List of The Open Championship champions
The Open Championship is an annual golf competition held in the United Kingdom that was established in 1860.[1] It is played on the weekend of the third Friday in July, and is the third of the four major championships to be played each year.[2] In addition, this championship is conducted by The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A). The championship was not held in 1871 due to a disagreement over a new trophy,[3] and from 1915 to 1919 and from 1940 to 1945 due to the First and Second World Wars respectively.
The reigning champion of the competition is automatically invited to play in the other three majors (Masters, the U.S. Open, and the PGA Championship) for the next five years. The prize of the tournament is the Golf Champion Trophy, commonly known as the Claret Jug, and the champion personally keeps the trophy until the next competition the following year. The champion also receives a gold medal, which they are allowed to keep permanently. Until 1870 the champion received the Challenge Belt, however when Tom Morris Jr. (more commonly known as Young Tom Morris) won the Open Championship three times in a row he won the belt outright, necessitating the need for a new trophy.[3]
Harry Vardon holds the record for the most Open Championship victories, winning six times during his career. The oldest winner of the Open Championship is Tom Morris Sr. (or Old Tom Morris) who was 46 years and 102 days old when he won in 1867. His son, Tom Morris Jr., is the youngest winner of the championship, he was 17 years and 156 days old when he won the 1868 Open Championship. He also won the most consecutive times with four victories (1868–1872). Henrik Stenson holds the dual distinction of being both the most strokes under par for 72 holes (−20) and also recording the lowest total score (264) when he won in 2016.
Champions
| (n/a) | Information not available |
 |
Tournament won in a playoff |
| * | Tournament won by an amateur |
By year
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Tom Morris Jr., four-time Open Champion in 1868, 1869, 1870, and 1872.
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Multiple champions
By nationality
| Nationality | Wins | Winners |
|---|---|---|
 United States |
44 | 29 |
 Scotland |
41 | 22 |
 England |
22 | 13 |
 South Africa |
10 | 4 |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia |
9 | 4 |
 Jersey |
7 | 2 |
 Northern Ireland |
3 | 3 |
 Spain |
3 | 1 |
 Ireland |
3 | 2 |
 Argentina |
1 | 1 |
 France |
1 | 1 |
 Italy |
1 | 1 |
 New Zealand |
1 | 1 |
 Sweden |
1 | 1 |
 Zimbabwe |
1 | 1 |
Notes
- a 72 holes refers to four rounds of golf played on the same 18 holes of golf, with the pin positions varying from one round to another.
- b Par is a predetermined number of strokes that a golfer should require to complete a hole, a round (the sum of the total pars of the played holes), or a tournament (the sum of the total pars of each round). E stands for even, which means the tournament was completed in the predetermined number of strokes.[4]
- c The 1871 Open Championship was not held.[3]
- d Bob Martin won in a playoff against Davie Strath who refused to compete.
- e Willie Fernie won in a playoff against Bob Ferguson.
- f Willie Park Jr. won in a playoff against Andrew Kirkaldy.
- g John Ball won The Open Championship as an amateur.
- h Harold Hilton won The Open Championship as an amateur.
- i Harry Vardon won in a playoff against John Henry Taylor.
- j Harry Vardon won in a playoff against Arnaud Massy.
- k The Open Championship was not held from 1915 to 1918 because of the First World War.
- l Jock Hutchison won in a playoff against Roger Wethered.
- m Bobby Jones won The Open Championship as an amateur.
- n Denny Shute won in a playoff against Craig Wood.
- o The Open Championship was not held from 1940 to 1945 because of the Second World War.
- p Bobby Locke won in a playoff against Harry Bradshaw.
- q Peter Thomson won in a playoff against Dave Thomas.
- r Bob Charles won in a playoff against Phil Rodgers.
- s Jack Nicklaus won in a playoff against Doug Sanders.
- t Tom Watson won in a playoff against Jack Newton.
- u Mark Calcavecchia won in a playoff against Wayne Grady and Greg Norman.
- v John Daly won in a playoff against Costantino Rocca.
- w Mark O'Meara won in a playoff against Brian Watts.
- x Paul Lawrie won in a playoff against Jean van de Velde and Justin Leonard.
- y Ernie Els won in a playoff against Thomas Levet, Steve Elkington and Stuart Appleby.
- z Todd Hamilton won in a playoff against Ernie Els.
- aa Pádraig Harrington won in a playoff against Sergio García.
- bb Stewart Cink won in a playoff against Tom Watson.
- cc Zach Johnson won in a playoff against Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen.
References
General
- "2011 Open Championship Media Guide". The Open Championship. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-06. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
- "Open Champions". The Open Championship. Archived from the original on 2010-03-02. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
- "Previous Opens". The Open Championship. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
Specific
- "Prestwick - 1860". Open Golf. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- Stuart Newport (1997). Guinness Book Of Knowledge. Guinness Publishing. p. 272. ISBN 0-85112-046-6.
- "Claret Jug". Open Golf. Archived from the original on 2009-07-18. Retrieved 2009-07-19.
- "Scoring". BBC Sport. 2005-09-13. Retrieved 2008-09-20.