The Open Championship

The Open Championship

Tournament information
Location	United Kingdom
Established	1860
Course(s)	2010 - St Andrews  Scotland
Par	72 in 2010
Length	7,279 yd (6,656 m) in 2010
Tour(s)	PGA Tour European Tour Japan Golf Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	£4,800,000
Month played	July
Tournament record score
Aggregate	267 Greg Norman (1993)
To par	-19* Tiger Woods (2000) *record for all majors
Current champion
Louis Oosthuizen - 2010
2010 Open Championship

The Open Championship, or simply The Open (often referred to as the British Open outside the UK), is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico. The Open is played on the weekend of the third Friday in July. It is the third major to take place each year, following The Masters and the U.S. Open, but before the PGA Championship.

The event takes place every year on one of nine links courses in Scotland or England (the event has been held once in Northern Ireland, but Royal Portrush is no longer on the rotation). In 2010, The Open will have a prize fund of £4.8 million, with £850,000 going to the winner, an increase of £100,000 over the previous three years.^[1] Historically, The Open's prize money was consistently the least of the four majors; but from 2002 to 2008 it was the highest. Uniquely among the four major championships, the Open features a four-hole playoff for all golfers tied at the end of regulation, with the playoff continuing into sudden death holes if players remain tied after four holes. (The PGA uses a similar three-hole playoff.)

The current champion is Louis Oosthuizen who won the 2010 Open Championship with a score of 16 under par.

History

The Open Championship was first played on 17 October, 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club, in Ayrshire, Scotland. The inaugural tournament was restricted to professionals, and attracted a field of eight Scottish golfers,^[2] who played three rounds of Prestwick's twelve-hole course in a single day. Willie Park Senior won with a score of 174, beating the favourite, Old Tom Morris, by two strokes. The following year the tournament was opened to amateurs; eight of them joined ten professionals in the field.

Prestwick Golf Club, the venue for the first open in 1860.

Willie Park, Snr. wearing the Championship Belt, the winner's prize at the Open from 1860 to 1870.

Originally, the trophy presented to the event's winner was the Champion's Belt, a red leather belt with a silver buckle. There was no prize money in the first three Opens. In 1863, a prize fund of £10 was introduced, which was shared between the second- third- and fourth-placed professionals, with the Champion still just getting to keep the belt for a year. In 1864 Old Tom Morris won the first Champion's cash prize of £6. By 2004, the winner's cheque had increased one hundred and twenty thousandfold to £720,000, or perhaps two thousandfold after allowing for inflation. The Champions Belt was retired in 1870, when Young Tom Morris was allowed to keep it for winning the tournament three consecutive times. It was then replaced by the present trophy, The Golf Champion Trophy, better known by its popular name of The Claret Jug.

Prestwick Golf Club administered The Open from 1860 to 1870. In 1871, it agreed to organise it jointly with The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. In 1892 the event was doubled in length from 36 to 72 holes, four rounds of what was by then the standard complement of 18 holes. In the same year the prize fund reached £100. 1894 was the first year the Open was held outside Scotland, at the Royal St George's Golf Club in England. Because of an increasing number of entrants, a cut was introduced after two rounds in 1898. In 1920 full responsibility for The Open Championship was handed over to The Royal & Ancient Golf Club.

The early winners were all Scottish professionals, who in those days worked as greenkeepers, clubmakers, and caddies to supplement their modest winnings from championships and challenge matches. The Open has always been dominated by professionals, with only six victories by amateurs, all of which occurred between 1890 and 1930. The last of these was Bobby Jones's third Open and part of his celebrated Grand Slam. Jones was one of six Americans who won The Open between the First and Second World Wars, the first of whom had been Walter Hagen in 1922. These Americans and the French winner of the 1907 Open, Arnaud Massy, were the only winners from outside Scotland and England up to 1939.

The first post-World War II winner was the American Sam Snead, in 1946. In 1947, Fred Daly of Northern Ireland was victorious. While there have been many English and Scottish champions, Daly was the only winner from Ireland until the 2007 victory by the Republic's Pádraig Harrington. There has never been a Welsh champion. In the early postwar years The Open was dominated by golfers from the Commonwealth, with South African Bobby Locke and Australian Peter Thomson winning the Claret Jug in nine of the 11 championships from 1948 and 1958 between them. During this period, The Open often had a schedule conflict with the match-play PGA Championship, which meant that Ben Hogan, the best American golfer at this time, competed in The Open just once, in 1953 at Carnoustie, a tournament he won.

