Tag: British Open

Categories
Highlights Tours

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.

The Open Tournament Page | News, Leaderboard & Tee Times

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.

Categories
Highlights Tours

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.

The Open Tournament Page | News, Leaderboard & Tee Times

Categories
Top Tours

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.

The Open Tournament Page | News, Leaderboard & Tee Times

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.

Categories
Top Tours

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.

Back to The Open Golf – Everything you need to know

Categories
Highlights Tours

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
Categories
Highlights Tours

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
Categories
Highlights Tours

Celebrity champions: R&A plans special event ahead of 150th British Open

The R&A is planning several special events for the 150th Open week. (Photo: Getty)
The R&A is planning several special events for the 150th Open week. (Photo: Getty)

The time has come again in mid-July. With the British Open in St. Andrews, golf fans are in for an exciting and thrilling week. On the occasion of this year’s 150th anniversary of the Open, the R&A is organising several special events before the top-class field of participants s tarts the official tournament.


Open week kicks off with Champions event

One of the special events kicks off on Monday of tournament week, 11 July 2022, with the Celebration of Champions seeing former Open, Women’s Major, male and female amateur and handicap winning golfers compete in a 4-hole tournament on the St Andrews Links Course. The 1st, 2nd, 17th and 18th holes will be played by a field of 48 golfers and this will also be broadcast live on TheOpen.com.

“We are bringing together the biggest names in golf with current and future stars of the sport for a unique event on the Old Course,” said Martin Slumbers, the R&A’s chief executive. In addition, Slumbers added that the R&A Celebration of Champions will be a real highlight of this special and eventful week. Among the 48 golfers, current Open champion Collin Morikawa will also be competing at the event, with the American feeling very honoured.


British Open to take centre stage in upcoming golf documentary

The 150th British Open will be the focus of the Netflix-produced golf documentary and golf fans will get to see insights about the proceedings of the anniversary week. Particularly from the pros’ point of view, there will be some footage worth watching that has not been revealed in this way before. There will be special coverage of Collin Morikawa’s mission to defend his title, but also of Major winners Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and numerous other pros. In addition, the world’s number one amateur Keita Nakajima makes his Open debut and offers the viewers interesting insights in the process.

Categories
Highlights Tours

Louis Oosthuizen: “You can’t be thinking about bad rounds when you start the next one. You’ve got to shake that off quickly”

Louis Oosthuizen during his first round of the British Open 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)

MIKE WOODCOCK: We’d like to welcome clubhouse leader and former Open Champion, Louis Oosthuizen into the interview room. Louis, great round of 64 today, 6-under par. You got into a great rhythm there in seemed, obviously played very well. What are your thoughts on today’s round?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, probably in my mind the perfect round I could have played. I didn’t make many mistakes. When I had good opportunities for birdie, I made the putts. So yeah, just a very good solid round.

Q. Since you won The Open in 2010 you’ve had a remarkable record of nearly winning other majors. Except when a person like me mentioned it, does that play on your mind at all?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: It gives me confidence going into majors knowing that I’m still competing in them and I’ve still got chances of winning. But yeah, once the week starts, I need to get that out of my mind and just focus on every round and every shot.

But it definitely puts me in a better frame of mind going into the week.

Q. Given that, how long does it take you to get past a near miss like you had at the PGA a couple months ago?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, it depends if you lost it or someone else beat you. I think in both of those I was beaten by better golf at the end there. It takes a little while, but it’s sort of — you have to get over it quickly, otherwise it’s going to hold you back to perform again.

But yeah, I tried to take a few days and just try and forget about it and see if I can get myself ready for the next one.

Q. You’ve got an uncanny ability to bounce back, whether it’s bouncing back from a bogey with a birdie afterwards or whether it’s bouncing back from a tough loss at a tournament with another excellent showing and another run at the title. What do you feel is the secret to your resiliency and your ability to not let those prior things frustrate you?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I don’t know. No, I don’t know. I feel if you do the work that you feel you should have done to get ready for a tournament and you left everything sort of out on the course, then there’s not much more that you can do.

I always try and — I do get upset on shots if I hit bad shots and things like that, but I try and always be at the best mindset for the next golf shot and the next tournament or the next round.

I try and not think too much of mistakes that you make on the golf course. I try and focus on every time hitting the best shot that I can hit, and I feel that’s the only way you can sort of go forward in this game.

Louis Oosthuizen is questioned on the strategy of the course and how his experienced caddie can be beneficial.

