Month: July 2022

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British Open – “Claret Jug” Victory Award

Tiger Woods with the Claret Jug in 2000. (Photo: Getty)
Tiger Woods with the Claret Jug in 2000. (Photo: Getty)

The trophy that rewards the winner of the British Open Championship is officially known as the “Championship Trophy”, but it is commonly referred to as the “Claret Jug”; it is a Bordeaux decanter. “Claret” is the English name for a dry red wine produced in the famous French wine-growing region of Bordeaux. The British Open trophy is modeled after a silver wine jug in which claret was served in the 19th century.

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Before the Claret Jug there was the Championship belt

But the winner of the British Open did not get the Claret Jug from time immemorial. The first winners were awarded with a championship belt. The first British Open was held in 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club. The first belt was also awarded in that year.

The belt was made of wide, red morocco leather and was trimmed with silver buckles and decorations. This trophy would possibly still be today’s British Open award had it not been for the special achievement of Young Tom Morris: Prestwick Golf Club hosted the first eleven British Opens. Each year the championship belt changed hands as a challenge cup. But Prestwick’s rules stated that the belt would become the property of the golfer who won the British Open three times in a row. Young Tom Morris achieved this feat in 1872, winning in 1868, 1869 and 1870. So he could take home the Championship belt after his third win in 1870.

The British Open briefly had no victory award

Suddenly the British Open had no trophy and Prestwick did not have the funds to commission its own. So club members came up with the idea of sharing a trophy with the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Prestwick suggested that the three clubs could take turns hosting the British Open and all contribute something to the new trophy.

While the clubs deliberated, no British Open was held in 1871. Eventually they pooled money for a new trophy.

Tom Kidd 1873 first winner of the Claret Jug

When Young Tom Morris won the British Open again, the trophy had not yet been completed. So in 1873, Tom Kidd was the first British Open winner to win the Claret Jug.

This original trophy has been on display in the clubhouse of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews since 1927, along with the Championship belt (donated by the Morris family in 1908). The trophy currently in circulation is a copy of the original and was first presented to the 1928 winner, Walter Hagen. Each winner is allowed to keep this trophy for one year after his victory, must return it to the next British Open and then receives a replica of the traveling trophy for his own use.

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British Open – Cut Rule

Not everyone plays 72 holes. (Photo: Getty)
Not everyone plays 72 holes. (Photo: Getty)

The British Open cut rule is not difficult to understand: The top 70 finishers after 36 holes make the cut. Everyone else doesn’t make the weekend. This cut rule was first used at the 1898 British Open.

British Open: briefly with two cuts

But there wasn’t always this one-cut system. In 1968, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A) installed two cuts: one cut after 36 holes, another cut after 54 holes. This cut rule lasted until 1985, during which time the top 80 players advanced after the first cut and the top 60 players advanced after the second.

In 1986, the cut rule at the British Open was changed back to the best 70 after 36 holes. It is still in place today.

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Jon Rahm: “The greatest honour you can achieve in golf is becoming The Open Champion in St Andrews”

Jon Rahm talks his preparation ahead of the Open Championship 2022. (Image: Mercedes Benz)

Jon Rahm excited ahead of The Open Championship 2022

Jon Rahm is a Spanish golfer of the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour. In 2020 and 2021, the global Mercedes-Benz brand ambassador led the world golf rankings for over 30 weeks. His greatest success was winning the US Open in 2021. This year he plays his first Open in St Andrews, at the “Home of Golf”. After a very good result at the last Open in 2021 (T3), he wants to build on his good performance at the big 150th Open in 2022.

The 27-year-old Spaniard not only talks with us about his first Open in St Andrews, he also explains what it would mean to him to be the first Spaniard after Seve Ballesteros (Champion Golfer of the Year 1979, 1984 and 1988) to win the trophy and thus follow in the footsteps of a sports icon. In addition he gives an insight into his preparation and expectations.
Text and video by Mercedes Benz

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Open Championship 2022: Collin Morikawa returns the Claret Jug

Champion Golfer of the Year Collin Morikawa returns the Claret Jug. (Image: Mercedes Benz)

Champion Golfer of the Year Returns the Claret Jug

For its 150th Championship, The Open and Mercedes-Benz are returning to the Home of Golf at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland (UK). For a record 30th time, the Old Course, will host this year’s Championship and from July 10 to 17, nearly 300,000 spectators will experience the world’s best golfers at the tradition-steeped major golf Championship. And all this on what is the most historic golf course in the world.

