1981 Open Championship

The 1981 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 110th Open Championship, held from 16 to 19 July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Bill Rogers won his only major championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Bernhard Langer.^[2] The Open returned to Royal St. George's for the first time since 1949, making it a new venue for all; no former champions finished in the top ten.^[3]

1981 Open Championship

Tournament information
Dates	16–19 July 1981
Location	Sandwich, England
Course(s)	Royal St George's Golf Club
Tour(s)	European Tour PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70[1]
Length	6,827 yards (6,243 m)[1]
Field	153 players 81 after 1st cut 61 after 2nd cut[1]
Cut	150 (+10) (1st cut) 222 (+12) (2nd cut)[1]
Prize fund	£200,000 $400,000
Winner's share	£25,000 $50,000
Champion
Bill Rogers
276 (−4)
← 1980 1982 →

Sandwich

Location in England

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, 16 July 1981

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Vicente Fernández	70	E
	Nick Job
T3	Isao Aoki	71	+1
	David Graham
	Tony Jacklin
	Johnny Miller
	Simon Owen
	Hal Sutton (a)
T9	Howard Clark	72	+2
	Ben Crenshaw
	David Jagger
	Mark James
	Greg Norman
	Arnold Palmer
	Bill Rogers
	Sam Torrance

Second round

Friday, 17 July 1981

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Bill Rogers	72-66=138	−2
T2	Ben Crenshaw	72-67=139	−1
	Nick Job	70-69=139
4	Bernhard Langer	73-67=140	E
5	Sam Torrance	72-69=141	+1
T6	David Graham	71-71=142	+2
	Tony Jacklin	71-71=142
	Mark James	72-70=142
	Tom Watson	73-69=142
T10	Gordon J. Brand	78-65=143	+3
	Bill Dunk	76-67=143
	Trevor Powell	75-68=143
	Peter Townsend	73-70=143

Amateurs: Godwin (+6), Evans (+8), Sutton (+8), Chapman (+10), Keppler (+10), Walton (+10), Young (+10), Brand (+12), R. Mitchell (+12), Sherborne (+12), Ploujoux (+14), Thomas (+14), Blakeman (+15), Planchin (+15), Seamer (+15), Ling (+17), C. Mitchell (+18), Pook (+19), Ambridge (+20), Heib (+22), Lawrence (+23), Hall (+24), Sviland (+24).

Third round

Saturday, 18 July 1981

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Bill Rogers	72-66-67=205	−5
T2	Mark James	72-70-68=210	E
	Bernhard Langer	73-67-70=210
T4	Isao Aoki	71-73-69=213	+3
	Raymond Floyd	74-70-69=213
T6	Nick Faldo	77-68-69=214	+4
	Nick Job	70-69-75=214
	Sam Torrance	72-69-73=214
	Lee Trevino	77-67-70=214
T10	Ben Crenshaw	72-67-76=215	+5
	Tony Jacklin	71-71-73=215
	Brian Jones	73-76-66=215
	Simon Owen	71-74-70=215
	Jerry Pate	73-73-69=215
	Manuel Piñero	73-74-68=215

Amateurs: Godwin (+8), Sutton (+11), Keppler (+13), Evans (+15), Young (+15), Chapman (+16), Walton (+16).

Final round

Sunday, 19 July 1981

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (£)
1	Bill Rogers	72-66-67-71=276	−4	25,000
2	Bernhard Langer	73-67-70-70=280	E	17,500
T3	Raymond Floyd	74-70-69-70=283	+3	11,750
	Mark James	72-70-68-73=283
5	Sam Torrance	72-69-73-70=284	+4	8,500
T6	Bruce Lietzke	76-69-71-69=285	+5	7,750
	Manuel Piñero	73-74-68-70=285
T8	Howard Clark	72-76-70-68=286	+6	6,500
	Ben Crenshaw	72-67-76-71=286
	Brian Jones	73-76-66-71=286

Amateurs: Sutton (+15), Godwin (+19)
Source:^[4]

• The exchange rate at the time was approximately 1.87 dollars (US) per pound sterling.^[5]