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.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 4 July 1956
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Dennis Smalldon68–3
2Enrique Bertolino69–2
T3Al Balding70–1
T3Eric Lester70–1
T3Dave Thomas70–1
T3Peter Thomson70–1
T7Carlos Celles71E
T7Roberto De Vicenzo71E
T7Ángel Miguel71E
T7Gary Player71E
T7Flory Van Donck71E

Second round

Thursday, 5 July 1956
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Peter Thomson70-70=140–2
T2Enrique Bertolino69-72=141–1
T2Roberto De Vicenzo71-70=141–1
T4Ángel Miguel71-74=145+3
T4Flory Van Donck71-74=145+3
6Eric Lester70-76=146+4
T7Gary Player71-76=147+5
T7Dennis Smalldon68-79=147+5
T9Henry Cotton72-76=148+6
T9Bernard Hunt75-73=148+6
T9Mike Souchak74-74=148+6
T9Frank Stranahan72-76=148+6
T9Dave Thomas70-78=148+6
T9Charlie Ward73-75=148+6
T9Harry Weetman72-76=148+6

Amateurs: Carr , Sharp, Jones, Tate, Shepperson, Thirlwell, Fogarty.

Third round

Friday, 6 July 1956 -
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Peter Thomson70-70-72=212–1
2Flory Van Donck71-74-70=215+2
3Enrique Bertolino69-72-76=217+4
4Henry Cotton72-76-71=219+6
T5Roberto De Vicenzo71-70-79=220+7
T5Ángel Miguel71-74-75=220+7
T5Gary Player71-76-73=220+7
T5Frank Stranahan72-76-72=220+7
9Antonio Cerdá72-81-68=221+8
T10John Panton74-76-72=222+9
T10Mike Souchak74-74-74=222+9

Final round

Friday, 6 July 1956 -
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Peter Thomson70-70-72-74=286+21,000
2Flory Van Donck71-74-70-74=289+5500
3Roberto De Vicenzo71-70-79-70=290+6350
4Gary Player71-76-73-71=291+7200
5John Panton74-76-72-70=292+8150
T6Enrique Bertolino69-72-76-76=293+987
T6Henry Cotton72-76-71-74=293+987
T8Antonio Cerdá72-81-68-73=294+1062
T8Mike Souchak74-74-74-72=294+1062
T10Christy O'Connor Snr73-78-74-70=295+1140
T10Harry Weetman72-76-75-72=295+1140

Amateur: Carr.