdale. He was the first to successfully defend the title in over a decade, since

Lee Trevino Lee Buck Trevino (born December 1, 1939) is an American retired professional golfer who is regarded as one of the greatest players in golf history. He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. Trevino won six major championships and ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

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 ...

. Of his five Open wins, this was the only one outside

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 ...

. Seven years earlier at Royal Birkdale in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, defending champion Watson posted an 80 in the third round, finishing with a pair of sixes, and missed the 54-hole cut by a stroke.

Past champions in the field

Made both cuts

Source:

Missed the first cut

Source:

Round summaries

First round

''Thursday, 14 July 1983'' Source:

Second round

''Friday, 15 July 1983'' Source:
Amateurs: Parkin (+5), Gilford (+7), Plaxton (+12), Thompson (+12), Wood (+12), Hamer (+13), Thomas (+13),

Crosby Crosby may refer to: Places ;Canada *Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario *Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario ;England *Crosby, Cumbria *Crosby, Lincolnshire *Crosby, Merseyside ** Crosby (U ...

(+17).

Third round

''Saturday, 16 July 1983'' Source:

Final round

''Sunday, 17 July 1983'' Source:

References

External links

Royal Birkdale 1983 (Official site)
{{coord, 53.622, -3.033, type:event, display=title The Open Championship Golf tournaments in England