The 151st Open Golf

An amateur winning on home soil at Hoylake's first Open; the flat, windswept links announced itself immediately.

The Open ventured to Hoylake for the first time in 1897, with Harold Hilton becoming the first amateur to win on home soil. Royal Liverpool had been founded in 1869 as the second-oldest seaside links in England, and its flat, wind-exposed terrain proved a stern test. The club would go on to host the championship thirteen times in total, establishing itself as one of the rota's most respected venues.

Jones crossed the Atlantic as an amateur and left Lytham holding the first of three Opens.

American amateur Bobby Jones won The Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1926, the first of his three Open titles. His arrival, along with Walter Hagen's five victories between 1922 and 1929, signalled a shift in the championship's centre of gravity. American players would dominate for much of the next half-century, and The Open's status as a truly international championship was cemented.

Palmer didn't just enter The Open; he convinced a generation of Americans that no career was complete without it.

By the late 1950s, many top American players had stopped making the trip to Britain. Arnold Palmer changed that. He entered The Open at St Andrews in 1960, finished second, then won at Royal Birkdale in 1961 and Troon in 1962. Palmer's charisma and his insistence that no golfer's record was complete without an Open title persuaded Jack Nicklaus and others to follow. The championship's prestige, which had been quietly fading, was restored almost overnight.

Third place finished ten shots back. Watson and Nicklaus had simply left the field behind.

The 1977 Open at Turnberry produced what many consider the greatest head-to-head contest in major championship history. Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus were paired together for the final two rounds, pulling clear of the field and trading blows over 36 holes of extraordinary golf. Watson prevailed by a single stroke, shooting 65-65 over the weekend to Nicklaus's 65-66. Third-placed Hubert Green finished ten shots behind the pair.

112 bunkers on the Old Course; Woods avoided every single one across 72 holes.

Tiger Woods won the 2000 Open at St Andrews by eight strokes, completing the career Grand Slam at the age of 24. He became the youngest player to achieve the feat. Woods navigated the Old Course without finding a single bunker over 72 holes, a remarkable piece of course management on a layout riddled with 112 of them. His winning total of 269 set a new championship record at the time.

McIlroy never once relinquished the lead at Hoylake, claiming his first Claret Jug by two strokes.

Royal Liverpool hosted The Open for the twelfth time in 2014, and Rory McIlroy delivered a commanding performance. The Northern Irishman led from start to finish, closing with a two-stroke victory over Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler. It was McIlroy's third major title and his first Claret Jug. The championship drew record crowds to Hoylake, with over 230,000 spectators attending across the week.

Harman led from first round to last, winning by six; the field was playing for silver from Saturday.

The 151st Open Championship returned to Royal Liverpool from 20 to 23 July 2023. American Brian Harman seized control with an opening-round 67 and never looked back, leading after every round to win by six strokes on a total of 13 under par. It was Harman's first major title. His relentless accuracy off the tee and composed short game in blustery conditions left the rest of the field, including Jon Rahm, Jason Day, and Tom Kim, playing for second place from Saturday onwards.