List of The Open Championship champions

The Open Championship is an annual golf competition that was established in 1860. [cite web|url=http://www.opengolf.com/ChampionshipGolf/TheOpenChampionship/History/PreviousOpens.aspx?eventid=1860000 |title=Prestwick - 1860 |publisher=Open Golf |accessdate=2008-09-12 ] 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. [cite book|author=Stuart Newport|title=Guiness Book Of Knowledge |publisher=Guiness Publishing |pages=p. 272 |year=1997 |isbn=0-85112-046-6 ] The championship was not held in 1871 due to a disagreement over a new trophy,cite web|url=http://www.opengolf.com/ChampionshipGolf/TheOpenChampionship/History/PreviousOpens.aspx?eventid=1872000 |title= Prestwick 1872 |publisher=Open Golf |accessdate=2008-08-28 ] and from 1915 to 1919 and from 1940 to 1945 due to the First World War and Second World War 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 won the Open Championship three times in a row he won the belt outright, necessitating the need for a new trophy.cite web|url=http://www.opengolf.com/ChampionshipGolf/TheOpenChampionship/History.aspx?activeItem=2&page=Claret%20Jug |title=Claret Jug |publisher=Open Golf |accessdate=2008-08-20 ]

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 who was 46 years and 99 days old when he won in 1867. His son, Tom Morris, Jr, is the youngest winner of the championship, he was 17 years and 181 days old when he won the 1868 Open Championship. Greg Norman holds the record for the lowest score over 72 holes, winning the Open Championship in 267 strokes in 1993. Tiger Woods holds the distinction of being the most strokes under par for 72 holes,ref label|Note1|a|a he was 19 strokes under par (−19) when he won in 2000. [cite web|url=http://www.opengolf.com/ChampionshipGolf/TheOpenChampionship/History.aspx?activeItem=4&page=Records |title=Records |publisher=Open Golf |accessdate=2008-08-20 ]

Key

Champions by nationality

This table lists the total number of titles won by golfers of each nationality.

Notes

*note label|Note1|a|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.
*note label|Note2|b|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, also called the course rating), 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. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/rules_and_equipment/4230206.stm |title=Scoring |publisher=BBC Sport |accessdate=2008-09-20 ]
*note label|Note3|c|c The 1871 Open Championship was not held.
*note label|Note4|d|d Willie Fernie won in a playoff against Bob Ferguson.
*note label|Note5|e|e Willie Park, Jnr. won in a playoff against Andrew Kirkaldy.
*note label|Note6|f|f John Ball won The Open Championship as an amateur. [cite web|url=http://www.opengolf.com/ChampionshipGolf/TheOpenChampionship/History/PreviousOpens.aspx?eventid=1890000 |title=Prestwick 1890 |publisher=Open Golf |accessdate=2008-09-23 ]
*note label|Note7|g|g Harold Hilton won The Open Championship as an amateur.
*note label|Note8|h|h Harry Vardon won in a playoff against Arnaud Massy. [cite web|url=http://www.opengolf.com/ChampionshipGolf/TheOpenChampionship/History/PreviousOpens.aspx?eventid=1911000 |title=Sandwich 1911 |publisher=Open Golf |accessdate=2008-09-23 ]
*note label|Note9|i|i The The Open Championship was not held from 1915 to 1918 because of the First World War.
*note label|Note10|j|j Jock Hutchison won in a playoff against Roger Wethered.
*note label|Note11|k|k Bobby Jones won The Open Championship as an amateur.
*note label|Note12|l|l Denny Shute won in a playoff against Craig Wood.
*note label|Note13|m|m The Open Championship was not held from 1940 to 1945 because of the Second World War.
*note label|Note14|n|n Bobby Locke won in a playoff against Harry Bradshaw. [cite web|url=http://www.opengolf.com/ChampionshipGolf/TheOpenChampionship/History/PreviousOpens.aspx?eventid=1949000 |title= Sandwich 1949 |publisher=Open Golf |accessdate=2008-09-23 ]
*note label|Note15|o|o Peter Thomson won in a playoff against Dave Thomas.
*note label|Note16|p|p Bob Charles won in a playoff against Phil Rodgers.
*note label|Note17|q|q Jack Nicklaus won in a playoff against Doug Sanders. [cite web|url=http://www.opengolf.com/ChampionshipGolf/TheOpenChampionship/History/PreviousOpens.aspx?eventid=1970010 |title=St Andrews 1970 |publisher=Open Golf |accessdate=2008-09-23 ]
*note label|Note18|r|r Tom Watson won in a playoff against Jack Newton.
*note label|Note19|s|s Mark Calcavecchia won in a playoff against Wayne Grady and Greg Norman.
*note label|Note20|t|t John Daly won in a playoff against Constantino Rocca.
*note label|Note21|u|u Mark O'Meara won in a playoff against Brian Watts.
*note label|Note22|v|v Paul Lawrie won in a playoff against Jean Van de Velde and Justin Leonard.
*note label|Note23|w|w Ernie Els won in a playoff against Thomas Levet, Steve Elkington and Stuart Appleby.
*note label|Note24|x|x Todd Hamilton won in a playoff against Ernie Els.
*note label|Note25|y|y Pádraig Harrington won in a playoff against Sergio García.

References

External links

* [http://www.opengolf.com/ The Open Championship official site]