The 1996 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 125th

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 18–21 July at the

Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England, is one of the courses in the The Open Championship, Open Championship rotation. The Women's British Open has also been played on the course five times: once prior to being ...

Lytham St Annes Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 42,954 ...

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 ...

Tom Lehman Thomas Edward Lehman (born March 7, 1959) is an American professional golfer. A former number 1 ranked golfer, his tournament wins include one major title, the 1996 Open Championship; and he is the only golfer in history to have been awarded th ...

won his only major championship by two strokes over runners-up

Mark McCumber Mark Randall McCumber (born September 7, 1951) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. McCumber was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, where he attended Robert E. Lee High School. He turned p ...

and

Ernie Els Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature (he stands ) along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victor ...

. Lehman built a six-stroke lead after 54 holes and became the first American to win at Lytham since Bobby Jones seventy years earlier.

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

, age 20, was the only amateur to make the cut and finished tied for 22nd; he turned professional six weeks later.

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

, 56, was one stroke out of the lead after 36 holes, but fell back on the weekend and tied for 45th.

Course layout

Source: Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):

Round summaries

First round

''Thursday, 18 July 1996''

Second round

''Friday, 19 July 1996'' Amateurs (a): '' Woods (–1)'', Bladon (+4),

Allan Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) ...

(+5), García (+7).

Third round

''Saturday, 20 July 1996''

Final round

''Sunday, 21 July 1996'' Amateurs: Woods (–3). Source:

References

External links

Royal Lytham & St Annes 1996 (Official site)
{{coord, 53.7495, -3.0180, type:event, display=title The Open Championship Golf tournaments in England