# 1956 Open Championship

The 1956 Open Championship was the 85th Open Championship, held 4–6 July at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Two-time defending champion Peter Thomson of Australia won his third consecutive Open, three strokes ahead of runner-up Flory Van Donck of Belgium. It was the third of five Open titles for the 26-year-old Thomson.
Qualifying took place on 2–3 July. Entries played 18 holes on the Championship course and 18 holes at Wallasey. With a record 360 entries it was decided that, for the first time, qualifying would be in groups of three rather than the usual two. The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100. Ties for 100th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 152 and 96 players qualified. Gary Player and Peter Thomson led the qualifiers on 140. The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was set at 50. Ties for 50th place did not make the cut. Prize money was unchanged with £1,000 for the winner out of a total purse of £3,750.

## Round summaries
### First round

Wednesday, 4 July 1956
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Dennis Smalldon | 68 | −3 |
| 2 | Enrique Bertolino | 69 | −2 |
| T3 | Al Balding | 70 | −1 |
| T3 | Eric Lester | 70 | −1 |
| T3 | Dave Thomas | 70 | −1 |
| T3 | Peter Thomson | 70 | −1 |
| T7 | Carlos Celles | 71 | E |
| T7 | Roberto De Vicenzo | 71 | E |
| T7 | Ángel Miguel | 71 | E |
| T7 | Gary Player | 71 | E |
| T7 | Flory Van Donck | 71 | E |

### Second round

Thursday, 5 July 1956
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Peter Thomson | 70-70=140 | −2 |
| T2 | Enrique Bertolino | 69-72=141 | −1 |
| T2 | Roberto De Vicenzo | 71-70=141 | −1 |
| T4 | Ángel Miguel | 71-74=145 | +3 |
| T4 | Flory Van Donck | 71-74=145 | +3 |
| 6 | Eric Lester | 70-76=146 | +4 |
| T7 | Gary Player | 71-76=147 | +5 |
| T7 | Dennis Smalldon | 68-79=147 | +5 |
| T9 | Henry Cotton | 72-76=148 | +6 |
| T9 | Bernard Hunt | 75-73=148 | +6 |
| T9 | Mike Souchak | 74-74=148 | +6 |
| T9 | Frank Stranahan | 72-76=148 | +6 |
| T9 | Dave Thomas | 70-78=148 | +6 |
| T9 | Charlie Ward | 73-75=148 | +6 |
| T9 | Harry Weetman | 72-76=148 | +6 |
Amateurs: Carr (+8), Sharp (+12), Jones (+12), Tate (+14), Shepperson (+17), Thirlwell (+18), Fogarty (+21).

### Third round

Friday, 6 July 1956 - (morning)
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Peter Thomson | 70-70-72=212 | −1 |
| 2 | Flory Van Donck | 71-74-70=215 | +2 |
| 3 | Enrique Bertolino | 69-72-76=217 | +4 |
| 4 | Henry Cotton | 72-76-71=219 | +6 |
| T5 | Roberto De Vicenzo | 71-70-79=220 | +7 |
| T5 | Ángel Miguel | 71-74-75=220 | +7 |
| T5 | Gary Player | 71-76-73=220 | +7 |
| T5 | Frank Stranahan | 72-76-72=220 | +7 |
| 9 | Antonio Cerdá | 72-81-68=221 | +8 |
| T10 | John Panton | 74-76-72=222 | +9 |
| T10 | Mike Souchak | 74-74-74=222 | +9 |

### Final round

Friday, 6 July 1956 - (afternoon)
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (£) |
| 1 | Peter Thomson | 70-70-72-74=286 | +2 | 1,000 |
| 2 | Flory Van Donck | 71-74-70-74=289 | +5 | 500 |
| 3 | Roberto De Vicenzo | 71-70-79-70=290 | +6 | 350 |
| 4 | Gary Player | 71-76-73-71=291 | +7 | 200 |
| 5 | John Panton | 74-76-72-70=292 | +8 | 150 |
| T6 | Enrique Bertolino | 69-72-76-76=293 | +9 | 87 |
| T6 | Henry Cotton | 72-76-71-74=293 | +9 | 87 |
| T8 | Antonio Cerdá | 72-81-68-73=294 | +10 | 62 |
| T8 | Mike Souchak | 74-74-74-72=294 | +10 | 62 |
| T10 | Christy O'Connor Snr | 73-78-74-70=295 | +11 | 40 |
| T10 | Harry Weetman | 72-76-75-72=295 | +11 | 40 |
Amateur: Carr (+22).