The history of The Open.

Prestwick, 17 October 1860

The Open followed the death of Allan Robertson in 1859. The Open's own history describes Robertson as the finest player of his time, and says Prestwick members including James Fairlie set up a competition with Old Tom Morris to find his successor as champion golfer.

The first Championship was played on 17 October 1860 over Prestwick's 12-hole links, three rounds in one day. Eight professionals entered. Willie Park Snr of Musselburgh won with 174 (55, 59, 60), two shots ahead of Old Tom Morris, with Andrew Strath third. The prize was the Challenge Belt, made of red Morocco leather with silver clasps and buckle by the Edinburgh silversmiths James and Walter Marshall. Amateurs were first invited in 1861, when the field grew to 18.

The Morrises and the Belt

Old Tom Morris won four times, in 1861, 1862, 1864 and 1867. His 13-stroke margin in 1862 is still the Championship record, and at 46 in 1867 he is still its oldest winner. His son, Young Tom Morris, won in 1868 aged 17 years and 156 days, still the youngest champion, and in 1869 made the first hole-in-one in Open history, at the eighth.

Young Tom won a third straight Championship in 1870, aged 19, and so kept the Belt outright. That left nothing to play for, and no Open was held in 1871.

The Claret Jug

In 1872 Prestwick, the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and the R&A agreed to provide a new trophy together: a silver Claret Jug, with a gold medal for the winner. Young Tom won again that year, but the Jug was not ready, so he received a medal. His name is the first engraved on it, while Tom Kidd, who won at St Andrews in 1873, was the first champion to be handed it.

The three clubs ran the Championship jointly for decades. Scottish Golf History says the Honourable Company ended its role in 1919, and the R&A took sole responsibility in 1920. In 1927 the R&A decided to keep the original Jug on permanent display and give each champion a replica.

Growing up: 1872 to 1914

• The rota widens. Golf Magic says Musselburgh hosted six Opens between 1874 and 1889. Muirfield, the Honourable Company's new course, first hosted in 1892, and according to Wikipedia that was also the year the Championship went to 72 holes, four rounds over two days.
• An English, amateur champion. John Ball Jnr won at Prestwick in 1890, the first Englishman and the first amateur to win. He also won The Amateur Championship that year. Another amateur, Harold Hilton, won in 1892 at Muirfield and in 1897 at Royal Liverpool.
• Across the border. The Open was played in England for the first time in 1894, at Royal St George's, and won by J.H. Taylor.
• Farewell to Old Tom. Old Tom Morris played his last Open in 1896, aged 74.
• The Great Triumvirate. Harry Vardon won in 1896, 1898 and 1899, and Vardon, Taylor and James Braid went on to win 16 Opens between them over two decades. Vardon's six wins are still the record; Braid, Peter Thomson and Tom Watson have five each.
• A continental winner. Arnaud Massy of France won at Royal Liverpool in 1907. No other player from mainland Europe won until 1979.

Wars, Americans and new venues

According to Wikipedia, no Open was played from 1915 to 1919 because of the First World War, or during the Second World War. The 2020 Championship was cancelled because of COVID-19, and The Open's champions list records no Championship that year.

Americans arrived as winners after the First World War. Wikipedia says Jock Hutchison, a naturalised American, won in 1921, and Walter Hagen became the first American-born champion in 1922. Hagen won four Opens in all: 1922 and 1928 at Royal St George's, 1924 at Royal Liverpool and 1929 at Muirfield. Wikipedia records Royal Portrush, in 1951, as the first Open played outside Scotland and England.

Ben Hogan played only one Open. He won it, at Carnoustie in 1953, by four strokes with a closing 68 that set the course record, The Open says.

One ball for The Open

For most of the 20th century the R&A allowed a smaller ball than the USGA. Golf Compendium says the R&A required the larger 1.68-inch ball at The Open from 1974, while its other events still allowed the 1.62-inch ball, and adopted the 1.68-inch minimum for all play on 1 January 1990. The story of the ball is on the equipment history page.

Seve, 1979

Seve Ballesteros won at Royal Lytham in 1979, aged 22, the first winner from mainland Europe since Massy in 1907. The Open's account of that week remembers his birdie at the 16th, played from a temporary car park.

Muirfield and women members

In May 2016 the Honourable Company voted on admitting women. The vote won 64 percent, short of the two-thirds it needed, and the R&A took Muirfield off the Open rota. A second vote on 14 March 2017 passed and the R&A restored the course. CBS Sports counts 16 Opens at Muirfield since 1892, the most recent in 2013, won by Phil Mickelson.

Recent champions

Ryan Fox of New Zealand won the 2026 Championship on 19 July 2026 by one shot from Cameron Young. AP noted that he was 39 and called him the oldest first-time major winner since Henrik Stenson in 2016. The Open Championship page in our events section explains the current format, field and playoff.