The 2023 Open Championship, or British Open, or simply The Open – call it what you will – gets underway on the 20th of July. It will be held at Hoylake in Merseyside and the winner will be crowned on the 23rd of July, etching their name into the golfing history books.
Winning one Open is the stuff childhood dreams are made of, especially for UK golfers, but several legends of the sport have claimed the prestigious Claret Jug multiple times. Here we take a look at some of the multiple victors. We will, however, skew our focus to the modern era because so many of the golfers near the top of the list of players with the most wins are not well-known to fans alive today.
Golfers with the Most Open Championship Wins
The first Open was held way back in 1860 and for a long time it was only played in Scotland, with a relatively small field that mainly consisted of golfers from north of the border. Indeed, the first non-Scottish winner was not until 1890, whilst the Championship did not leave Scotland until 1897 when, coincidentally, Hoylake was the first English Open host.
Far fewer people played golf back then, the British population in 1890 being around half of what it is today. Moreover, the field for the Open was typically around 30 players and sometimes considerably smaller. Even by 1920 it was only 82, compared to 156 in modern times. As such, it was far more common for the same player to win and, in fact, just three players shared the first 12 editions of this historic tournament. Nonetheless, the table below is a full and complete list of all golfers to have won the Open at least three times.
| Wins | Player | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Harry Vardon | 1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914 |
| 5 | James Braid | 1901, 1905, 1906, 1908, 1910 |
| 5 | John Henry Taylor | 1894, 1895, 1900, 1909, 1913 |
| 5 | Peter Thomson | 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965 |
| 5 | Tom Watson | 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983 |
| 4 | Tom Morris Senior | 1861, 1862, 1864, 1867 |
| 4 | Tom Moris Junior | 1868, 1869, 1870, 1872 |
| 4 | Willie Park Senior | 1860, 1863, 1866, 1875 |
| 4 | Walter Hagen | 1922, 1924, 1928, 1929 |
| 4 | Bobbie Locke | 1949, 1950, 1952, 1957 |
| 3 | Jamie Anderson | 1877, 1878, 1879 |
| 3 | Bob Ferguson | 1880, 1881, 1882 |
| 3 | Bobby Jones | 1926, 1927, 1930 |
| 3 | Henry Cotton | 1934, 1937, 1948 |
| 3 | Gary Player | 1959, 1968, 1974 |
| 3 | Jack Nicklaus | 1966, 1970, 1978 |
| 3 | Seve Ballesteros | 1979, 1984, 1988 |
| 3 | Nick Faldo | 1987, 1990, 1992 |
| 3 | Tiger Woods | 2000, 2005, 2006 |
Harry Vardon – 6 Championships
Vardon will be known to many fans for his incredible feat of winning six Opens and also for the grip that is named after him! His wins spanned 18 years and the Jersey ace also won the US Open in 1900. