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A History Forged By The Legends
Royal Lytham’s history and tradition have helped shape the game. The Clubhouse is cloaked in memories of glory. It’s a vibrant place, with the walls decked in history and the fairways alive with the ghosts of legends.
Lytham pays homage to the game of golf and to the greatest Championship in the world. From Seve’s signed scorecard to Bobby Jones’s priceless portrait hanging in the Club Room, the place is not only a living, breathing museum but it is also a world-class sporting venue. |
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Established in 1886, Royal Lytham has held ten British Opens and two Ryder Cups.
Lytham also hosted the first Ladies’ Amateur Championship, back in 1893, and opened its gates again to the Centenary event in 1993. Venue of the Curtis Cup, and of three Weetabix Ladies’ British Opens which it will host again in 2009, Lytham today extends a big welcome to lady players of all standards.
Bobby Jones
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In 1926, the course staged Bobby Jones’ dramatic entry into the minds of the British public. He was to become a legend, but Lytham was his first Open title, achieved against the finest-ever golfing field. Jones shook off Al Watrous, who had been two strokes ahead with five holes to play. At the 17th, with their scores tied, Jones pulled his drive into sandy scrub; Watrous made the green in two. William Fownes, USGA President, declared that the shot would be worth $100,000 to Watrous.
But Jones had other ideas.
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With 175 yards to go, and rough, bushes and bunkers blocking his view, Jones nipped the ball perfectly off a sandy scrape and landed it closer to the pin than his rival’s ball. Watrous was broken and the Claret Jug all but won.
Today, you can see the mashie-iron Jones used for his miracle shot, hanging below his painting, overlooking the scene of his triumph. A plaque sits in a bunker to the left of the 17th fairway to commemorate the historic shot.
Bobby Jones captured 13 of the 21 major championships he entered. He retired at 28, leaving observers able only to guess at how many more he would have won. |
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Severiano Ballesteros
During the final round of the 1979 Open, Ballesteros forged a new path to glory. He hooked left, he sliced right, he dipped and detoured through sand and scrub. On the 16th, he hit from a car park – and, with Nicklaus one shot behind and looking at a possible birdie on the 18th, the drama reached a crescendo. Ballesteros hit a sand wedge out of the dust to 15 feet and canned the putt as Nicklaus fell away. The crowd rose to acclaim the Spaniard’s brilliant win. |
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Ballesteros was back in 1988, with the same clubs and the same clothes. The final round was carried over to the Monday after severe flooding and Seve shot a course-record 65 to win, which he acknowledged as the best round of his life.
Tom Lehman
In 1996, Tom Lehman’s brilliant third-round 64 – including only 25 putts – set him up for a victory that brought tears to his eyes. It was a triumph that enabled him to keep a promise to the staff of a local restaurant where he ate before the Championship. At 10.30 on the Sunday night, he bought them all a drink, as a condition of victory. Incredibly, Lehman became the first-ever US professional to win the Open at Lytham.
David Duval
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Big tour winner and former world Number One David Duval finally proved he could win when it mattered most, with a stunning victory in 2001. Duval was one of a handful of players who came into the event looking to shake off the tag of ‘best player without a major title’.
Duval did so emphatically, with a sensational weekend, firing a third-round 65 to gain a share of the lead, before his five-birdie effort over the last 18 holes lifted him to his career-defining win. “I knew I |
was probably in the lead, but I didn’t look and never saw it [the Scoreboard] until I was on the Green at 18. I thought I was either one or two ahead. I saw I was three and I was just overcome.”
The Ryder Cup
The 1961 Ryder Cup was the first to be held on an Open Championship course, with Henry Longhurst describing it as “the finest exhibition ever put before the public”. Of 25 finishes, ten went to the final green, sending the 35,000 spectators, who had enjoyed glorious October weather, home happy, despite the American win.
In 1977, American dominance stretched to 20 years. With a masterful team that included Nicklaus, Floyd, Wadkins and Irwin, the USA routed Britain and Ireland |
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12½-7½. It was the last time the Cup would be held with a team representing Britain and Ireland. In 1979, a united Europe faced the Dream Team.
| British Open champions at Royal Lytham |
1926 Bobby Jones
1952 Bobby Locke
1958 Peter Thomson
1963 Bob Charles
1969 Tony Jacklin |
1974 Gary Player
1979 Seve Ballesteros
1988 Seve Ballesteros
1996 Tom Lehman
2001 David Duval |
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