Another South African, Gary Player was Champion in 1959. This was at the beginning of the "Big Three" era in professional golf, the three players in question being Player, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. Palmer first competed in 1960, when he came second to the little known Australian Kel Nagle, but he won the two following years. While he was far from being the first American to become Open Champion, he was the first that many Americans saw win the tournament on television, and his charismatic success is often credited with persuading leading American golfers to make The Open an integral part of their schedule, rather than an optional extra. The improvement of trans-Atlantic travel also increased American participation.

Nicklaus' victories came in 1966, 1970 and 1978. This tally of three wins is not very remarkable, and indeed he won all of the other three majors more often, but it greatly understates how prominent he was at the tournament throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He finished in the top five 16 times, which is tied most in Open history with John Henry Taylor and easily the most in the postwar era. This included seven second places. Nicklaus holds the records for most rounds under par (61) and most aggregates under par (14). At Turnberry in 1977 he was involved in one of the most celebrated contests in golf history, when his duel with Tom Watson went to the final shot before Watson emerged as the champion for the second time.

Watson won five Opens, more than anyone else has since the 1950s, but his final win in 1983 brought down the curtain on an era of U.S. domination. In the next 11 years there was only one American winner, with the others coming from Europe and the Commonwealth. The European winners of this era, Spaniard Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle, who was the first Scottish winner in over half a century, and the Englishman Nick Faldo, were also leading lights among the group of players who began to get the better of the Americans in the Ryder Cup during this period.

In 1995, The Open became part of the PGA Tour's official schedule. John Daly's playoff win over Italian Costantino Rocca began another era of American domination. Tiger Woods has won three Championships to date, two at St Andrews in 2000 and 2005, and one at Hoylake in 2006. There was a dramatic moment at St Andrews in 2000, as the aging Jack Nicklaus waved farewell to the crowds, while the young challenger to his crown watched from a nearby tee; Nicklaus afterward decided to play in the 2005 Open when the R&A announced St Andrews as the venue, giving his final farewell to the fans at the Home of Golf. In 2002, all Open wins before 1995 were retroactively classified as PGA Tour wins. Recent years have been notable for the number of wins by previously obscure golfers, including Paul Lawrie's playoff win after the epic 72nd-hole collapse of Jean Van de Velde in 1999, Ben Curtis in 2003 and Todd Hamilton in 2004. All three missed the cut when defending the title the following year, as did Mark Calcavecchia in 1990 and Mark O'Meara in 1999.

In 2007, the Europeans finally broke an eight year drought in the majors when Pádraig Harrington of the Republic of Ireland defeated Sergio García by one stroke in a four-hole playoff. In 2008 at Royal Birkdale, Harrington retained the Claret Jug with a final round of 69 to win the tournament by four shots from Ian Poulter, with a total of 283 (+3) after 72 holes. In 2009, 59-year-old Tom Watson turned in one of the most remarkable performances ever seen at The Open. Leading the tournament through 71 holes and needing just a par on the last hole to win, Watson bogeyed, setting up a four-hole playoff, which he would lose by six shots to Stewart Cink. In 2010, Rory McIlroy set a new record for best opening round of an Open Championship, shooting a 9-under-par 63 at St Andrews.

Trophies

Claret Jug

There are several medals and trophies that are, or have been, given out for various achievements during The Open Championship.^[3]

• Challenge Belt – awarded to the winner from 1860 until 1870 when Young Tom Morris won the belt outright.
• The Golf Champion Trophy (commonly known as the Claret Jug) – replaced the Challenge Belt and has been awarded to the winner since 1873.
• Gold medal – awarded to the winner. First given out in 1872 when the Claret Jug was not yet ready, but since awarded to all champions.
• Silver medal – awarded since 1949 to the highest finishing amateur.
• Bronze medal – awarded since 1972 to all other amateurs playing in the final round.

