The Open Championship.

How it began

The first Open was played on 17 October 1860 over the 12-hole links at Prestwick Golf Club, three rounds in a single day, according to The Open's own history. Eight professionals took part. Willie Park Snr of Musselburgh won with 174, two shots ahead of Old Tom Morris. The prize was the Challenge Belt, made of red leather with silver fittings.

Young Tom Morris won three in a row and kept the Belt outright in 1870, and no Championship was held in 1871 because there was no prize to play for. From 1872 Prestwick, the Honourable Company and the R&A jointly provided a silver Claret Jug. Young Tom's name is the first engraved on it, but the Jug was not ready in time for his 1872 win, so Tom Kidd, the 1873 champion at St Andrews, was the first to receive it. The R&A took sole charge of The Open in 1920, and since 1927 the original Jug has stayed on display while each champion receives a replica.

The history of The Open covers the early decades in more depth.

Records

• Most wins: Harry Vardon, six.
• Five wins each: Peter Thomson, Tom Watson and James Braid.
• No Championship in 2020.

All three points come from The Open's champions list.

How the field, cut and playoff work

The Golf News Net's previews for 2025 and 2026 describe a 156-player field drawn from exemption categories and from qualifying, which runs through the Open Qualifying Series and Final Qualifying. The number of Final Qualifying places varies: a search summary of the same outlet gives 16 in 2024 and 20 in 2025.

After 36 holes the top 70 and ties make the cut. There is no 10-shot rule.

A tie after 72 holes goes to a four-hole aggregate playoff, followed by sudden death if needed. This comes from The Golf News Net (2022) and Wikipedia's 2022 Championship article; we did not reach an official R&A page confirming the current format.

Champions, 2023 to 2026

In 2024 Schauffele won by two from Justin Rose and Billy Horschel. In 2025 Scheffler won by four from Harris English, with Chris Gotterup a further shot back, for his first Open and fourth major.

2026: Fox at Royal Birkdale

The 154th Open finished on 19 July 2026. Ryan Fox closed with a 68 that featured four birdies in his last six holes and a birdie on the 72nd, and won at 10 under by a shot from Cameron Young. AP reported that Young shot 64 on Sunday but bogeyed the last after finding a fairway bunker.

Sam Burns, who led after 54 holes, finished two back. The defending champion Scottie Scheffler (67) and Tommy Fleetwood (68) shared fourth, and Bryson DeChambeau tied for 14th after a two-shot penalty on Friday.

Fox, 39, won his first major. AP called him the oldest first-time major champion since Henrik Stenson, who was 40 when he won at Royal Troon in 2016. AP placed him alongside Bob Charles (the 1963 Open) and Michael Campbell (the 2005 U.S. Open) among New Zealand's major winners.

The Open had last visited Royal Birkdale in 2017, when Jordan Spieth won with 268.

For the 2026 broadcasters in the United States, the UK and Ireland, see watching golf.