Golf Majors - The British Open

One of golfings majors, the British Open is a unique experiance for the best golfers in the world. Played on some of the world's oldest and most famed courses, it proves itself as a test of golf year after year. The winner is awarded the Claret Jug. Golf's other majors include the Masters, the US Open and the PGA Championship.

The British Open - History

By far the oldest major golf tournament, the British Open inaugural event was on Oct. 17, 1860, at the Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland. Eight professional golfers entered the tournament, which consisted of three rounds over Prestwick's 12-hole layout in a single day. Although the Open wasn't held in 1871, it was resumed in 1872 with a new trophy, the Championship Challenge Cup. The event was expanded from 36 to 72 holes in 1892, and a 36-hole qualifying round was added in 1927. From then through 1962, every entrant had to play in the qualifying round. Since 1963, though, a number of golfers have been exempt from qualifying.The Open rotated among three Scottish courses, Prestwick, St. Andrew's, and Musselburgh. Muirfield, also in Scotland, first hosted the tournament in 1892, and it moved to English soil for the first time in 1894, when it was held at Sandwich. The first American golfer to win the British Open was Jock Hutchison, in 1921, but Hutchison was a native of St. Andrew's, Scotland, who had come to the United States as a teen-ager. The following year, Walter Hagen became the first U. S. native to win the title.
Known for it's challenging and always interesting finishes, the British Open is one of the world's favorite sporting events. Steeped in tradition...challenged by the golfing elite...the Open offers golfers worldwide a chance to see the best humbled.

The British Open - Winners