The Championship week kicks off with its first highlight: the Return of the Claret Jug. At the ceremony, the reigning Champion Golfer of the Year, Collin Morikawa (USA), returned the iconic Claret Jug trophy to Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A. For the occasion, the 25-year-old Morikawa drove up in an all-electric EQS SUV. With the EQS SUV, Mercedes-Benz is taking a big step towards a zero-emission mobility. The model is produced in a completely carbon-neutral manner.

Text and video by Mercedes Benz

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Golf History: The 13 Very First Rules of Golf

In the beginning, there were only 13 rules, but now there are a few more. (Photo: Getty)

Rules of golf have been around since the very beginning of golf. Just what those very first rules of golf were, no one can quite say today. One thing is certain: The first written rules of golf date back to the middle of the 18th century. They were drawn up in 1744 by the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith (today known as the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers of Muirfield), one of the oldest golf clubs in the world.

It all started with 13 rules of golf

Many of the initial 13 rules of golf still exist today, albeit in modified form:

  1. You must tee up the golf ball within one club length (tees now measure two club lengths in depth).
  2. Your tee must be on the ground (tee used to mean small pyramids of sand).
  3. You are not allowed to change the ball with which you tee off (the one-ball rule goes back to a long tradition – currently the rule can be found in Golf Rule 15 with a few modifications).
  4. You are not allowed to remove stones, bones or broken club parts to play the ball. The fairway is an exception. There, you are allowed to remove small obstructions within a radius of one club length from the ball (bones may sound strange – today, small obstructions are summarized as loose obstructive natural materials in Golf Rule 23).
  5. If your ball lands in water or any type of watery debris, you are free to pick it up and re-putt behind the hazard. You may then play the ball with any club, but you will incur a penalty stroke against your opponent (origin of the penalty stroke rule for water hazards – Golf Rule 26).
  6. If your ball interferes with your opponent’s ball(s), you may pick it up until the last ball is played (Rule of Golf 22-2).
  7. When putting your golf ball in the hole, you should honestly hit the ball only in the direction of the hole and not in the direction of the opponent’s balls in order to play them out.
  8. If you lose your ball because you gave it up or for any other reason, you must return to the point from which you last teed off. You will receive a penalty stroke for this (Golf Rule 27-1).
  9. No one is allowed to mark the ideal line to the hole with their club or anything else while putting (embedded in Golf Rule 8-2).
  10. If a ball is stopped by a person, horse, dog, or anything else, the stopped ball must be played from the position where it came to rest (“play it as it lies”; per Golf Rule 19-1).
  11. If you swing your club to tee off, but you lower it again, even without actually hitting the ball, the movement is counted as a stroke played (definition of a stroke).
  12. During the game, the ball that is farthest from the hole is always played (almost unchanged after all this time: golf rule 10).
  13. Neither ditches, streams or dams built to protect and delimit the golf course, nor construction sites located on the course should be seen as obstacles. The ball is to be picked up, re-putted and played with any club.

The Rules of Golf have evolved over time, taking a giant leap in 1897 when the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (R&A) formed a Rules Committee. Since 1952, the R&A and the United States Golf Association (USGA) have met every two years.

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The Open – the very first staging in Prestwick

The 5th hole of Prestwick Golf Club, one of the first venues of the British Open. (Photo: Getty)

The history of the British Open dates back to 1860, at a time when America is on the verge of a drastic civil war and makes Abraham Lincoln its president in November, things are much more leisurely in Great Britain. In Scotland, a society of golfers comes together to play the first Open Championship on a twelve-hole round on the grounds of Prestwick Golf Club on October 17, 1860.

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First venue of the British Open: Built by a genius
The course at Prestwick Golf Club had been designed by golf’s all-round genius Old Tom Morris, the host club’s greenkeeper at the time, whose son managed the first hole-in-one at the tournament just seven years later. Both dominated the tournament for several years in the beginning.

Later, the competition was held on three different courses, always in alternation, after Young Tom Morris had won the tournament on his father’s course three times in a row. Because the early contests were played on a twelve-hole course, the round was played three times in just one day to reach a total of 36 holes.

