# 1971 Open Championship

The 1971 Open Championship was the 100th Open Championship, played 7–10 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Lee Trevino won the first of his consecutive Open Championships, one stroke ahead of Lu Liang-Huan. It was the third of his six major titles and his second consecutive; he won the U.S. Open less than a month earlier in a playoff over Jack Nicklaus.
Trevino became the fourth player to win both the U.S. Open and the Open Championship in the same year, joining Bobby Jones (1926, 1930), Gene Sarazen (1932), and Ben Hogan (1953). Subsequent winners of both were Tom Watson (1982) and Tiger Woods (2000); all six are Americans.
Trevino also won the Canadian Open the previous week near Montreal for three national titles in 1971, all won in less than a month.
This was the last major championship of 1971 because the PGA Championship was played in February instead of its traditional date in August. (In 2019 the PGA moved to May.) Trevino's win, therefore, assured that Americans won all four major championships in 1971 (Charles Coody won the Masters Tournament and Nicklaus captured the PGA). This was the fifth time this had happened in golf history. (It has happened six more times since 1971, most recently in 2024.)

## Course

| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
| Yards | 493 | 427 | 416 | 212 | 358 | 473 | 158 | 459 | 410 | 3,406 | 393 | 412 | 190 | 517 | 202 | 536 | 401 | 510 | 513 | 3,674 | 7,080 |
| Par | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 38 | 73 |
Source: Lengths of the course for previous Opens:
* 1965: 7,037 yards (6,435 m), par 73
* 1961: 6,844 yards (6,258 m)
* 1954: 6,867 yards (6,279 m)

## Round summaries
### First round

Wednesday, 7 July 1971
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| T1 | Vicente Fernández | 69 | −4 |
| T1 | Tony Jacklin | 69 | −4 |
| T1 | Howie Johnson | 69 | −4 |
| T1 | Lee Trevino | 69 | −4 |
| T5 | Billy Casper | 70 | −3 |
| T5 | Tommy Horton | 70 | −3 |
| T5 | Lu Liang-Huan | 70 | −3 |
| T5 | Kel Nagle | 70 | −3 |
| T5 | John O'Leary | 70 | −3 |
| T5 | Peter Thomson | 70 | −3 |
| T5 | Brian Waites | 70 | −3 |
Source:

### Second round

Thursday, 8 July 1971
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| T1 | Tony Jacklin | 69-70=139 | −7 |
| T1 | Lee Trevino | 69-70=139 | −7 |
| 3 | Lu Liang-Huan | 70-70=140 | −6 |
| T4 | Roberto De Vicenzo | 71-70=141 | −5 |
| T4 | Gary Player | 71-70=141 | −5 |
| T6 | Billy Casper | 70-72=142 | −4 |
| T6 | Malcolm Gregson | 71-71=142 | −4 |
| T6 | Tommy Horton | 70-72=142 | −4 |
| T6 | Jimmy Kinsella | 74-68=142 | −4 |
| T6 | Jack Nicklaus | 71-71=142 | −4 |
Source: Amateurs: Bonallack (−3), Melnyk (+4), Humphreys (+6), Berry (+7), Carr (+8), M. Foster (+9), Birtwell (+11), Bird (+12), Rolley (+14).

### Third round

Friday, 9 July 1971
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Lee Trevino | 69-70-69=208 | −11 |
| T2 | Tony Jacklin | 69-70-70=209 | −10 |
| T2 | Lu Liang-Huan | 70-70-69=209 | −10 |
| T4 | Craig Defoy | 72-72-68=212 | −7 |
| T4 | Gary Player | 71-70-71=212 | −7 |
| T6 | Roberto De Vicenzo | 71-70-72=213 | −6 |
| T6 | Dale Hayes | 71-72-70=213 | −6 |
| T6 | Peter Oosterhuis | 76-71-66=213 | −6 |
| T9 | Jack Nicklaus | 71-71-72=214 | −5 |
| T9 | Ramón Sota | 72-72-70=214 | −5 |
Source: Amateurs: Bonallack (−2), Melnyk (+4).

### Final round

Saturday, 10 July 1971
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
| 1 | Lee Trevino | 69-70-69-70=278 | −14 | 5,500 |
| 2 | Lu Liang-Huan | 70-70-69-70=279 | −13 | 4,000 |
| 3 | Tony Jacklin | 69-70-70-71=280 | −12 | 3,250 |
| 4 | Craig Defoy | 72-72-68-69=281 | −11 | 2,750 |
| T5 | Charles Coody | 74-71-70-68=283 | −9 | 2,300 |
| T5 | Jack Nicklaus | 71-71-72-69=283 | −9 | 2,300 |
| T7 | Billy Casper | 70-72-75-67=284 | −8 | 1,775 |
| T7 | Gary Player | 71-70-71-72=284 | −8 | 1,775 |
| T9 | Doug Sanders | 73-71-74-67=285 | −7 | 1,550 |
| T9 | Peter Thomson | 70-73-73-69=285 | −7 | 1,550 |
Source: Amateurs: Bonallack (−1), Melnyk (+6)
* The exchange rate at the time was approximately 2.41 dollars (US) per pound sterling.