Arnold Palmer’s winning total at the 1961 Open at Royal Birkdale was 284. He shot rounds of 70, 73, 69 and 72 to finish four under par.
The 1961 Open Championship was played from July 12–15 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Palmer finished one stroke ahead of Wales’s Dai Rees, who scored 285.
The victory was Palmer’s second major championship and his first Open Championship. It also made him the first American to win the Claret Jug since Ben Hogan in 1953. Palmer returned the following year to win the Open again, this time at Royal Troon with a score of 276.
A common mix-up is confusing Palmer’s 284 with other Royal Birkdale winning totals. Peter Thomson won there in 1954 with 283, while Lee Trevino won the 1971 Open at the course with 278.