Between 1860 and 1881 tournaments staged at Prestwick were played over three rounds of twelve holes. The first 18-hole course to be used for the Open was St Andrews in 1873.

From 1860 through to 1969, players are associated with their club. British clubs are names in full whilst those attached to overseas clubs are listed by country. Most players were connected to clubs in their own country, although there were one or two anomalies. For example, Percy Alliss (father of BBC Commentator Peter) is listed as being attached to a German Club in 1928, 1930 and 1931 despite obviously being British. By 1932 he was back in this country and representing Beaconsfield. From 1970 onwards golfers are listed by nationality.

British Open Summary

Most Victories:

6 - Harry Vardon

5 - James Braid

JH Taylor

Peter Thompson

Tom Watson

Oldest Champions:

Tom Morris snr (46 years 99 days)

Roberto de Vincenzo (44 years 93 days)

Youngest Champions:

Tom Morris jnr (17 years 5 months 8 days)

Willie Auchterlonie (21 years 24 days)

Seve Ballesteros (22 years 3 months 12 days)

Widest Winning Margin:

13 - Tom Morris snr (1862)

12 - Tom Morris jnr (1870)

Since 2nd World War:

6 - Arnold Palmer (1962)

Johnny Miller (1976)

Lowest 72 - hole totals:

267 - Greg Norman (1993)

268 - Tom Watson (1977)

Nick Price (1994)

Best 18 - hole Round

63 - 7 times (first by Mark Hayes 1977)

 

Most of these facts about the British Open Golf Championships have been obtained from my copy of :

The Guinness Book of Golf - Facts and Feats

by Andrew Swales who is the golf statistician for Sky Sports

Anyone requiring a hard copy of results in the four majors, illustrated profiles of the all-time greats, then this is the book for you. Ideal for searching for elusive facts or simply for dipping into.