150 Facts About The Open

UNLESS you have been living on the moon, you will know that this year’s Open Championship at St Andrews is the 150th and we thought it might be fun to mark what will be a very special week by giving you 150 facts and figures about The Open.

And so, with a deep breath, here we go...

1860 - first Open is played

36 - holes played in first Open

8 - golfers in the field in 1860

156 - golfers teeing it up at St Andrews

13 - Tom Morris record winning margin in 1862

1873 - Open played at St Andrews for the first time

1914 - Harry Vardon wins for the sixth time

238,787 - record attendance, St Andrews, 2000

87 - number of different winners

1927 - legendary amateur Bobby Jones wins at St Andrews

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

1953 - Ben Hogan wins in his only appearance

14 - courses have hosted The Open

30 - Opens hosted by St Andrews, including 2022

24 - Opens hosted by Prestwick, the last of which was played there in 1925

46 - age of Old Tom Morris when he became the oldest winner in 1867

17 - age of Young Tom Morris when he became the youngest winner in 1868

7 - runner-up finishes by Jack Nicklaus

62 - lowest score in an Open, recorded by Branden Grace at Birkdale in 2017

4 - consecutive victories by Young Tom Morris from 1868

129 - record 36-hole total by Louis Oosthuizen in 2010

197 - lowest 54-hole total by Shane Lowry in 2019

264 - record low winning total by Henrik Stenson in 2016

20 - record under-par winning score by Stenson

3 -victories by Tiger Woods

3 - victories by Nick Faldo

3 - victories by Seve Ballesteros

4 - wins by Walter Hagen

5 - victories by Peter Thomson

5 - victories by Tom Watson

2.070,00 - Collin Morikawa’s prize in dollars for winning in 2021

4,250 - Tony Jacklin’s prize in pounds for winning at Royal Lytham in 1969

10 - Willie Park Sr’s prize in pounds for winning in 1863

1955 - year the BBC first broadcast The Open

1961 - year Peter Alliss first started commentating on The Open

2015 - year Sky gained full broadcasting rights

1869 - Young Tom Morris records the first hole in one

71 - Gene Srazen’s age when he recorded a hole in one at the Postage Stamp at Troon in 1973

91 - David Duval’s score in the first round in 2019

92 - Ian Baker Finch’s first-round score at Troon in 1997

121 - score recorded by Maurice Flitcoft in qualifying in 1976

130 - highest score ever recorded for 18 holes, by John Hughes in 1894 

21 - highest score ever recorded on a single hole, way back in 1860

2,499 - entries for the 2005 Open

72 - The Open was first played over 72 holes in 1892

59 - Tom Watson’s age when he lost in a playoff at Turnberry in 2009

22 - Seve Ballesteros’ age when he won at Lytham in 1979

10 - players won at their first attempt

11 - number of years between Henry Cotton’s win in 1937 and 1948

15 - years between Gary Player’s first win in 1959 and final victory in 1974

16 - top-five finishes by Jack Nicklaus

47 - appearances by Gary Player

38 - appearances by Jack Nicklaus

20 - appearances before Darren Clarke finally won The Open in 2011

32 - cuts made by Jack Nicklaus, a record

21 - playoffs

28 - lowest nine-hole score, by Denis Durnian at Birkdale in 1983

63 - lowest first round score, by Rory McIlroy at St Andrews in 2010

80 - McIlroy’s score in the second round in 2010

39 - sub-70 scores recorded by Ernie Els

10 - the margin Paul Lawrie made up in the final round to win in 1999

7 - Jean Van de Velde’s score at the 18th in 1999 when a six would have given him the title

0 - number of bunkers Tiger Woods found when winning at St Andrews in 2000

79 - highest final-round score by a winner, Henry Cotton in 1934

11.5m - total prize fund in dollars at Royal St George’s in 2021

1.3m - applications received for tickets for the 150th Open

1,000 - cost of daily tickets in pounds being sold on Viagogo

270 - Nick Faldo’s winning score at St Andrews in 1990

5 - Faldo’s winning margin in 1990

85,000 - Faldo’s cheque in pounds

76 - Greg Norman’s third-round score in 1990 when he played with Faldo

67 - Faldo’s third-round score when he played with Norman

2 - penalty imposed upon Ian Woosnam when he discovered he had 15 clubs in his bag at the 2001 Open

2020 - year The Open was not played because of Covid-19

273 - score recorded by Zah Johnson, Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen at St Andrews in 2015. Johnson won a four-hole playoff