Q. Just wondering, can you talk a little bit about the strategy of playing this golf course? Obviously there’s quite a lot of strategy involved in playing it well, and the role your caddie is playing in formulating that strategy, being the experienced man there in Colin Byrne.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, I think number one, on this golf course it’s hit the fairway. You’re not going to be able to do much from the rough here or the fairway bunkers. Coming into this week driving the ball good is key. If you aren’t comfortable with a driver around this golf course, then don’t be scared laying further back, as long as you can get in the fairway.

Colin has been great on the bag. He’s got so much experience and helps me to be focused on what I want to do and take the shot on, the shot that I see.

I think out here in windy conditions like this, you need to be — you need to go on what you feel the whole time. It is difficult for the caddie to see what you think you want to do, so it’s great that he gives me a lot of confidence in trying to play the shot I want to play.

Q. I know it’s a tough start there, but you had seven straight pars to begin your round. How were you feeling at that point standing on the eighth tee and did you feel like there was any chance you were going to shoot 64?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, seven pars, I think I probably would have taken seven pars again. I’ve learnt over the years playing major championships that patience is the key thing, and even if you make bogeys, know that a lot of people are going to make bogeys.

I was just very patient. I was trying to just hit my shots and didn’t really hit anything close enough to make birdies those first few holes, and then all of a sudden just made two good putts on 8 and 9 and got the ball rolling. It happened quickly, but you still need to put yourself in those positions, and I felt definitely the last 10, 11 holes I gave myself a lot of opportunities.

Q. You said earlier in the season how you’ve been working on your putting game, that that’s something you wanted to sharpen up and obviously it’s been paying huge dividends. We’ve seen you make some insanely great putts over the past few months. I was wondering what specifically you worked on or what you did to get that game up to the level that it’s at right now.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, most of the work I’ve done was on routine, going back to a few things that I’ve done early in my career. I think the main thing is sticking to the putter — I’ve been with that putter for a long time now, and just try and — every time I go out and do a bit of work on the putting green to just do the same work and the same drills and the same things and get into a really good routine on practice and when I get on the golf course.

You know, it’s paid off for me.

Q. You had two guys that are well known playing links golf in your pairing and they didn’t really have a very good day. Does that distract in any way, shape or form from how you’re trying to get around your 18 holes?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: No, it didn’t. Playing with them, I didn’t really feel like they played poorly. They just — again, around this golf course, if you’re just out of position off the tee, you’re going to find it difficult to give yourself opportunities for birdies.

I just think it’s so marginal to be good off the tee and have opportunities to try and get close to the holes for your second shots. But no, it doesn’t distract me at all.

Looking at their score afterwards, I didn’t feel like they played — I thought they both were maybe level or 1-under par, and I saw they were just over par, but I didn’t really feel like they played poorly.

Q. You mentioned that you’ve stuck with the same putter now for a while. Were you previously changing every week, and if so, what happens to the naughty putters? Where do they go?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, I’ve got a bag there at home that I might just throw in a river someday.

Yeah, I went through a stage where I changed a lot of putters. Every week we were trying something. I realised quickly that there’s no way to find any consistency in putting if you do that.

Yeah, I found one that I really like the look of, and I sort of worked on it. There were tournaments where I felt my stroke wasn’t great, and I felt like I was working on a few things, and I would actually change that putter then for just on the round. I didn’t want to have any bad memories of that putter being not good on the day.

You know, going through all of that and sticking with it has really helped me a lot.

Q. Going back to when you say you take a few days off after something has gone wrong and you forget about it, what is your secret to forgetting a bad round?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I don’t know. Just forget about it. You can’t be thinking about bad rounds when you start the next one. You’ve got to shake that off quickly.

I think anyone playing professional sport can tell you that you’ve got to have a really short memory. You’ve got to just go on and work hard again and see if you can do better the next time you go out.

Q. Do you go fishing?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: No, just spend time on the farm with the family, with the kids, and just get my head away from golf completely.

Q. Do you get on your tractor?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Always. I’m always on the tractor, don’t worry. I don’t need to play good or bad to be on the tractor.

Q. Do you try to remember good rounds tomorrow, or do you try to put that aside, as well?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: No, good rounds you always try and remember. I mean, I think when you’re going through a spell where you want to try and figure a few things out, I would always go back and look at videos of when I played really well, look at good rounds I’ve played or when I know I’ve done good things on the golf course. That really helps you to see yourself play well again and to look at a few certain things, whether it’s a movement in your swing on something you were doing on the greens.

