Open Championship Facts and Figures
By: Golfshake Editor | Mon 11 Jul 2016
Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements
- The first 12 Open Championships were played at Prestwick and the inaugural event saw eight players compete to win the Challenge Belt, worth £25. After three rounds on the then 12-hole course, Willie Park Sr beat Old Tom Morris by two shots
- Old Tom Morris became the oldest winner when he took the title in 1867 at the age of 46 (Tom Watson was 59 when he lost a play-off to Stewart Cink in 2009). The youngest winner is Young Tom Morris, who was 17 when he succeeded his father as champion in 1868
- When Young Tom Morris won his third consecutive Open in 1870 he was allowed to keep the Challenge Belt, but that meant no Open was held in 1871 as there was no trophy to play for. Morris made it four in a row anyway in 1872
- The Claret Jug was first awarded in 1873
- Harry Vardon holds the record for most Open wins with six (1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914)
- Jack Nicklaus named his course in Ohio, Muirfield Village, after the course where he won his first Open in 1966
- Gary Player lifted the Claret Jug in 1959, 1968 and 1974, making him the only player in the 20th century to win the Open in three different decades. Player also holds the record for most Open appearances with 46
- In 1921, Britain’s Roger Wethered was penalised for accidentally hitting his ball with his foot during the final round and tied with Jock Hutchison, forcing a 36-hole play-off. Wethered lost to Hutchison by nine shots. Although Hutchison was Scottish, by then he was a naturalised American and became their first Open champion
- American players have won the past six Opens to be staged at Royal Troon, with Todd Hamilton beating Ernie Els in a four-hole play-off in 2004 after the pair had finished tied on 10 under par
- In 2003, Ben Curtis had triumphed at Royal St George’s in his first major
- Rory McIlroy became the sixth player to lead from start to finish when he won at Hoylake in 2014, but was unable to defend the title the following year after injuring his ankle during a game of football
- The most famous hole at Royal Troon is the 123-yard eighth known as the “Postage Stamp”
- The Old Course at St Andrews has hosted a record 29 Opens
- On the first two days, 156 players will tee off
- The Open at St Andrews last year was attended by 237,024 spectators
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