1975 Open Championship 1975 Open Championship The 1975 Open Championship was the 104th Open Championship, played 9–13 July at Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland. In his first Open, Tom Watson won an 18-hole playoff by one stroke over Jack Newton to win the first of his eight major titles, which included five Open Championships. After three days of calm weather, the wind kicked up during the final round on Saturday and scores went up. Bobby Cole, the leader at 54 holes after back-to-back rounds of 66, shot a four-over 76 and missed the playoff by a stroke. Watson managed an even-par 72, capped
The Open Championship early postwar years The Open was dominated by golfers from the Commonwealth, with South African Bobby Locke and Australian Peter Thomson winning the Claret Jug in eight of the 11 championships from 1948 and 1958 between them. During this period, The Open often had a schedule conflict with the match-play PGA Championship, which meant that Ben Hogan, the best American golfer at this time, competed in The Open just once, in 1953 at Carnoustie, a tournament he won. Another South African, Gary Player was Champion in 1959. This was at the beginning of the "Big Three" era in professional golf,