The Open Championship

The Open Championship

Tournament information
Established	1860
Course(s)	courses
Organised by	The R&A
Tour(s)	European Tour PGA Tour Japan Golf Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	US$17,000,000[1]
Month played	July
Tournament record score
Aggregate	264 Henrik Stenson (2016)
To par	−20 Henrik Stenson (2016) −20 Cameron Smith (2022)
Current champion
Xander Schauffele
2024 Open Championship

The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later the venue rotated between a select group of coastal links golf courses in the United Kingdom. It is organised by The R&A.

The Open is one of the four men's major golf championships, the others being the Masters Tournament, the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. Since the PGA Championship moved to May in 2019, the Open has been chronologically the fourth and final major tournament of the year. It is held in mid-July.

It is called The Open because it is in theory "open" to all, i.e. professional and amateur golfers. In practice, the current event is a professional tournament in which a small number of the world's leading amateurs also play, by invitation or qualification. The success of the tournament has led to many other open golf tournaments to be introduced around the world.

The winner is named "the Champion Golfer of the Year", a title that dates to the first Open in 1860, and receives the Claret Jug, a trophy first awarded in 1872.^[2] The reigning champion is American Xander Schauffele, who won the 2024 Open at Royal Troon Golf Club with a score of 275.