The Professional Golfers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland also mark the achievements of their own members in the Open.

• Ryle Memorial Medal – awarded since 1901 to the winner if he is a PGA member.^[4]
• Braid Taylor Memorial Medal – awarded since 1966 to the highest finishing PGA member.^[5]
• Tooting Bec Cup – awarded since 1924 to the PGA member who records the lowest single round during the championship.^[6]

Tour status

It has been an official event on the PGA Tour since 1995, which means that the prize money won in The Open by PGA Tour members is included on the official money list. In addition, all Open Championships before 1995 have been retroactively classified as PGA Tour wins, and the list of leading winners on the PGA Tour has been adjusted to reflect this. The European Tour has recognised The Open as an official event since its first official season in 1972 and it is also an official money event on the Japan Golf Tour.

Host courses

From 1860–70, The Open Championship was organised by and played at Prestwick Golf Club. Since it was revived in 1872 after a lapse of one year, it has always been played at a number of courses in rotation. Initially there were three courses in the rotation, namely Prestwick, St Andrews, and Musselburgh. In 1893 Royal St George's and Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake were invited to join the rotation. Since then a handful of further clubs have been added, and a few have been dropped. The common factor in the venues for The Open is that they have always been links courses. In more recent times the rotation has generally followed the pattern of being played in Scotland and England alternately. The general interruption to this pattern is the Old Course at St Andrews, which hosts the event every five years or so. There is, however, no strict rule and the host is appointed by the R&A around five years in advance. There is a map showing the locations of the venues here (there are thirteen dots for the fourteen courses; two of the courses are in the town of Sandwich). The Open is usually played in Scotland, North West England, or Kent in South East England. It has never been played in Wales, or in seven of the nine regions of England (all except the North West and South East), and it has only been played in Northern Ireland once.

Opens held in the years from 1987 until 2011, were played at venues which followed a course rotation, with the rota (for years ending in):

• (0,5) – – Scotland – (Old Course at St Andrews, every fifth year)
• (1,6) – – England
• (2,7) – – Scotland
• (3,8) – – England
• (4,9) – – Scotland

2012, 2013, and 2014 does not follow this pattern, reversing the countries.

England will host consecutive Opens for the first time in 2011 and 2012.

There are nine courses in the current rota, St Andrews, plus another four in Scotland and four in England:

Courses in Scotland:

• Old Course at St Andrews: In 1873 the "Home of Golf" became the second course to host the Open. Nowadays, it does so more often than any other course. Since 1990 it has been scheduled every fifth year. The 2010 Open was held at St Andrews.
• Carnoustie Golf Links, Championship Course: The Royal Burgh of Carnoustie first hosted The Open in 1931, and rejoined the rotation in 1999 after an absence of 24 years, and returned in 2007.
• Muirfield: This private course was built for The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, one of the trio of clubs which ran The Open in the 1870s and 1880s. It first staged The Championship in 1892, just nine months after it had been built. Muirfield last hosted in 2002 and is scheduled for 2013.
• The Turnberry Resort, Ailsa Course: A course on the southwest coast of Scotland which hosted The Open in 1977, 1986, 1994, and 2009.^[7]
• Royal Troon Golf Club, Old Course: Also in southwestern Scotland, Troon has been in the rotation since 1923 and last hosted in 2004.

Courses in England:

• Royal St George's Golf Club: This course is in the town of Sandwich in the county of Kent in southeast England. In 1894 it became the first Open venue outside Scotland. It last hosted The Open in 2003 and will host again in 2011.
• Royal Birkdale Golf Club: This course in northwest England has been in the rotation since 1954 and hosted The Open in 2008.
• Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club: Also in northwest England, this course first hosted The Open in 1926, and entered the rotation in 1952. It is scheduled to host the 2012 Open, which will be the first time that consecutive Opens will be held outside Scotland since 1952, and the first time ever for consecutive Opens in England.
• Royal Liverpool Golf Club: This course, often referred to simply as "Hoylake", joined the rotation in 1897 and hosted ten Opens up to 1967. After a 39 year absence, it returned to the rota in 2006, and is scheduled to host again in 2014.

