1968 Open Championship

The 1968 Open Championship was the 97th Open Championship, played 10–13 July at Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland. Gary Player won the second of his three Open titles, two strokes ahead of runners-up Bob Charles and Jack Nicklaus. It was the fifth of Player's nine major titles.

This Open introduced the second cut at 54 holes, used through 1985. In addition, starting with this Championship all past Open champions were exempt from qualifying (though, eventually, an age restriction was placed on past champions).

The inaugural Greater Milwaukee Open was held in the United States during the same week, with a first prize of $40,000, over five times the winner's share of the Open Championship, which was $7,200 (£3,000).

The PGA Championship was played the next week in San Antonio, Texas, the fifth and final time in the 1960s that these two majors were played in consecutive weeks in July. The PGA Championship moved permanently to August in 1969 (except 1971, when it was played in late February) and remained there until 2019, when it moved to May between The Masters and U.S. Open.

Course

Carnoustie Golf Links - Championship Course

Hole	Name	Yards	Par	Hole	Name	Yards	Par
1	Cup	406	4	10	South America	446	4
2	Gulley	468	4	11	Dyke	370	4
3	Jockie's Burn	343	4	12	Southward Ho	473	4
4	Hillocks	429	4	13	Whins	168	3
5	Brae	389	4	14	Spectacles	485	5
6	Long	565	5	15	Lucky Slap	460	4
7	Plantation	386	4	16	Barry Burn	243	3
8	Short	163	3	17	Island	458	4
9	Railway	475	4	18	Home	525	5
Out		3,624	36	In		3,628	36
				Total		7,252	72

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 10 July 1968

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Template:Flagicon Brian Barnes	70	−2
	Template:Flagicon Michael Bonallack (a)
T3	Template:Flagicon Maurice Bembridge	71	−1
	Template:Flagicon Peter Mills
T5	Template:Flagicon Billy Casper	72	E
	Template:Flagicon Bob Charles
	Template:Flagicon Tony Jacklin
	Template:Flagicon Paddy Skerritt
T9	Template:Flagicon Peter Alliss	73	+1
	Template:Flagicon Sebastián Miguel
	Template:Flagicon Sandy Wilson

Second round

Thursday, 11 July 1968

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon Billy Casper	72-68=140	−4
T2	Template:Flagicon Brian Barnes	70-74=144	E
	Template:Flagicon Bob Charles	72-72=144
	Template:Flagicon Tony Jacklin	72-72=144
T5	Template:Flagicon Jack Nicklaus	76-69=145	+1
	Template:Flagicon Gary Player	74-71=145
	Template:Flagicon Paddy Skerritt	72-73=145
T8	Template:Flagicon Maurice Bembridge	71-75=146	+2
	Template:Flagicon Dave Thomas	75-71=146
T10	Template:Flagicon Harry Bannerman	74-73=147	+3
	Template:Flagicon Michael Bonallack (a)	70-77=147
	Template:Flagicon Gay Brewer	74-73=147
	Template:Flagicon Brian Huggett	76-71=147
	Template:Flagicon Peter Mills	71-76=147

Amateurs: Bonallack (+3), Monguzzi (+8), O'Connor (+12), Sweeny Jr (+12), Shade (+13), Oosterhuis (+16), Saddler (+16).

Third round

Friday, 13 July 1968

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon Billy Casper	72-68-74=214	−2
2	Template:Flagicon Bob Charles	72-72-71=215	−1
3	Template:Flagicon Gary Player	74-71-71=216	E
4	Template:Flagicon Jack Nicklaus	76-69-73=218	+2
T5	Template:Flagicon Maurice Bembridge	71-75-73=219	+3
	Template:Flagicon Gay Brewer	74-73-72=219
	Template:Flagicon Tony Jacklin	72-72-75=219
8	Template:Flagicon Arnold Palmer	77-71-72=220	+4
9	Template:Flagicon Michael Bonallack (a)	70-77-74=221	+5
T10	Template:Flagicon Neil Coles	75-76-71=222	+6
	Template:Flagicon Bruce Devlin	77-73-72=222
	Template:Flagicon Brian Huggett	76-71-75=222
	Template:Flagicon Paddy Skerritt	72-73-77=222

Amateurs: Bonallack (+5), Monguzzi (+18).

Final round

Saturday, 13 July 1968

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (£)
1	Template:Flagicon Gary Player	74-71-71-73=289	+1	3,000
T2	Template:Flagicon Bob Charles	72-72-71-76=291	+3	1,738
	Template:Flagicon Jack Nicklaus	76-69-73-73=291
4	Template:Flagicon Billy Casper	72-68-74-78=292	+4	1,225
5	Template:Flagicon Maurice Bembridge	71-75-73-74=293	+5	1,000
T6	Template:Flagicon Brian Barnes	70-74-80-71=295	+7	658
	Template:Flagicon Gay Brewer	74-73-72-76=295
	Template:Flagicon Neil Coles	75-76-71-73=295
9	Template:Flagicon Al Balding	74-76-74-72=296	+8	475
T10	Template:Flagicon Roberto De Vicenzo	77-72-74-74=297	+9	402
	Template:Flagicon Bruce Devlin	77-73-72-75=297
	Template:Flagicon Arnold Palmer	77-71-72-77=297

Amateurs: Bonallack (+12).

External links

• Carnoustie 1968 (Official site)