why was there no Open Championship played in 1871?

just reasearched it and couldnt find anything. Anyone know of a reason?

It wasn't held due to a disagreement over a new trophy

This was taken from Wikipedia

The Champions Belt was retired in 1870, when Young Tom Morris was allowed to keep it for winning the tournament three consecutive times. Due to having no prize, the tournament was cancelled in 1871.

Russ

If you look at Golf in the late 1800's you see that a number of establishments provided a trophy for an "all comers" event. Prestwick GC provided a 'Belt' for professional players between 1860 and 1870, when Tom Morris Jnr won it for the third time. The idea of an 'Open Championship' was liked by a few other establishments and so when Preswick GC didn't replace the trophy given to Tom Morris Jnr, St Andrews and others took over and from 1872 provided a Cup (the claret jug) for The Open Golf Championship.

There most likely was an event in 1871, but it didn't carry The Open title.

Bizarre that this still gets traffic from people searching via search engines.

Is there a definitive answer ?