Courses which are no longer in the rotation:

• – Prestwick Golf Club: The founder club was dropped from the rotation in 1925, by which time it had hosted twenty-four Opens.
• – Musselburgh Links: Musselburgh is a public course which was used by the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. When that club built Muirfield, Musselburgh dropped out of the rotation.
• – Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club: This course in the town of Deal in Kent hosted the Open in 1909 and 1920. Although situated in Deal, the course is very close to Royal St George's in Sandwich, on the current rota. In fact, the 11th tee at Royal Cinque Ports is closer to the clubhouse at Royal St George's than it is to the clubhouse of Royal Cinque Ports.
• – Prince's Golf Club: Prince's hosted its only Open in 1932. The course is in Sandwich, Kent, and is adjacent to Royal St George's on the current rota.
• – Royal Portrush Golf Club: The 1951 Open was staged at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, the only Open not played in Scotland or England.

Exemptions and qualifying events

The field for the Open is 156, and golfers may gain a place in three ways. Around two thirds of the field is made up of leading players who are given exemptions. The rest of the field is made up of players who were successful in "Local Qualifying" and those who came through "International Qualifying".

There are over thirty exemption categories. Among the more significant are:

• The top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings. This key sweep up category means that no member of the current elite of world golf will be excluded.
• The top 30 in the previous season's PGA Tour money list and European Tour Race to Dubai (which replaced the Order of Merit starting in 2009). Most but not all of these players will also be in the World top 50.
• All previous Open Champions who will be age 60 or under on the final day of the tournament.
• All players who have won one of the other three majors in the previous five years.
• The top 10 from the previous year's Open Championship.

Among other things, the additional exemption categories ensure that the six largest regular (i.e., under-50) men's tours are represented,^[8] and that there are some amateur competitors. Full details of all the exemption categories for the 2009 Open can be found here. Effective with the 2010 Open, The R&A added a new exemption category in direct response to the high finishes of Greg Norman, then 53, in 2008 (tied for third) and Tom Watson, at the time nearly 60, in 2009 (lost a playoff). A past Open champion who finishes in the top 10, including ties, will be exempt for the following five years. This new exemption will not currently affect Norman, who will still be under 60 when it expires, but will allow Watson to play in The Open until 2014 if he so chooses.^[9]

Local Qualifying is the traditional way for non-exempt players to win a place at The Open. It comprises sixteen 18-hole "Regional Qualifying" competitions around Britain and Ireland a week and a half before the event,[1] with successful competitors moving on to the four 36-hole "Local Final Qualifying" tournaments a few days later.[2] There are now twelve places available through Local Qualifying, though there used to be far more.

Local Qualifying is open to players from all over the world, and it used to attract some big names. In order to make it easier for professionals from outside Britain and Ireland to compete for a place, the R&A introduced International Qualifying in 2004. This comprises five 36-hole qualifying events, one each in Africa, Australasia, Asia, America and Europe. Only players who have a rating in the Official World Golf Rankings may enter, which is a more stringent standard than for Local Qualifying. Thirty-six places are available in International Qualifying. Eligible players may choose whether to enter local qualifying or international qualifying, but they may not enter both. For full details on qualification see here.

Tournament name

In Britain, the tournament is best known by its official title, The Open Championship. The tournament's website^[10] uses only this name, while UK media generally refer to the Open (with "the" in lower case).^[11][12]

Outside the UK, the tournament is generally called the "British Open", in part to distinguish the tournament from another of the four majors that has an 'open' format, the U.S. Open, but mainly because other nations with similar 'open' format golf events refer to their own nation's open event as "the open." The PGA Tour refers to the tournament as the British Open,^[13] as do many media outlets in the United States, such as SportsTicker and the Associated Press.^[14][15]

