Bobby Locke vs Ben Hogan

Lore & Background

The first Open Championship was played on 17 October 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland, over three rounds of the twelve-hole links course. Eight golfers contested the event, with Willie Park, Sr. winning the championship by 2 shots from Old Tom Morris, and he was declared 'The Champion Golfer of the Year'. A year later, it became 'open' to amateurs as well as professionals. The winner is named 'The Champion Golfer of the Year', a title that dates to the first Open in 1860, and receives the Claret Jug, a trophy first awarded in 1872.

Reader's Guide

The Open is one of the four men's major golf championships, the others being the Masters Tournament, the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. Since the PGA Championship moved to May in 2019, the Open has been chronologically the fourth and final major tournament of the year. It is held in mid-July. It is called The Open because it is in theory open to all, i.e. professional and amateur golfers. In practice, the current event is a professional tournament in which a small number of the world's leading amateurs also play, by invitation or qualification.

Did You Know?

• The reigning champion is New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, who won the 2026 Open at Royal Birkdale with a score of 270 (10 under par).
• The first rule of the new golf competition required the winner to leave the belt with the treasurer until he produced a guarantee that the belt would be safely kept and laid on the table at the next meeting.
• Young Tom Morris won three consecutive titles between 1868 and 1870, and was allowed to keep the Challenge Belt for achieving this feat.