# 1970 Open Championship

The 1970 Open Championship was the 99th Open Championship, played 8–12 July at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland. Jack Nicklaus won the second of his three Opens in an 18-hole Sunday playoff over Doug Sanders, 72 to 73. In gusty winds during the fourth round on Saturday, Sanders saved par from the Road Hole bunker and led by one heading to the 72nd hole. After a lengthy drive on the short par-4, he took four shots from just 74 yards (68 m) and missed a downhill putt for par from three feet to win.
This was the first playoff at The Open since 1963 and the first at 18 holes. The previous playoffs were 36 holes on Saturday. Prior to 1966, the final two rounds of The Open were played on Friday. The playoff format was changed again to the four-hole aggregate after the 1985 Open, first used in 1989.
A thunderstorm late in the opening round on Wednesday evening caused a suspension in play; it was competed early the next day.

## Course

| Hole | Name | Yards | Par | | Hole | Name | Yards | Par |
| 1 | Burn | 374 | 4 | | 10 | Tenth ^ | 338 | 4 |
| 2 | Dyke | 411 | 4 | | 11 | High (In) | 170 | 3 |
| 3 | Cartgate (Out) | 405 | 4 | | 12 | Heathery (In) | 312 | 4 |
| 4 | Ginger Beer | 470 | 4 | | 13 | Hole O'Cross (In) | 427 | 4 |
| 5 | Hole O'Cross (Out) | 567 | 5 | | 14 | Long | 560 | 5 |
| 6 | Heathery (Out) | 414 | 4 | | 15 | Cartgate (In) | 413 | 4 |
| 7 | High (Out) | 364 | 4 | | 16 | Corner of the Dyke | 380 | 4 |
| 8 | Short | 163 | 3 | | 17 | Road | 466 | 4 |
| 9 | End | 359 | 4 | | 18 | Tom Morris | 358 | 4 |
| Out | Out | 3,527 | 36 | | In | In | 3,424 | 36 |
| Source: | Source: | Source: | Source: | Source: | Total | Total | 6,951 | 72 |
^ The 10th hole was posthumously named for Bobby Jones in 1972
Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):
* 6,926 yards (6,333 m) - 1964
* 6,936 yards (6,342 m) - 1960, 1955

## Round summaries
### First round

Wednesday, 8 July 1970 Thursday, 9 July 1970
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Neil Coles | 65 | −7 |
| 2 | Tommy Horton | 66 | −6 |
| T3 | Maurice Bembridge | 67 | −5 |
| T3 | Harold Henning | 67 | −5 |
| T3 | Tony Jacklin | 67 | −5 |
| T3 | Florentino Molina | 67 | −5 |
| T3 | John Richardson | 67 | −5 |
| T8 | Tommy Aaron | 68 | −4 |
| T8 | Brian Huggett | 68 | −4 |
| T8 | Jack Nicklaus | 68 | −4 |
| T8 | Arnold Palmer | 68 | −4 |
| T8 | Doug Sanders | 68 | −4 |
| T8 | Peter Thomson | 68 | −4 |
| T8 | Lee Trevino | 68 | −4 |
| T8 | Guy Wolstenholme | 68 | −4 |
Source:

### Second round

Thursday, 9 July 1970
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Lee Trevino | 68-68=136 | −8 |
| T2 | Tony Jacklin | 67-70=137 | −7 |
| T2 | Jack Nicklaus | 68-69=137 | −7 |
| T4 | Clive Clark | 69-70=139 | −5 |
| T4 | Neil Coles | 65-74=139 | −5 |
| T4 | Harold Henning | 67-72=139 | −5 |
| T4 | Tommy Horton | 66-73=139 | −5 |
| T4 | John Richardson | 67-72=139 | −5 |
| T4 | Doug Sanders | 68-71=139 | −5 |
| T10 | Christy O'Connor Snr | 72-68=140 | −4 |
| T10 | Arnold Palmer | 68-72=140 | −4 |
Source: Amateurs: Melnyk (-1), Bonallack (+1), Humphreys (+2), George (+2), Webster (+5), MacDonald (+7), Berry (+8), Steel (+10), Mosey (+11), Sumner (+11), Sweeny Jr (+11), Farmer (+14)

### Third round

Friday, 10 July 1970
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Lee Trevino | 68-68-72=208 | −8 |
| T2 | Tony Jacklin | 67-70-73=210 | −6 |
| T2 | Jack Nicklaus | 68-69-73=210 | −6 |
| T2 | Doug Sanders | 68-71-71=210 | −6 |
| T5 | Neil Coles | 65-74-72=211 | −5 |
| T5 | Peter Oosterhuis | 73-69-69=211 | −5 |
| 7 | Harold Henning | 67-72-73=212 | −4 |
| T8 | Tommy Horton | 66-73-75=214 | −2 |
| T8 | Hugh Jackson | 69-72-73=214 | −2 |
| T8 | Christy O'Connor Snr | 72-68-74=214 | −2 |
Source: Amateurs: Melnyk (+3), Humphreys (+6), Bonallack (+8), George (+9), Webster (+11)

### Final round

Saturday, 11 July 1970
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
| T1 | Jack Nicklaus | 68-69-73-73=283 | −5 | Playoff |
| T1 | Doug Sanders | 68-71-71-73=283 | −5 | Playoff |
| T3 | Harold Henning | 67-72-73-73=285 | −3 | 2,750 |
| T3 | Lee Trevino | 68-68-72-77=285 | −3 | 2,750 |
| 5 | Tony Jacklin | 67-70-73-76=286 | −2 | 2,200 |
| T6 | Neil Coles | 65-74-72-76=287 | −1 | 1,750 |
| T6 | Peter Oosterhuis | 73-69-69-76=287 | −1 | 1,750 |
| 8 | Hugh Jackson | 69-72-73-74=288 | E | 1,400 |
| T9 | Tommy Horton | 66-73-75-75=289 | +1 | 1,200 |
| T9 | John Panton | 72-73-73-71=289 | +1 | 1,200 |
| T9 | Peter Thomson | 68-74-73-74=289 | +1 | 1,200 |
Source: Amateurs: Melnyk (+10), Humphreys (+13)

### Playoff

Sunday, 12 July 1970
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
| 1 | Jack Nicklaus | 72 | E | 5,250 |
| 2 | Doug Sanders | 73 | +1 | 3,750 |
Source:

#### Scorecard

| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Jack Nicklaus | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | E | +1 | +1 | E |
| Doug Sanders | E | E | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +4 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +1 |
    Birdie Bogey