But I love going back and watching good rounds and just get some confidence from that.

Q. What model putter is it that you’re so in love with right now?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Man, I hope I don’t get this wrong. I think it’s the Voss — it’s the Ping. Obviously Ping, and it’s the Voss. Yeah.

Q. If you were to win a second major title, do you think that would accelerate your decision to retire and head back to the farm, or do you think it would push you to try to get a third and fourth and maybe keep playing for much longer?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: No. While I’m playing, while I’m competing in the game of golf, I will be playing.

MIKE WOODCOCK: Louis, very well played today and best of luck the rest of the week.

Interview transcript by asapsports.com

u

Categories
Highlights Tours

Rory Mcllory: “Yeah, it was a tricky afternoon”

Rory McIlroy during his first round of the British Open 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)

Q. Rory, thanks for joining us. Birdie at the last there. You must be happy with that finish.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, really happy with that finish. Yeah, it was a tricky afternoon. The conditions got pretty rough there in the middle of the round. The wind got up and I made a few bogeys in a row, so sort of said to myself at the turn if I could get back to even par for the day I would be happy.

To birdie the last hole and get back to even par, yeah, it’s nice to finish like that. Looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow.

Q. Well played. Nice birdie at the last. What was the biggest challenge out there today? The pace of the greens seemed to be something that troubled quite a few players. I know you left quite a few putts out there short today. Maybe that was something that troubled you.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, the greens have been slow. The whole transition of coming back to Europe and putting on these greens, I felt they were slow in Ireland, slow last week in Scotland, and they’re slow this week again.

It was Patrick left a lot short, so did Cam, I so did. I put extra weight in my putter this week to try to help that, to try to counteract the slow greens. My pace was a bit better than in practice. I was leaving some woefully short the last couple days.

The extra weight in the putter helped a little bit. Yeah, it’s just so hard. The wind was so strong and you get a putt that’s back into the wind, you really have to give it a belt to get it to the hole.

Q. And just the final birdie, how much does that mean to you? Obviously big difference being level par mentally to 1-over.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, more mentally than anything else. Obviously one shot closer to the lead. Yeah, just to battle back — I was 2-over through 7 after getting off to a good start. To battle back and shoot even par, play the last, whatever it is, 11 holes in 2-under, I was pretty pleased with that in those conditions.

Interview transcript by asapsports.com

Categories
Highlights Tours

Bryson DeChambeau: “The driver sucks”

Bryson DeChambeau during his first round of the British Open 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)

Q. +1 for the opening round, but you only hit four fairways from 14. Despite that obviously not looking great, you must take a lot of heart that you’re still +1 and still in with a shout despite kind of wayward drives. If you straightened those up, you certainly must think you must be contending by the end of the week.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: Yeah, and that’s what I said yesterday or a couple days ago. If I can hit it down the middle of the fairway, that’s great, but with the driver right now, the driver sucks.

It’s not a good face for me and we’re still trying to figure out how to make it good on the mis-hits. I’m living on the razor’s edge like I’ve told people for a long time. When I did get it outside of the fairway, like in the first cut and whatnot, I catch jumpers out of there and I couldn’t control my wedges.

It’s quite finicky for me because it’s a golf course that’s pretty short, and so when I hit driver and it doesn’t go in the fairway, it’s first cut or whatever, or it’s in the hay, it’s tough for me to get it out on to the green and control that.

but when it’s in the middle of the fairway like I had it on 18, I was able to hit a nice shot to 11 feet and almost made birdie. It’s kind of living on the razor’s edge, and if I can figure out how to make that driver how to go straight and figure out the jumpers out of the rough, it would be awesome. I just can’t figure it out. It’s forever.

Q. When you’re dealing with that kind of thing with the driver, are you going to be having somebody working on that now? Did you not realise that during the practice round? What’s the dynamic of that, and how difficult is that to change in mid-stream during a tournament?

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU: I’ve realised this for years now. This has happened since 2016-17 when players stopped drawing it. There’s not very many golfers that draw it anymore. It’s not because of spin rate. Everybody thinks it’s — we’re at 2000, 1800 spin or whatever. It’s not.

It’s literally the physics and the way that they build heads now. It’s not the right design, unfortunately, and we’ve been trying to fix it and Cobra has been working their butt off to fix it, we just haven’t had any results yet.

Interview transcript by asapsports.com