Open Championship
Open Championship Winners: A Comprehensive List of Past Champions
This year’s Open Championship begins later this month and will be hosted at Royal Liverpool for the first time since 2014.
With golfers from the PGA and LIV Tours meeting for the first time since Jon Rahm’s Masters win in April, fans across the globe are eagerly awaiting the 151st renewal of this historic tournament.
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What is the Open Championship
The Open Championship is a yearly golf tournament that takes place at a rotation of links courses across the United Kingdom and is organized by the R&A.
The four-day tournament is the oldest event in golf and is one of the four men’s major golf tournaments with the others being the Masters, PGA Championship, and US Open.
Historical Overview
The maiden Open Championship was played on October 17th, 1860, at Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland. In the opening year, players would play three rounds of the 12-hole course.
12 years later, Prestwick Golf Club reached an agreement with the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club for the Open Championship to be rotated between three clubs in Scotland.
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Format of the Open Championship
The modern-day version of the Open Championship consists of 156 players. In total, 72 holes of golf are played across four days, however, after the first 36 holes, only the top 70 players play the final 36 holes.
After that, the player with the lowest score after 72 holes is the winner of the championship. If there is a tie at the end, a four-hole aggregate playoff is held before going to sudden death if the lead is still tied.
Notable Open Championship Winners
The last time the Open was held at Royal Liverpool was in 2014, a tournament won by Rory McIlroy, his only win in the championship. In 2006, Tiger Woods won his third, and subsequently latest, renewal of the event at the same course.
Harry Vardon’s six victories between 1896 and 1914 make him the most successful player in the Open Tournament’s history.
List of Open Championship Winners
Below includes each winner of the championship from 1980 onwards with their final stroke score from 72 holes of golf included afterwards.
Early Years of the Open Championship
1980: Tom Watson, 271
1981: Bill Rogers, 276
1982: Tom Watson, 284
1983: Tom Watson, 275
1984: Seve Ballesteros, 276
1985: Sandy Lyle, 282
1986: Greg Norman, 280
1987: Nick Faldo, 279
1988: Seve Ballesteros, 273
1989: Mark Calcavecchia, 275
1990: Nick Faldo, 270
Mid Years of the Open Championship
1991: Ian Baker-Finch, 272
1992: Nick Faldo, 272
1993: Greg Norman, 267
1994: Nick Price, 268
1995: John Daly, 282
1996: Tom Lehman, 271
1997: Justin Leonard, 272
1998: Mark O’Meara, 280
1999: Paul Lawrie, 290
2000: Tiger Woods, 269
Recent Years of the Open Championship
2001: David Duval, 274
2002: Ernie Els, 278
2003: Ben Curtis, 283
2004: Todd Hamilton, 274
2005: Tiger Woods, 274
2006: Tiger Woods, 270
2007: Padraig Harrington, 277
2008: Padraig Harrington, 283
2009: Stewart Cink, 278
2010: Louis Oosthuizen, 272
2011: Darren Clarke, 275
2012: Ernie Els, 273
2013: Phil Mickelson, 281
2014: Rory McIlroy, 271
2015: Zach Johnson, 273
2016: Henrik Stenson, 264
2017: Jordan Spieth, 268
2018: Francesco Molinari, 276
2019: Shane Lowry, 269
2020: Not played
2021: Collin Morikawa, 265
2022: Cameron Smith, 268
Multiple-time Champions
27 players have won the Open Championship more than once and they are listed below.
Six wins
Harry Vardon
Five Wins
James Braid
John Henry Taylor
Tom Watson
Peter Thomson
Four wins
Walter Hagen
Tom Morris Snr
Tom Morris Jnr
Bobby Locke
Three wins
Bobby Jones
Jack Nicklaus
Nick Faldo
Steve Ballesteros
Tiger Woods
Gary Players
Bob Ferguson
Jamie Anderson
Henry Cotton
Two wins
Willie Park Jnr
Bob Martin
Greg Norman
Harold Hilton
Ernie Els
Arnold Palmer
Lee Trevino
Padraig Harrington
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Memorable Moments in Open Championship History
The Open Championship has been a place of great triumph for many golfers, none more so than Jack Nicklaus who has finished in the runner-up position a record seven times.
In the early years of Nicklaus’ career, he said that a memorable golfer has “to win the Open at St Andrews”, something he achieved on his second asking in 1970 as he clinched success after an 18-hole playoff.
One player that certainly didn’t need a playoff to decide the overall outcome was Tiger Woods at the turn of the millennium as at the same course, St Andrews, the sport’s most famous player blitzed the field to win by eight shots.
The Nike-sponsored golfer finished 19-under par, the lowest score recorded at the tournament to date, to clinch a career Grand Slam at the age of 24 while also becoming the youngest ever to do so. This moment secured Woods as an all-time great of the game at a relatively early stage of his career.
However, it was the formerly mentioned Nicklaus who was part of arguably the greatest battle in Open Championship history with his ‘Duel in the Sun’ with Tom Watson in 1977.
The pair were tied heading into round four and traded birdies all the way round the famous Old Course. It all came down to the 18th green, with Nicklaus holing a 32-foot putt to tie the match and send the crowd into pandemonium. Watson then had the chance to win the tournament and he calmly converted a two-foot putt for birdie to win by a single stroke. The two players walked off the course arm-in-arm after a brilliant round in front of a rapturous Scottish crowd at Turnberry.
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Current Reigning Champion
Heading into the 2023 renewal of the Open Championship, Cameron Smith scored a joint-lowest final score at -20 at St Andrews to beat Cameron Young by one stroke last year in beautiful weather at St Andrews, the ‘Home of Golf’.
Smith is an 18/1 shot to retain his title, something that would make him the first player to do so since Padraig Harrington in 2007-2008, with last year’s third, Rory McIlroy, currently the 15/2 favourite.