Golf on the move
When the first British Open took place, golf was in the midst of a flurry of change. Outside of Great Britain, golf was still barely established at the time – the first German golf club (the Royal Homburger Golf Club and the Wiesbadener Golf-Club are in dispute over the designation of the first German golf club) did not open its doors until the end of the century.

The first ladies’ golf club was founded seven years after the Open premiere, although half a century had passed since the first ladies’ golf tournament at the time of the first Open Championship. Played at Musselburgh – a course that would also host the British Open on a few occasions – it was the first documented ladies’ tournament in the history of golf.

Dynamic period of golf technology
But the sport also underwent some technological changes in the period before and after the first British Open. While hickory shafts were still common at the first Open, by the end of the century experiments would be made with the steel shaft that would later revolutionize the game. Similarly, in 1898, the Haskell ball with a wrapped hard rubber core replaced the gutta-percha ball established in 1848, which had been common at the first and subsequent tournaments.

In 1894, the USGA was founded, which meant that for the first time there was also a regulating institution in golf in the United States. Four years later, the Stableford method of counting was invented and the wooden tee was patented the following year. At the first British Open, moreover, professional golfers were still rare, but participation by amateurs was nevertheless prohibited – so it came about that the first field of participants consisted of only eight golfers.

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The Open Rota, the venues of the British Open

2012 at Royal Lytham & St Anne's, Lytham: The Open Rota is a selection of nine links courses that alternate in hosting the British Open. (Photo: Getty)

The British Open is traditionally played on links courses, alternating between Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. The venues are selected according to a fixed Open Rota principle, in which nine fixed courses (all links courses) alternate.

The Open Rota includes the following courses:

  • The Old Course at St Andrews
  • Carnoustie
  • Royal St George’s
  • Royal Lytham & St Annes
  • Royal Birkdale
  • Turnberry
  • Royal Liverpool
  • Royal Portrush
  • Royal Troon


The only constant in this constant change is: The Old Course. The golf course is part of the British Open every five years. It’s easy to remember: All years ending in 0 and 5 like 2000, 2005, 2010 lead the participants to the course in St Andrews.

Open Rota without clear order or rhythm
The organizer, Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A), selects the Open Rota to fit together as harmoniously as possible – without any clear order or rhythm. In doing so, they coordinate their selections with the clubs’ schedules and construction or renovation plans, for example, or pay attention to the course’s requirements for players.

For example, Royal Birkdale was the venue in 1983, then eight years later in 1991, again seven years later in 1998, and then not again for another ten years in 2008. Royal Liverpool, on the other hand, was the venue for the British Open in 1967 and then not again until almost 40 years later in 2006. With the next venue in 2014, the break was not even close to that long. In 2017, it’s Royal Birkdale’s turn for the tenth time.

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The Open – Everything you need to know

The claret jug is the trophy for the Championship Golfer of the year (Photo: Getty)

Every year in July, the world’s golfing elite gather in Great Britain for the The Open. The Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments and the only one held in Europe. The Open was first played in 1860, and today the Claret Jug is one of the most coveted trophies in golf. All the special features, the long history and all the facts about the tournament can be found in this overview.

From the history of the British Open

The special features of the tournament

  • British Open – Cut rule
  • British Open – Qualifying criteria
  • British Open – “Claret Jug” victory award
  • Historic British Open – The most important events
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British Open 2022: R&A announces prize money increase

The winner of the Claret Jug will also collect the highest prize money in Open history at the 2022 British Open. (Photo: Getty)
The winner of the Claret Jug will also collect the highest prize money in Open history at the 2022 British Open. (Photo: Getty)

One week before the start of the British Open 2022 in St. Andrews, the prize money for the 150th edition of the tournament was announced. The winner of this year’s Open will be able to take home over two million pounds for the first time, in addition to the Claret Jug. The total prize money of the last major in the calendar year will be increased by 22 per cent.

In concrete terms, this means a jump from 12.5 to 14 million US dollars in prize money, with which the R&A, the organising association of the British Open 2022, wants to do justice to the increased prize money last year.

“There have been significant changes in prize money over the last year. We have therefore increased the prize fund by 22% which means that the prize money has increased by more than 60% since 2016,” Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A said.