274 - Tiger Woods’ winning score at St Andrews in 2005

290 - Paul Lawrie’s winning total at a brutal Carnoustie in 1999

1940 - Open cancelled because of the Second World War

1946 - Open resumes and is won by Sam Snead

1961 - Arnold Palmer wins the first of his back-to-back Open Championships

293 - highest winning score since the Second World War, achieved by Fred Daly at Royal Liverpool in 1947

30 - length in inches of the putt Doug Sanders holed to win The Open in 1970

1977 - year of The Duel in the Sun when Tom Watson pipped Jack Nicklaus in a thrilling 72-hole showdown

1961 - year Arnold Palmer won the first of successive Opens - he is credited with changing the face of the tournament

1976 - a 19-year-old Seve Ballesteros nearly stunned the world before losing to Johnny Miller

29 - Tony Jacklin’s first-nine score at St Andrews in 1970. A thunderstorm meant he had to leave the course. He came home in 38

151 - the 151st Open will be played at Royal Liverpool

100,000 - money won by Gerry McIlroy and a group of his friends, who had wagered £200 at 500-1 that Rory would win The Open before he was 26

25 - cost of the Challenge Belt awarded at the first Open

1907 - Arnaud Massy becomes the first continental winner of The Open

1951 - Open is played at Royal Portrush, the first time outside mainland Britain

16 - number of wins combined by Harry Vardon, JH Taylor and James Braid, The Great Triumverate

1922 - Walter Hagen is the first American winner

1949 - Bobby Locke his the first South African Open champion

1959 - Gary Player wins the first of his three Opens

1994 - start of a 10-year period when every winner was a first-time champion

2018 - Francesco Molinari becomes the first Italian winner

1995 - Open prize money included in the PGA Tour money list for the first time

1907 - qualifying is introduced for the first time

70 - the top 70 and ties make the cut

4 - the top four get into the next year’s Masters

1949 - first year the leading amateur was awarded a silver medal

2025 - The Open will return to Royal Portrush

18,410 - population of St Andrews (2020 census)

495 - length in yards of the 17th hole at the Old Course

7 - public golf courses in St Andrews

64 - Tom Watson’s age when he became the oldest man to make the cut, in 2014

60 - age at which former champions are no longer eligible to play

67 - age at which Greg Norman said he wanted to play in the 150th Open

16 - Zane Scotland’s age when he became the youngest person to qualify for The Open, in 1999

2016 - Muirfield loses right to host The Open after refusing to admit women members

2015 - Turnberry is removed from the rota due to its links with Donald Trump

77 - players made the cut at Royal St George’s in 2021

88 - in 2021 Lee Westwood broke Jay Haas’s record by playing in 88 majors without a win

32,000 - restricted daily attendance in 2021 because of the pandemic

50 - the top 50 in the world rankings are eligible to play

5 - players withdrew in 2021 because of Covid-related reasons

11 - former champions competed in 2021

36 - exemption categories

288 - competitors in final qualifying for St Andrews 2022

18 - years between Max Faulkner’s success in 1959 and the next British winner, Tony Jacklin, in 1969

290,000 - tickets sold for the 150th Open

18 - players have won The Open and US PGA Championship in the same year

12 - tournaments in the Open qualifying series

46 - places available through the Open qualifying series

614 - length of the par-five 14th hole at St Andrews, the longest hole on the course

1883 - first Open to be decided by a playoff

10 - Willie Fernie won in 1883 despite recording a 10 at the second hole in the final round

24 - Tom Morris Jr’s age when he died in 1875

7 - double greens at St Andrews

5 - The Open is normally held at St Andrews every five years

45,000 - number of rounds played on the Old Course annually

140m - the estimated boost to the local economy provided by the 2015 Open

112 - width in yards of the green shared by the seventh and 11th holes

129 - width in yards of the first/18th fairway

270 - cost of a round at the Old Course in high season

98 - cost of a round in low season

18 - the 18th hole on the Old Course is the easiest on the Open rota, playing almost half a shot under par

63 - Paul Broadhurst was the first man to record a 63 in an Open at St Andrews, achieving the feat in 1990

67 - St Andrews; 12 post-war champions have won 67 majors between them

299 - James Braid is the first man to break 300 in a 72-hole Open at St Andrews

1921 - Bobby Jones plays in his first Open at St Andrews and walks off the course after taking four shots to escape from a bunker

6 - the Old Course has set a new attendance record six times since 1960

8 - year gap between Jack Nicklaus victories at the Old Course - 1970 and 1978

700 - the Swilcan Bridge is 700 years old

112 - number of bunkers on the Old Course

10 - depth in feet of Hell Bunker, on the 14th hole

1995 - Arnold Palmer plays in his final Open

2005 - Jack Nicklaus plays in his final Open

7,305 - the course will measure 7,305 yards for the 2022 Open