Records

• Oldest winner: Old Tom Morris (46 years, 99 days), 1867.
• Youngest winner: Young Tom Morris (17 years, 181 days), 1868.^[16]
• Most victories: 6, Harry Vardon (1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914).
• Most consecutive victories: 4, Young Tom Morris (1868, 1869, 1870, 1871)
• Lowest absolute 72-hole score: 267, Greg Norman (66-68-69-64), 1993.
• Lowest 72-hole score in relation to par: –19, Tiger Woods (67-66-67-69, 269), 2000 (a record for all major championships).
  • Norman's 1993 score was −13. Par at Royal St George's, the site of the 1993 Open, was 70, as opposed to the par 72 of The Old Course at St Andrews, the 2000 site. The to-par record broken by Woods was not held by Norman, but by Nick Faldo, who shot −18 at The Old Course in 1990.
• Greatest victory margin: 13 strokes, Old Tom Morris, 1862. This remained a record for all majors until 2000, when Woods won the U.S. Open by 15 strokes at Pebble Beach. However, Old Tom's 13-stroke margin was achieved over just 36 holes.
• Lowest 18-hole score: 63 – Mark Hayes, 2nd round, 1977; Isao Aoki, 3rd, 1980; Greg Norman, 2nd, 1986; Paul Broadhurst, 3rd, 1990; Jodie Mudd, 4th, 1991; Nick Faldo, 2nd, 1993; Payne Stewart, 4th, 1993; Rory McIlroy, 1st, 2010.
• Lowest 18-hole score in relation to par: -9, Paul Broadhurst, 3rd, 1990; Rory McIlroy, 1st, 2010.

There is an extensive records section on the official site here.