Competitive bidding by the organisers

By comparison, the US Masters and PGA Championship had both increased prize money to $15 million before this year’s editions. The US Open is the men’s major with the highest prize money at 17.5 million dollars, winner Matt Fitzpatrick received over three million dollars. The Players Championship, the flagship tournament of the PGA Tour, paid out 20 million dollars this year and 25 million dollars next year.

The drastic price increase is probably also linked to the controversial LIV Golf Invitational Series, which lures stars to its tour with high sign-up bonuses and awards an additional 25 million dollars per tournament.

“We have made this substantial investment while balancing our wider commitments to developing golf at all levels around the world and to continuing to elevate the AIG Women’s Open.” Last year, the Association, together with the main sponsor, provided record prize money for the Women’s Major, which has since been surpassed by the US Women’s Open.

2022 British Open prize money

  1.  $2,500,000
  2.  $1,455,000
  3.  $933,000
  4.  $725,000
  5.  $583,000
  6.  $505,000
  7.  $434,000
  8.  $366,000
  9.  $321,000
  10.  $290,000
  11.  $264,000
  12.  $234,000
  13.  $220,000
  14.  $206,000
  15.  $191,500
  16.  $176,000
  17.  $167,500
  18.  $159,750
  19.  $153,000
  20.  $145,750
  21.  $139,000
  22.  $132,000
  23.  $125,000
  24.  $118,000
  25.  $114,000
  26.  $109,000
  27.  $105,000
  28.  $101,500
  29.  $97,000
  30.  $92,000
  31.  $89,000
  32.  $84,500
  33.  $81,500
  34.  $79,250
  35.  $76,500
  36.  $73,500
  37.  $70,000
  38.  $66,500
  39.  $64,000
  40.  $62,000
  41.  $59,500
  42.  $56,500
  43.  $54,000
  44.  $51,000
  45.  $48,000
  46.  $45,500
  47.  $43,700
  48.  $42,000
  49.  $40,000
  50.  $39,100
  51.  $38,200
  52.  $37,600
  53.  $37,000
  54.  $36,500
  55.  $35,900
  56.  $35,400
  57.  $35,000
  58.  $34,750
  59.  $34,500
  60.  $34,250
  61.  $34,000
  62.  $33,900
  63.  $33,750
  64.  $33,600
  65.  $33,400
  66.  $33,100
  67.  $32,900
  68.  $32,600
  69.  $32,400
  70.  $32,200
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Panorama

British Open preparation: Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy on the course together

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy play together in preparation for the 2022 British Open. (Photo: Twitter/@RMTracker)
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy play together in preparation for the 2022 British Open. (Photo: Twitter/@RMTracker)

Earlier this week, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods competed in the famous JP McManus Pro-Am together with many other stars of the (golf) world. But while most professionals are now using the Scottish Open as a final rehearsal for the upcoming British Open 2022, the two superstars are preparing in their own way. McIlroy and Woods played a round of golf at Ballybunion Golf Club, one of Ireland’s top courses.

Tiger Tracking on Twitter

When Tiger Woods gets on a plane or plays a practice round, the golf world looks intently at social media. So it was before the other majors this year that the 15-time major winner played again a year after his nasty car accident. When Tiger landed at Augusta, crazy scenes played out on Twitter. Well, before the British Open, Tiger had flown across the pond early for the charity pro-am – not unnoticed by the attentive fan community either, of course.

Several pictures and videos of the relaxed round on the links course of Ballybunion GC with his friend Rory McIlroy are circulating on social media. In typically dreary weather, preparations are underway for the 150th Open Championship, which will be played on the Old Course at St Andrews next week. The Scottish Open followed by a Major would probably be too much for the convalescent who had cancelled the US Open. The superstar was also out in a cart at the JP McManus in order to rest the leg that had been so badly injured.

Together with Rory McIlroy, who is also taking a break from tournaments after energy-sapping weeks, Tiger seems to be enjoying the round of links golf. McIlroy shares memories of “back in the day”, as a video reveals. “I used to aim down the middle of the fairway, it would start down the right edge and then draw back to the middle of the fairway,” “Rors” told his playing partner, demonstrating his skills.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy ahead of the British Open 2022

Of course, we don’t want to deny you the pictures and videos of the two superstars. Simply two legends of golf playing a casual round of links golf – delightful!