British Open 2015: History of the tournament
The British Open is one of the most historic tournaments in all of sports, and will be played for the 144th time on Thursday at the Old Course at St. Andrews. The defending champion is Rory McIlroy who took the Claret Jug, but the young phenom will have to take a seat this week due to a torn ligament in his ankle.
The first British Open was played at the Prestwick Golf Club in 1860. The tournament was 36 holes for the beginning of its history, before finally changing over to 72 holes in 1892. Originally, the Open Championship was dominated by the English and Scotsmen, but in recent times has been taken over by the Americans. In fact, the United States has won the Open 42 times, more than any other country. Some of the most famous include Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
The tournament has been played every year since 1860 except for 1871 and between 1940-45. In 1871, the tournament was cancelled because a trophy was not available. In the other aforementioned years, the Open was cancelled because of World War II. Currently, there are 10 different courses that are permitted to host the Open Championship, including:
- Royal Troon Golf Club
- Muirfield
- Old Course at St. Andrews
- Royal Portrush Golf Club
- Carnoustie Golf Links
- Royal Birkdale Golf Club
- Turnberry Resort
- Royal Liverpool Golf Club
- Royal Lytham and St. Annes Golf Club
- Royal St. George Golf Club
Since 1900, the largest margin of victory is eight strokes which has been done three times by J.H. Taylor, James Braid and Tiger Woods. The first winner from outside of Scotland was John Ball in 1890, who hailed from England. Harry Vardon has won the most Open Championships with six titles, ranging from 1896-1914.