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The 1972 Open Championship was the 101st Open Championship, held 12–15 July at Muirfield Golf Links in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Lee Trevino won his second straight Claret Jug, the first to successfully defend his title since Arnold Palmer in 1962. Trevino finished one stroke ahead of runner-up Jack Nicklaus, ending his bid for the Grand Slam. Nicklaus had won the first two majors in 1972 and was the odds-on favorite at Muirfield, where he won his first Open in 1966. He also held the PGA Championship title from February 1971; a win at Muirfield and he would become the first to hold all four major titles at once.

Six strokes back at even-par after 54 holes, Nicklaus shot a final round 66 (−5) on Saturday to tie the course record, but played the final three holes at one-over par. Trevino had posted his own 66 in the third round and held on in the fourth round with an even-par 71, which included a chip-in for par at 17, to gain the fourth of his six major titles.^[2][3]

It was the third of four times that Nicklaus was a runner-up to Trevino in a major championship.

Trevino’s win concluded a stretch where American-born golfers won eight consecutive major championships. This is the fourth-longest stretch in history for American-born golfers after stretches that ended at the 1930 Open Championship, 1947 U.S. Open, and the 1977 PGA Championship.

Thirty years later, Tiger Woods became the first since Nicklaus to win the first two major tournaments of the year. His bid for a Grand Slam in 2002 also ended at Muirfield.

Wednesday, 12 July 1972

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Peter Tupling	68	−3
2	Tony Jacklin	69	−2
T3	Frank Beard	70	−1
	Craig Defoy
	Dave Marr
	Jack Nicklaus
	Peter Townsend
T8	Brian Barnes	71	E
	John Garner
	Antonio Garrido
	Gary Player
	Doug Sanders
	Peter Thomson
	Lee Trevino

Thursday, 13 July 1972

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Tony Jacklin	69-72=141	−1
	Lee Trevino	71-70=141
T3	John Garner	71-71=142	E
	Johnny Miller	76-66=142
	Jack Nicklaus	70-72=142
	Gary Player	71-71=142
	Doug Sanders	71-71=142
	Peter Townsend	70-72=142
	Peter Tupling	68-74=142
T10	Brian Barnes	71-72=143	+1
	Clive Clark	72-71=143
	Peter Thomson	71-72=143

Amateurs: R. Foster (+7), Mosey (+8), Revell (+9), Stephen (+9), Campbell (+11), Homer (+11), Gradwell (+13), Elson (+14), Bonallack (+15), Clark (+15), Berry (+19), Gray (+20).

Friday, 14 July 1972

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Lee Trevino	71-70-66=207	−6
2	Tony Jacklin	69-72-67=208	−5
3	Doug Sanders	71-71-69=211	−2
4	Brian Barnes	71-72-69=212	−1
5	Jack Nicklaus	70-72-71=213	E
T6	Guy Hunt	75-72-67=214	+1
	Johnny Miller	76-66-72=214
T8	Dave Marr	70-74-71=215	+2
	Arnold Palmer	73-73-69=215
	Peter Tupling	68-74-73=215

Amateurs: R. Foster (+14), Mosey (+14), Stephen (+14), Revell (+15).

Saturday, 15 July 1972

Jack Nicklaus’ quest for the Grand Slam got off to a strong start. He birdied six of the first eleven holes to erase the six-shot deficit. In the final pairing, Lee Trevino and Tony Jacklin started poorly, both were two over par on the day and trailed Nicklaus heading to the ninth hole. The final pairing both made eagle on the par-5. A birdie by Jacklin on the 12th hole created a three-way tie for the lead, which would hold until Nicklaus bogeyed the par-3 16th. The Grand Slam chase was over. The final pairing began the par-5 17th hole tied for the lead. The penultimate 71st hole would prove crucial.

A series of four poor shots left Trevino over the green in short rough. Meanwhile, Jacklin was faced with an 18-foot birdie putt. In what was the shot of the tournament, Trevino chipped-in for par. This was his fourth chip-in of the tournament. The sudden change in circumstances was amplified when Jacklin turned his potential birdie into a three putt bogey. Trevino held a one shot lead with one hole remaining.

On the final hole Trevino put his approach shot within six feet of the hole, while Jacklin found the bunker. Jacklin’s second consecutive bogey pushed him down to third place. Trevino missed his birdie putt, but the tap-in par secured his second consecutive Open Championship.^[4]

Champion

(a) = amateur

(c) = past champion

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (£)
1	Lee Trevino (c)	71-70-66-71=278	−6	5,500
2	Jack Nicklaus (c)	70-72-71-66=279	−5	4,000
3	Tony Jacklin (c)	69-72-67-72=280	−4	3,250
4	Doug Sanders	71-71-69-70=281	−3	2,750
5	Brian Barnes	71-72-69-71=283	−1	2,450
6	Gary Player (c)	71-71-76-67=285	+1	2,150
T7	Guy Hunt	75-72-67-72=286	+2	1,663
	Arnold Palmer (c)	73-73-69-71=286
	David Vaughan	74-73-70-69=286
	Tom Weiskopf	73-74-70-69=286

• The exchange rate at the time was approximately 2.45 dollars (US) per pound sterling.^[5]

Final round

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	4	4	3	5	4	3	4	5	4	4	4	3	4	4	3	5	4
Trevino	-5	-6	-6	-6	-5	-5	-4	-4	-6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6
Nicklaus	E	−1	−2	−2	−3	−3	−3	−3	−4	−5	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−5	−5	−5
Jacklin	-4	-4	-4	-4	-4	−3	−3	−3	−5	−5	−5	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−5	−4

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par^[6]

Eagle

Birdie

Bogey

• Muirfield 1972 (Official site)
• 101st Open Championship – Muirfield (European Tour)

56°02′35″N 2°49′23″W / 56.043°N 2.823°W / 56.043; -2.823