The Open: A look back at Max Faulkner's 1951 win at Royal Portrush
Last Updated: 16/07/19 10:44am
The Open Championship returns to Royal Portrush this week after a 68-year absence, so what happened the last time the tournament was played at the Northern Ireland venue?
That was back in 1951 when Englishman Max Faulkner won his one and only major, triumphing by two shots from Argentina's Antonio Cerda.
The tournament took place from Wednesday, July 4 to Friday, July 6 with the last two rounds played on the final day.
Qualifying for the 80th Open Championship took place on the Monday and Tuesday, with the PGA Championship at Oakmont near Pittsburgh also concluding on the Tuesday which meant there were very few Americans in the Open field.
The first round produced the only two sub-70 rounds of the week as Scotland's Jimmy Adams and Norman Von Nida of Australia carded four-under 68s (the par score this week will be 71) to share the lead, with Faulkner opening up with a 71.
Faulkner, a flamboyant character who dressed in brightly coloured clothes, went one better in the second round with a 70 which earned him a two-shot cushion at the halfway stage over fellow Englishman Norman Sutton, as Peter Alliss missed the cut following rounds of 79 and 80.
Friday morning saw Faulkner, who had twice finished as runner-up in the Irish Open at Royal Portrush, shoot another 70 to move to five under and increase his advantage to six over Cerda and Sutton.
Faulkner finished his final round poorly in the afternoon with scores of 5-5-4-5 for a two-over 74, but Cerda was unable to capitalise after taking six on the 16th.
The winning score for Faulkner was three-under 285, two ahead of Cerna, with England's Charlie Ward three shots further back in third place.
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Fred Daly, the 1947 Open champion who was playing at his home club, tied for fourth place with Adams.
Faulkner, who was 34 at the time, collected a prize of £300 for his victory, with the total purse amounting to £1,700 - this year the winner will pick up a cheque for £1.55m
Faulkner, who was the last Englishman to win The Open for 18 years until Tony Jacklin's success in 1969, reportedly flew straight home after his victory and played in a fathers versus sons cricket match at his son's school the next day.
Two-time defending champion Bobby Locke of South Africa finished in a tie for sixth, eight behind Faulkner, but he still made his mark on the course.
The 'Bobby Lockes' is a swale to the left of the 16th green - a long par-three nicknamed Calamity Corner - which earned its name in 1951 after Locke aimed left of the green in all four rounds towards a walkway into the swale, and all four times got up-and-down for par.
