2004 Open Championship

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2004 Open Championship
Tournament information
Dates July 15 - 18, 2004
Location Flag of Scotland Troon, Scotland
Course(s) Royal Troon Golf Club
Tour(s) PGA Tour
PGA European Tour
Statistics
Par 71
Yardage 7,150
Field 156 players, 73 after cut
Cut 145 (+3)
Purse £4,000,000
6,001,690
$7,490,400
Winner's share £720,000
€1,078,430
$1,348,272
Champion
Todd Hamilton
274 (-10)

The 2004 Open Championship was the 133rd Open Championship, played from July 15 to July 18, 2004 at Royal Troon Golf Club. Todd Hamilton held off Ernie Els in a playoff after carding a final round 69. Phil Mickelson finished third, followed by Lee Westwood in fourth. The win made Todd the fifth consecutive American winner to win the open at Royal Troon. The purse was £4,000,000, and the winner received £720,000. Using conversion rates at the time of the tournament, the purse was 6.001.690 for the European Tour's Order of Merit rankings and $7,490,400 for the PGA Tour's money list.

Contents

[edit] History of The Open Championship at Royal Troon

Royal Troon first hosted The Open Championship in 1923 and the 2004 Open was the 8th to be held at there. 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), Tom Watson (1982), Mark Calcavecchia (1989) and Justin Leonard (1997).

[edit] Course

Front Nine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 OUT
Yardage 361 391 379 558 210 599 403 123 423 ------
Par 4 4 4 5 3 5 4 3 4 36
Back Nine 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 IN
Yardage 438 488 431 470 178 481 542 222 452 ------
Par 4 4 4 4 3 4 5 3 4 35
Front 9 Back 9 Total
Yardage 3,447 3,702 7,149
Par 36 35 71

[edit] First round (Thursday)

Englishman Paul Casey and Frenchman Thomas Levet both held a two shot lead over a group of nine players after both carding a 5 under 66. The group at 3 under included amateur Stuart Wilson and Fiji's Vijay Singh. Defending champ Ben Curtis carded a 4 over 75. 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.

# Player Country Score To par
1 Paul Casey Flag of England England 66 -5
Thomas Levet Flag of France France
3 KJ Choi Flag of South Korea South Korea 68 -3
Gary Evans Flag of England England
Vijay Singh Flag of Fiji Fiji
Kenneth Ferrie Flag of England England
Alastair Forsyth Flag of Scotland Scotland
Carl Pettersson Flag of Sweden Sweden
Stuart Wilson Flag of England England
Mårten Olander Flag of Sweden Sweden
Mathew Goggin Flag of Australia Australia

[edit] Second round (Friday)

Skip Kendall stormed into the lead with a five under 66 to reach the halfway stage on 7 under. Casey dropped down the leaderboard with a 77, while the other overnight leader Levet shot a 70 to drop down into second. KJ Choi continued his good start with a 69 keeping the Korean in a tie for third place with Englishman Barry Lane. Todd Hamilton finished the round with the lowest score of the day, a 67, to move himself up into a tie for fifth place.

# Player Country Score To par
1 Skip Kendall Flag of the United States United States 69-66=135 -7
2 Thomas Levet Flag of France France 66-70=136 -6
3 KJ Choi Flag of South Korea South Korea 68-69=137 -5
Barry Lane Flag of England England 69-68=137

[edit] Third round (Saturday)

Todd Hamilton surged up the leader with a second consecutive 67 to finish the day 8 under. Ernie Els, the 2002 champion moved up to second with a 68, while one shot behind lay the reigning Masters champion Phil Mickelson, South African Retief Goosen, both scoring 68s, and Thomas Levet continuing to hang on at the top of the leaderboard after a 71.

# Player Country Score To par
1 Todd Hamilton Flag of the United States United States 71-67-67=205 -8
2 Ernie Els Flag of South Africa South Africa 69-69-68=206 -7
3 Phil Mickelson Flag of the United States United States 73-66-68=207 -6
Retief Goosen Flag of South Africa South Africa 69-70-68=207
Thomas Levet Flag of France France 66-70-71=207

[edit] Fourth round (Sunday)

A see saw final round led to a two man playoff between Todd Hamilton and Ernie Els. Hamilton, playing in only his eighth major, looked like a sure bet to win after chipping in for birdie from 30 feet on the par-3 14th to get to 10 under. Then he holed a 12-foot 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, a 12-foot birdie attempt. Hamilton chipped to 20 feet and missed to take bogey. Els suddenly had a putt to win, but left it short. Phil Mickelson carded a final round 68 to finish a shot back at nine under. A round of 67 moved Lee Westwood into sole fourth, only Davis Love III matching that round on day four.

# Player Country Score To par Winnings (£)
1 Todd Hamilton Flag of the United States United States 71-67-67-69=274 -10PO 720,000
Ernie Els Flag of South Africa South Africa 69-69-68-68=274 430,000
3 Phil Mickelson Flag of the United States United States 73-66-68-68=275 -9 275,000
4 Lee Westwood Flag of England England 72-71-68-67=278 -6 210,000

[edit] Playoff (Sunday)

After 72 holes, Hamilton and Els both were tied on 10 under par, requiring a four hole playoff, first used in the 1989 Open held at Royal Troon, played over the 1st, 2nd, 17th and 18th. Both players pared the first two holes, befor reaching the 222 yard par 3 17th. Todd managed a par 3, however Ernie could only manage a bogey 4 at best. Els pared the last leaving Hamilton a par putt to win the Open, which he subsequently 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.

# Player Country Score To par
1 Todd Hamilton Flag of the United States United States 4-4-3-4=15 E
2 Ernie Els Flag of South Africa South Africa 4-4-4-4=16 +1


[edit] External links

Preceded by
2004 U.S. Open
Major Championships Succeeded by
2004 PGA Championship