Winners

Year	Venue	Champion	Country	Winning Score	1st Prize
2010	St Andrews	Louis Oosthuizen	South Africa	272 (−16)	£ 850 000
2009	Turnberry	Stewart Cink	United States	278 (−2)PO	£ 750 000
2008	Royal Birkdale Golf Club	Pádraig Harrington (2)	Ireland	283 (+3)	£ 750 000
2007	Carnoustie Golf Links	Pádraig Harrington	Ireland	277 (−7)PO	£ 750 000
2006	Royal Liverpool Golf Club	Tiger Woods (3)	United States	270 (−18)	£ 720 000
2005	St Andrews	Tiger Woods (2)	United States	274 (−14)	£ 720 000
2004	Royal Troon Golf Club	Todd Hamilton	United States	274 (−10)PO	£ 720 000
2003	Royal St George's Golf Club	Ben Curtis	United States	283 (−1)	£ 700 000
2002	Muirfield	Ernie Els	South Africa	278 (−6)PO	£ 700 000
2001	Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club	David Duval	United States	274 (−10)	£ 600 000
2000	St Andrews	Tiger Woods	United States	269 (−19)	£ 500 000
1999	Carnoustie Golf Links	Paul Lawrie	Scotland	290 (+6)PO	£ 350 000
1998	Royal Birkdale Golf Club	Mark O'Meara	United States	280 (E)PO	£ 300 000
1997	Royal Troon Golf Club	Justin Leonard	United States	272 (−12)	£ 250 000
1996	Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club	Tom Lehman	United States	271 (−13)	£ 200 000
1995	St Andrews	John Daly	United States	282 (−6)PO	£ 125 000
1994	Turnberry	Nick Price	Zimbabwe	268 (−12)	£ 110 000
1993	Royal St George's Golf Club	Greg Norman (2)	Australia	267 (−13)	£ 100 000
1992	Muirfield	Nick Faldo (3)	England	272 (−12)	£ 95 000
1991	Royal Birkdale Golf Club	Ian Baker-Finch	Australia	272 (−8)	£ 90 000
1990	St Andrews	Nick Faldo (2)	England	270 (−18)	£ 85 000
1989	Royal Troon Golf Club	Mark Calcavecchia	United States	275 (−13)PO	£ 80 000
1988	Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club	Seve Ballesteros (3)	Spain	273 (−11)	£ 80 000
1987	Muirfield	Nick Faldo	England	279 (−5)	£ 75 000
1986	Turnberry	Greg Norman	Australia	280 (E)	£ 70 000
1985	Royal St George's Golf Club	Sandy Lyle	Scotland	282 (+2)	£ 65 000
1984	St Andrews	Seve Ballesteros (2)	Spain	276 (−12)	£ 55 000
1983	Royal Birkdale Golf Club	Tom Watson (5)	United States	275 (−9)	£ 40 000
1982	Royal Troon Golf Club	Tom Watson (4)	United States	284 (−4)	£ 32 000
1981	Royal St George's Golf Club	Bill Rogers	United States	276 (−4)	£ 25 000
1980	Muirfield	Tom Watson (3)	United States	271 (−13)	£ 25 000
1979	Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club	Seve Ballesteros	Spain	283 (−1)	£ 15 000
1978	St Andrews	Jack Nicklaus (3)	United States	281 (−7)	£ 12 500
1977	Turnberry	Tom Watson (2)	United States	268 (−12)	£ 10 000
1976	Royal Birkdale Golf Club	Johnny Miller	United States	279 (−9)	£ 7 500
1975	Carnoustie Golf Links	Tom Watson	United States	279 (−5)PO	£ 7 500
1974	Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club	Gary Player (3)	South Africa	282 (−2)	£ 5 500
1973	Royal Troon Golf Club	Tom Weiskopf	United States	276 (−12)	£ 5 500
1972	Muirfield	Lee Trevino (2)	United States	278 (−6)	£ 5 500
1971	Royal Birkdale Golf Club	Lee Trevino	United States	278 (−10)	£ 5 500
1970	St Andrews	Jack Nicklaus (2)	United States	283 (−5)PO	£ 5 250
1969	Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club	Tony Jacklin	England	280 (−4)	£ 4 250
1968	Carnoustie Golf Links	Gary Player (2)	South Africa	289 (+1)	£ 3 000
1967	Royal Liverpool Golf Club	Roberto De Vicenzo	Argentina	278 (−10)	£ 2 100
1966	Muirfield	Jack Nicklaus	United States	282 (−2)	£ 2 100
1965	Royal Birkdale Golf Club	Peter Thomson (5)	Australia	285 (−3)	£ 1 750
1964	St Andrews	Tony Lema	United States	279 (−9)	£ 1 500
1963	Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club	Bob Charles	New Zealand	277 (−7)PO	£ 1 500
1962	Royal Troon Golf Club	Arnold Palmer (2)	United States	276 (−12)	£ 1 400
1961	Royal Birkdale Golf Club	Arnold Palmer	United States	284 (−4)	£ 1 400
1960	St Andrews	Kel Nagle	Australia	278 (−10)	£ 1 250
1959	Muirfield	Gary Player	South Africa	284 (E)	£ 1 000
1958	Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club	Peter Thomson (4)	Australia	274 (−10)PO	£ 1 000
1957	St Andrews	Bobby Locke (4)	South Africa	279 (−9)	£ 1 000
1956	Royal Liverpool Golf Club	Peter Thomson (3)	Australia	286 (−2)	£ 1 000
1955	St Andrews	Peter Thomson (2)	Australia	281 (−7)	£ 1 000
1954	Royal Birkdale Golf Club	Peter Thomson	Australia	283 (−5)	£750
1953	Carnoustie Golf Links	Ben Hogan	United States	282 (−6)	£500
1952	Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club	Bobby Locke (3)	South Africa	287 (−1)	£300
1951	Royal Portrush Golf Club	Max Faulkner	England	285 (−3)	£300
1950	Royal Troon Golf Club	Bobby Locke (2)	South Africa	279 (−9)	£300
1949	Royal St George's Golf Club	Bobby Locke	South Africa	283 (−5)	£300
