The British Open Championship History

The history of The Open, the world’s oldest golf championship, comes vividly to life in this exclusive timeline of dramatic images and video clips. It captures the growth of the Championship from the first event at Prestwick in 1860, when eight players challenged for the title over three rounds of the 12-hole course, to the pulsating climax of the latest modern contest. The champions and the dramatic events that led to their victories are presented decade by decade through well over a century of fascinating action.

Experience some of the greatest moments from the history of The Open Championship simply by clicking the button above to begin.

2009 British Open Championship

The 138th Open Championship
SCOTLAND
JULY 16th – 19th, 2009

As with previous editions of The Open Championship at Turnberry, the 2009 event will be played over resort's Ailsa Course. Since it last hosted the Championship in 1994, the course has been lengthened by almost 250 yards, with over 60 having been added to the par 5 at the 17th hole. Six new tees have been built, and the 16th hole is 45 yards longer and has been re-modeled into a dog-leg to the right, having previously been relatively straight. This is one of the reasons why this championship is attracting more people this time.

The Open Championship, or simply The Open (often referred to as the British Open outside the UK), is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only major held outside the USA and is administered by the R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico. The Open is played on the weekend of the third Friday in July, and is the third major to take place each year following The Masters and the U.S. Open and before the PGA Championship.

There is always a sequence to choose the place in which the championship is going to be played. The current course rotation is like follows:

• (0,5) - Scotland - (Old Course at St Andrews, every fifth year)
• (1,6) – England
• (2,7) – Scotland
• (3,8) – England
• (4,9) – Scotland

There are nine courses in the current rotation:

• Old Course at St Andrews
• Carnoustie Golf Links, Championship Course
• Muirfield
• The Westin Turnberry Resort, Ailsa Course
• Royal Troon Golf Club, Old Course
• Royal St George's Golf Club
• Royal Birkdale Golf Club
• Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
• Royal Liverpool Golf Club

British Open Championship Results!

Sunday July 19th was one of the most exciting finals in history of the British Open. The odds were in Tom Watson, but, suddenly Stewart Cink came out from the darkness with cold blood in his veins to win the championship showing the whole world a formidable game. Now the 138th edition of the competition has a winner and everybody is waiting for the next edition to see how.