9 Things You Didn't Know About The Open

9 Things You Didn't Know About The Open

While it may be the oldest Major in golf, The Open Championship has a lot of interesting facts and quirks you may not know about. Here, we're going to take a look a nine facts about the event that will be celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2022. 

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1. St. Andrews has hosted the most Open Championships. The 150th Open will be the 30th time the venue has hosted the event while the next most prolific venue to have hosted is Prestwick, which has hosted 24 times.

2. Many golf fans will already know that the Silver Medal is awarded to the best amateur at The Open. However, they can only receive this award if they make the cut and amateurs don't receive any prize money at The Open. 

3. There are a host of other prizes on offer at The Open. The winner receives a Gold Medal as well as the Claret Jug, while the Tooting Bec Cup is given to the PGA member with the single lowest round of the week. 

4. Scotland has hosted by far the most Open Championships at 96 in total. Elsewhere, 51 have been played in England and two in Northern Ireland. When looking at potential future Open venues, it's worth noting that Wales has never hosted an Open before. 

5. The first Open Championship in 1860 only had a field of 8 players and was won by Willy Park Senior at Prestwick Golf Club. 

6. The lowest winning score at The Open was 264 by Henrik Stenson at Royal Troon in 2016. He pipped Phil Mickelson to the line in of the greatest final days in Open Championship history.

7. In total, 14 different courses have hosted The Open and four of these courses aren't on the current rota. Those courses that are no longer on the rota are: Musselburgh, Prestwick, Royal Cinque Ports and Prince's. 

8. Jack Nicklaus has the dubious honor of having the most second place finishes in Open Championship history. Between 1964 and 1979, he finished in second place seven times. Don't feel too bad for Jack though, as but he also won the Claret Jug three times in his career. 

9. The oldest winner of the open was Old Tom Morris who was 46 when he won in 1867. At the other end of the spectrum, the youngest ever winner of The Open is his son, Young Tom Morris, who was 17 years old when he won in 1868.