1948	Muirfield	Henry Cotton (3)	England	288 (E)	£150
1947	Royal Liverpool Golf Club	Fred Daly	Northern Ireland	293 (+5)	£150
1946	St Andrews	Sam Snead	United States	290 (+2)	£150
1940–1945: No Championships because of World War II
1939	St Andrews	Richard Burton	England	290	£100
1938	Royal St George's Golf Club	Reg Whitcombe	England	295	£100
1937	Carnoustie Golf Links	Henry Cotton (2)	England	290	£100
1936	Royal Liverpool Golf Club	Alf Padgham	England	287	£100
1935	Muirfield	Alf Perry	England	283	£100
1934	Royal St George's Golf Club	Henry Cotton	England	283	£100
1933	St Andrews	Denny Shute	United States	292PO	£100
1932	Prince's Golf Club	Gene Sarazen	United States	283	£100
1931	Carnoustie Golf Links	Tommy Armour	United States	296	£100
1930	Royal Liverpool Golf Club	Bobby Jones (a) (3)	United States	291	Am – £100
1929	Muirfield	Walter Hagen (4)	United States	292	£100
1928	Royal St George's Golf Club	Walter Hagen (3)	United States	292	£100
1927	St Andrews	Bobby Jones (a) (2)	United States	285	Am – £100
1926	Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club	Bobby Jones (a)	United States	291	Am – £75
1925	Prestwick Golf Club	Jim Barnes	United States	300	£75
1924	Royal Liverpool Golf Club	Walter Hagen (2)	United States	301	£75
1923	Royal Troon Golf Club	Arthur Havers	England	295	£75
1922	Royal St George's Golf Club	Walter Hagen	United States	300	£75
1921	St Andrews	Jock Hutchison	United States	296PO	£75
1920	Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club	George Duncan	Scotland	303	£75
1915–1919: No Championships because of World War I
1914	Prestwick Golf Club	Harry Vardon (6)	Jersey	306	£50
1913	Royal Liverpool Golf Club	John Henry Taylor (5)	England	304	£50
1912	Muirfield	Ted Ray	Jersey	295	£50
1911	Royal St George's Golf Club	Harry Vardon (5)	Jersey	303PO	£50
1910	St Andrews	James Braid (5)	Scotland	299	£50
1909	Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club	John Henry Taylor (4)	England	291	£30
1908	Prestwick Golf Club	James Braid (4)	Scotland	291	£30
1907	Royal Liverpool Golf Club	Arnaud Massy	France	312	£30
1906	Muirfield	James Braid (3)	Scotland	300	£30
1905	St Andrews	James Braid (2)	Scotland	318	£30
1904	Royal St George's Golf Club	Jack White	Scotland	296	£30
1903	Prestwick Golf Club	Harry Vardon (4)	Jersey	300	£30
1902	Royal Liverpool Golf Club	Sandy Herd	Scotland	307	£30
1901	Muirfield	James Braid	Scotland	309	£30
1900	St Andrews	John Henry Taylor (3)	England	309	£30
1899	Royal St George's Golf Club	Harry Vardon (3)	Jersey	310	£30
1898	Prestwick Golf Club	Harry Vardon (2)	Jersey	307	£30
1897	Royal Liverpool Golf Club	Harold Hilton (a) (2)	England	314	Am – £30
1896	Muirfield	Harry Vardon	Jersey	316 PO	£30
1895	St Andrews	John Henry Taylor (2)	England	332	£30
1894	Royal St George's Golf Club	John Henry Taylor	England	326	£30
1893	Prestwick Golf Club	William Auchterlonie	Scotland	322	£30
1892	Muirfield	Harold Hilton (a)	England	305	(Am)
1891	St Andrews	Hugh Kirkaldy	Scotland	166	£10
1890	Prestwick Golf Club	John Ball (a)	England	164	Am – £8
1889	Musselburgh Links	Willie Park, Jnr (2)	Scotland	155PO	£8
1888	St Andrews	Jack Burns	Scotland	171	£10
1887	Prestwick Golf Club	Willie Park, Jnr	Scotland	161	£10
1886	Musselburgh Links	David Brown	Scotland	157	£10
1885	St Andrews	Bob Martin (2)	Scotland	171	£10
1884	Prestwick Golf Club	Jack Simpson	Scotland	160	£10
1883	Musselburgh Links	Willie Fernie	Scotland	159PO	£10
1882	St Andrews	Bob Ferguson (3)	Scotland	171	£10
1881	Prestwick Golf Club	Bob Ferguson (2)	Scotland	170	£10
1880	Musselburgh Links	Bob Ferguson	Scotland	162	£10
1879	St Andrews	Jamie Anderson (3)	Scotland	169	£10
1878	Prestwick Golf Club	Jamie Anderson (2)	Scotland	157	£10
1877	Musselburgh Links	Jamie Anderson	Scotland	160	£10
1876	St Andrews	Bob Martin	Scotland	176	£10
1875	Prestwick Golf Club	Willie Park, Snr (4)	Scotland	166	£6
1874	Musselburgh Links	Mungo Park	Scotland	159	£6
1873	St Andrews	Tom Kidd	Scotland	179	£6
1872	Prestwick Golf Club	Tom Morris, Jnr (4)	Scotland	166	£6
1871	No Championship
1870	Prestwick Golf Club	Tom Morris, Jnr (3)	Scotland	149	£6
1869	Prestwick Golf Club	Tom Morris, Jnr (2)	Scotland	154	£6
1868	Prestwick Golf Club	Tom Morris, Jnr	Scotland	157	£6
1867	Prestwick Golf Club	Tom Morris, Snr (4)	Scotland	170	£6
1866	Prestwick Golf Club	Willie Park, Snr (3)	Scotland	169	£6
1865	Prestwick Golf Club	Andrew Strath	Scotland	162	£6
1864	Prestwick Golf Club	Tom Morris, Snr (3)	Scotland	167	£6
1863	Prestwick Golf Club	Willie Park, Snr (2)	Scotland	168	-
1862	Prestwick Golf Club	Tom Morris, Snr (2)	Scotland	163	-
1861	Prestwick Golf Club	Tom Morris, Snr	Scotland	163	-
1860	Prestwick Golf Club	Willie Park, Snr	Scotland	174	-

