The Open Championship: Numbers and stats

Fergus Bisset gets stuck into some numbers and stats ahead of the 138th Open Championship at Turnberry, providing some interesting facts for those of you who like to know certain details.

Luke Donald
Fergus Bisset
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Some Open numbers to get your teeth into:

26 – The number of countries represented by players in this year’s Championship.

22 – Players representing England in this year’s event.

28 – The lowest nine holes ever recorded in an Open Championship – Denis Durnian on the front nine at Royal Birkdale in 1983. He went on to finish in a tie for eighth that year.

4 - This is the fourth time the Open has been contested at Turnberry. That has no affect on the venue’s ranking on the list of most used courses for the Open Championship. It’s still 11th out of 14.

3 – The number of shots that separated the top 17 players in the 2002 Open Championship at Muirfield.

21 – The number of shots that separated the top 17 players in the 1962 Open Championship at Royal Troon.

13 – After 36 holes of the 1920 Open, George Duncan was 13 strokes behind leader Abe Mitchell. After 54 holes the pair were level.

146 – More rounds under 70 were recorded in the 1994 Open at Turnberry than the 1968 Open at Carnoustie. (148 vs 2).

78 – The worst round scored in a post-war Open winning performance (Fred Daly at Hoylake in 1947.)

95 – The highest round I can find by a player since 1946. It was by Guy McQuitty in the 1986 Open at Turnberry.

19 – Years between JH Taylor’s fist Open victory in 1894 and his last in 1913. What price is Nick Faldo this week? It’s 22 years since his first win.

Where next?

- Bill Elliott: Some things never change - Open Championship golf betting - Q&A with the Claret Jug engraver

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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