The reigning champion of the competition is automatically invited to play in the other three majors (
Masters, the
U.S. Open, and the
PGA Championship) for the next five years. The prize of the tournament is the Golf Champion Trophy, commonly known as the
Claret Jug, and the champion personally keeps the trophy until the next competition the following year. The champion also receives a gold medal, which they are allowed to keep permanently. Until 1870 the champion received the
Challenge Belt, however when Tom Morris Jr. (more commonly known as
Young Tom Morris) won the Open Championship three times in a row he won the belt outright, necessitating the need for a new trophy.[3]
Harry Vardon holds the record for the most Open Championship victories, winning six times during his career.[5] The oldest winner of the Open Championship is Tom Morris Sr. (or
Old Tom Morris) who was 46 years and 102 days old when he won in
1867. His son, Tom Morris Jr., is the youngest winner of the championship, he was 17 years and 156 days old when he won the
1868 Open Championship. He also won the most consecutive times with four victories (1868–1872).
Henrik Stenson and
Cameron Smith hold the distinction of being both the most strokes under
par for 72 holes (−20),[a] which they achieved in
2016 and
2022 respectively.[6] Stenson also recorded the lowest total score (264) when he won in 2016.[7]Brian Harman is the current champion, winning the 2023 Open.[8]
^72 holes refers to four rounds of golf played on the same 18 holes of golf, with the pin positions varying from one round to another.
^Par is a predetermined number of strokes that a golfer should require to complete a hole, a round (the sum of the total pars of the played holes), or a tournament (the sum of the total pars of each round). E stands for even, which means the tournament was completed in the predetermined number of strokes.[12]
† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire in 72-holes; # indicates the event was won by an amateur 1871 No championship; 1915–1919 cancelled due to
World War I; 1940–1945 cancelled due to
World War II; 2020 cancelled due to
COVID-19 pandemic