(a) denotes amateur

Multiple and consecutive champions

This table lists the golfers who have won more than one Open Championship.

Country	Golfer	Total	Years
ENG	Vardon, HarryHarry Vardon †	6	1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914
SCO	Braid, JamesJames Braid †	5	1901, 1905, 1906, 1908, 1910
ENG	Taylor, John HenryJohn Henry Taylor†	5	1894, 1895, 1900, 1909, 1913
AUS	Thomson, PeterPeter Thomson	5	1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965
USA	Watson, TomTom Watson	5	1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983
SCO	Morris, Sr., TomTom Morris, Sr. †	4	1861, 1862, 1864, 1867
SCO	Morris, Jr., TomTom Morris, Jr. †	4	1868, 1869, 1870, 1872NC
SCO	Park, Sr., WillieWillie Park, Sr. †	4	1860, 1863, 1866, 1875
USA	Hagen, WalterWalter Hagen †	4	1922, 1924, 1928, 1929
ZAF	Locke, BobbyBobby Locke †	4	1949, 1950, 1952, 1957
SCO	Anderson, JamieJamie Anderson †	3	1877, 1878, 1879
SCO	Ferguson, BobBob Ferguson †	3	1880, 1881, 1882
USA	Jones (a), BobbyBobby Jones (a) ∞	3	1926, 1927, 1930
ENG	Cotton, HenryHenry Cotton †	3	1934, 1937, 1948
ZAF	Player, GaryGary Player ‡	3	1959, 1968, 1974
USA	Nicklaus, JackJack Nicklaus ‡	3	1966, 1970, 1978
ESP	Ballesteros, SeveSeve Ballesteros	3	1979, 1984, 1988
ENG	Faldo, NickNick Faldo	3	1987, 1990, 1992
USA	Woods, TigerTiger Woods ‡	3	2000, 2005, 2006
SCO	Martin, BobBob Martin †	2	1876, 1885
SCO	Park, Jr., WillieWillie Park, Jr. †	2	1887, 1889
ENG	Hilton (a), HaroldHarold Hilton (a) †	2	1892, 1897
USA	Palmer, ArnoldArnold Palmer	2	1961, 1962
USA	Trevino, LeeLee Trevino	2	1971, 1972
AUS	Norman, GregGreg Norman	2	1986, 1993
IRL	Harrington, PádraigPádraig Harrington	2	2007, 2008

• Bolded years and player names means back-to-back wins or a three-peat or four-peat winners and players who accomplished the feat.
• (a) denotes amateur golfer
• ^NC denotes No-Competition in 1871.

National summary

Rank	Nation	Wins	Winners
T1	Scotland	42	22
	United States	42	27
3	England	27	14
T4	Australia	9	4
	South Africa	9	4
6	Spain	3	1
7	Ireland	2	1
T8	Argentina	1	1
	France	1	1
	New Zealand	1	1
	Northern Ireland	1	1
	Zimbabwe	1	1

Future sites

Source^[17]

Notes and references

External links

• Official website