# 1979 Open Championship

The 1979 Open Championship was the 108th Open Championship, held 18–21 July at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. Seve Ballesteros, 22, won the first of his five major titles, three strokes ahead of runners-up Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw. It was the first of his three Open Championship victories; he raised the Claret Jug again in 1984 and 1988.
This was the last Open scheduled to end on Saturday; in 1980 it moved to a Sunday final round, similar to the other three majors.

## Course

| Hole | Yards | Par | | Hole | Yards | Par |
| 1 | 206 | 3 | | 10 | 334 | 4 |
| 2 | 436 | 4 | | 11 | 542 | 5 |
| 3 | 458 | 4 | | 12 | 201 | 3 |
| 4 | 393 | 4 | | 13 | 339 | 4 |
| 5 | 212 | 3 | | 14 | 445 | 4 |
| 6 | 486 | 5 | | 15 | 468 | 4 |
| 7 | 551 | 5 | | 16 | 356 | 4 |
| 8 | 394 | 4 | | 17 | 453 | 4 |
| 9 | 162 | 3 | | 18 | 386 | 4 |
| Out | 3,298 | 35 | | In | 3,524 | 36 |
| Source: | Source: | Source: | Total | Total | 6,822 | 71 |
Hole #6 was a par 4 in 2012.
Lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950):
* 1974: 6,822 yards (6,238 m), par 71
* 1969: 6,848 yards (6,262 m), par 71
* 1963: 6,836 yards (6,251 m), par 70
* 1958: 6,635 yards (6,067 m), par 71
* 1952: 6,657 yards (6,087 m)

## Round summaries
### First round

Wednesday, 18 July 1979
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Bill Longmuir | 65 | −6 |
| 2 | Hale Irwin | 68 | −3 |
| 3 | Jerry Pate | 69 | −2 |
| 4 | Isao Aoki | 70 | −1 |
| T5 | Terry Gale | 71 | E |
| T5 | Peter McEvoy (a) | 71 | E |
| T5 | Orville Moody | 71 | E |
| T5 | Lee Trevino | 71 | E |
| T9 | Hugh Baiocchi | 72 | +1 |
| T9 | Ken Brown | 72 | +1 |
| T9 | Dennis Clark | 72 | +1 |
| T9 | Ben Crenshaw | 72 | +1 |
| T9 | Gary Cullen | 72 | +1 |
| T9 | Jack Nicklaus | 72 | +1 |
| T9 | Tom Watson | 72 | +1 |
Source:

### Second round

Thursday, 19 July 1979
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Hale Irwin | 68-68=136 | −6 |
| 2 | Seve Ballesteros | 73-65=138 | −4 |
| 3 | Bill Longmuir | 65-74=139 | −3 |
| 4 | Tom Watson | 72-68=140 | −2 |
| T5 | Dennis Clark | 72-69=141 | −1 |
| T5 | Jack Nicklaus | 72-69=141 | −1 |
| 7 | Graham Marsh | 74-68=142 | E |
| T8 | Ken Brown | 72-71=143 | +1 |
| T8 | Bob Byman | 73-70=143 | +1 |
| T8 | Ben Crenshaw | 72-71=143 | +1 |
| T8 | Jerry Pate | 69-74=143 | +1 |
Source:
Amateurs: McEvoy (+3), Player (+8), Hallberg (+14), Hoad (+15), Bennett (+17), Myers (+18), Guy (+20), Whelan (+23).

### Third round

Friday, 20 July 1979
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Hale Irwin | 68-68-75=211 | −2 |
| 2 | Seve Ballesteros | 73-65-75=213 | E |
| T3 | Mark James | 76-69-69=214 | +1 |
| T3 | Jack Nicklaus | 72-69-73=214 | +1 |
| T5 | Rodger Davis | 75-70-70=215 | +2 |
| T5 | Bob Byman | 73-70-72=215 | +2 |
| T5 | Ben Crenshaw | 72-71-72=215 | +2 |
| T8 | Isao Aoki | 70-74-72=216 | +3 |
| T8 | Greg Norman | 73-71-72=216 | +3 |
| T8 | Tom Watson | 72-68-76=216 | +3 |
| T8 | Bill Longmuir | 65-74-77=216 | +3 |
Amateurs: McEvoy (+4), Player (+19).

### Final round

Saturday, 21 July 1979
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
| 1 | Seve Ballesteros | 73-65-75-70=283 | −1 | 15,000 |
| T2 | Ben Crenshaw | 72-71-72-71=286 | +2 | 11,250 |
| T2 | Jack Nicklaus | 72-69-73-72=286 | +2 | 11,250 |
| 4 | Mark James | 76-69-69-73=287 | +3 | 7,500 |
| 5 | Rodger Davis | 75-70-70-73=288 | +4 | 6,500 |
| 6 | Hale Irwin | 68-68-75-78=289 | +5 | 6,000 |
| T7 | Graham Marsh | 74-68-75-74=291 | +7 | 5,000 |
| T7 | Isao Aoki | 70-74-72-75=291 | +7 | 5,000 |
| T7 | Bob Byman | 73-70-72-76=291 | +7 | 5,000 |
| T10 | Bob Charles | 78-72-70-72=292 | +8 | 4,000 |
| T10 | Masashi Ozaki | 75-69-75-73=292 | +8 | 4,000 |
| T10 | Greg Norman | 73-71-72-76=292 | +8 | 4,000 |
Source:
* Amateurs: McEvoy (+10)
* The exchange rate at the time was approximately 2.30 dollars (US) per pound sterling.