2004 Open Championship
The 2004 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 133rd Open Championship, held from 15 to 18 July at the Old Course of Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland. Todd Hamilton won his only major championship, defeating 2002 champion Ernie Els by a stroke in a four-hole playoff. Phil Mickelson finished third, followed by Lee Westwood in fourth. Hamilton was the sixth consecutive American to win at Royal Troon. History of The Open Championship at Royal Troon. Royal Troon first hosted The Open Championship in 1923 and the 2004 Open was  its eighth. Royal Troon's list of champions includes Arthur Havers (1923), 4-time Open winner Bobby Locke (1950), 7-time major winner Arnold Palmer (1962), Tom Weiskopf (1973), 5-time Open champion Tom Watson (1982), Mark Calcavecchia (1989), and Justin Leonard (1997). Course. Old Course Lengths of the course for previous Opens (since 1950): Opens from 1962 through 1989 played the 11th hole as a par-5. Thomas Bjørn (3,4), Ben Curtis (2,3), Brian Davis (4), Gary Evans, Nick Faldo (2), Sergio García (3), Retief Goosen (3,4,9,13,17), Freddie Jacobson (3,4), Davis Love III (3,12,13,17), Hennie Otto, Kenny Perry (3,13,17), Phillip  Price (4), Vijay Singh (3,10,13,17), Tiger Woods (2,3,9,10,11,13,17) Mark Calcavecchia, John Daly, Ernie Els (3,4,13,17), Paul Lawrie, Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard (3,13,17), Sandy Lyle, Greg Norman, Mark O'Meara, Nick Price (3,13,17), Tom Weiskopf Robert Allenby (17), Stephen Ames, Stuart Appleby (13,17), Chad Campbell (13), Paul Casey (4), K. J. Choi (17), Stewart Cink, Darren Clarke (4), Chris DiMarco (13,17), Brad Faxon (13), Steve Flesch, Jim Furyk (9,13,17), Jay Haas (13,17), Todd Hamilton (23), Pádraig Harrington (4), Charles Howell III (13,17), John Huston, Trevor Immelman (4), Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Zach Johnson, Jonathan Kaye (13), Jerry Kelly (17), Stephen Leaney (4,17), Peter  Lonard (4,17,19), Shigeki Maruyama, Shaun Micheel (11), Phil Mickelson (10,17), Craig Parry, Ian Poulter (4), Chris Riley, Adam Scott (4,12,17), David Toms (11,13,17), Bob Tway (13,21), Scott Verplank (13), Mike Weir (10,13,17) Michael Campbell, Alastair Forsyth, Ignacio Garrido (5), David Howell, Raphaël Jacquelin, Lee Westwood Scott Drummond, Anders Hansen Joakim Haeggman, Barry Lane, Graeme McDowell Richard Green, Jean-François Remésy Thomas Levet, Peter O'Malley Rich Beem Craig Perks Frank Lickliter, Rory Sabbatini Steve Lowery Tim Clark Arjun Atwal Darren Fichardt Keiichiro Fukabori Tetsuji Hiratsuka Dinesh Chand, Hidemasa Hoshino, Hur Suk-ho, Takashi Kamiyama Stuart Wilson (a) Nick Flanagan (a) Brian  McElhinney (a) Round summaries. First round. "Thursday, 15 July 2004" Paul Casey and Thomas Levet both carded 66 (−5) and held a two stroke lead over a group of nine players. The group at 3-under included amateur Stuart Wilson and Vijay Singh. Defending champ Ben Curtis carded a 75 (+4). In total there were 39 rounds under par, 25 of those being in the 60s. Home favourite Colin Montgomerie started with a 2-under 69. Second round. "Friday, 16 July 2004" Skip Kendall stormed into the lead with a 66 to reach the halfway stage at 135 (−7). Casey  dropped down the leaderboard with a 77, while Levet shot a 70 to drop down into second. K. J. Choi continued his good start with a 69, keeping him in a tie for third place with Barry Lane. Todd Hamilton finished the round with a 67 to move up into a tie for fifth place. Amateurs: "Stuart Wilson (+1)", Campbell (+5), Tiley (+5), Flanagan (+6), McElhinney (+10). Third round. "Saturday, 17 July 2004" Hamilton surged up the leader with a second consecutive 67 to finish the day at 205 (−8). Ernie Els, the 2002 champion, moved up to second at  206 with a 68, while one shot behind lay the reigning Masters champion Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen, and Thomas Levet at 207 (−6). Final round. "Sunday, 18 July 2004" A see-saw final round led to a two-man playoff between Hamilton and Els. Hamilton, playing in only his eighth major, opened up a two-shot lead after chipping in for birdie from on the par-3 14th to get to 10 under. Then he holed a birdie on the par-5 16th to keep his cushion. Els had to make birdies to keep up, and he came through with pure putts  on the 16th and 17th. Then came the wild 72nd hole, with Hamilton holding a one shot lead. Hamilton pushed his iron off the tee and into the rough, then chopped it across the fairway next to a guard railing that restricted his swing. Els hit his approach to within the shadow of the flag, leaving a 12-foot birdie attempt. Hamilton chipped to and missed to take bogey. Els suddenly had a putt to win, but left it short. Mickelson carded a final round 68 to finish a shot back at 275 (−9). A 67 moved Lee Westwood into  sole fourth, matching Davis Love III for low score of the final round. Amateurs: Wilson (+12) Scorecard. "Final round" "Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par" Playoff. After 72 holes, Hamilton and Els were tied for the lead at 274 (−10), requiring a four-hole aggregate playoff, played over the 1st, 2nd, 17th, and 18th holes. (The first use of this format in The Open was fifteen years earlier in 1989, also at Royal Troon.) Both players parred the first two holes, both par fours, and Hamilton managed a par 3 on the 17th. Els overshot the green and bogeyed, then  parred the last, leaving Hamilton a 3-foot (1 m) par putt to win the Open, which he holed. Els had all four rounds in the 60s for the second time in an Open without winning; the other time was at Royal St. George's in 1993. Scorecard. "Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par"