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1956 Open Championship

Tournament information
Dates	4–6 July 1956
Location	Hoylake, England
Course(s)	Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Statistics
Par	71
Length	6,960 yards (6,364 m)
Field	96 players, 49 after cut
Cut	153 (+11)
Prize fund	£3,750 $10,500
Winner's share	£1,000 $2,800
Champion
Peter Thomson
286 (+2)
← 19551957 →

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.

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 4 July 1956

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Dennis Smalldon	68	−3
2	Enrique Bertolino	69	−2
T3	Al Balding	70	−1
	Eric Lester
	Dave Thomas
	Peter Thomson
T7	Carlos Celles	71	E
	Roberto De Vicenzo
	Ángel Miguel
	Gary Player
	Flory Van Donck

Second round

Thursday, 5 July 1956

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Peter Thomson	70-70=140	−2
T2	Enrique Bertolino	69-72=141	−1
	Roberto De Vicenzo	71-70=141
T4	Ángel Miguel	71-74=145	+3
	Flory Van Donck	71-74=145
6	Eric Lester	70-76=146	+4
T7	Gary Player	71-76=147	+5
	Dennis Smalldon	68-79=147
T9	Henry Cotton	72-76=148	+6
	Bernard Hunt	75-73=148
	Mike Souchak	74-74=148
	Frank Stranahan	72-76=148
	Dave Thomas	70-78=148
	Charlie Ward	73-75=148
	Harry Weetman	72-76=148

Amateurs: Carr (+8), Sharp (+12), Jones (+12), Tate (+14), Shepperson (+17), Thirlwell (+18), Fogarty (+21).

Third round

Friday, 6 July 1956 - (morning)

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Peter Thomson	70-70-72=212	−1
2	Flory Van Donck	71-74-70=215	+2
3	Enrique Bertolino	69-72-76=217	+4
4	Henry Cotton	72-76-71=219	+6
T5	Roberto De Vicenzo	71-70-79=220	+7
	Ángel Miguel	71-74-75=220
	Gary Player	71-76-73=220
	Frank Stranahan	72-76-72=220
9	Antonio Cerdá	72-81-68=221	+8
T10	John Panton	74-76-72=222	+9
	Mike Souchak	74-74-74=222

Final round

Friday, 6 July 1956 - (afternoon)

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (£)
1	Peter Thomson	70-70-72-74=286	+2	1,000
2	Flory Van Donck	71-74-70-74=289	+5	500
3	Roberto De Vicenzo	71-70-79-70=290	+6	350
4	Gary Player	71-76-73-71=291	+7	200
5	John Panton	74-76-72-70=292	+8	150
T6	Enrique Bertolino	69-72-76-76=293	+9	87
	Henry Cotton	72-76-71-74=293
T8	Antonio Cerdá	72-81-68-73=294	+10	62
	Mike Souchak	74-74-74-72=294
T10	Christy O'Connor Snr	73-78-74-70=295	+11	40
	Harry Weetman	72-76-75-72=295

Amateur: Carr (+22).

References

1. ^ "Thomson wins third straight British Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 7 July 1956. p. 11. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
2. "Smalldon leads British Open, Al Balding tied for third". Montreal Gazette. Canadian Press. 5 July 1956. p. 34.
3. "Media Guide". The Open Championship. 2011. p. 80. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
4. "New measure in Open golf - Threesomes in two qualifying rounds". The Times. 7 June 1956. p. 3.
5. "Player and Thomson lead qualifiers in Open - Unexpected failure of Mills". The Times. 4 July 1956. p. 5.

External links

• Royal Liverpool 1956 (Official site)

53°23′06″N 3°11′24″W / 53.385°N 3.190°W / 53.385; -3.190

• The Open Championship
• Golf tournaments in England
• Sport in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
• 1956 in golf
• 1956 in English sport
• July 1956 sports events in the United Kingdom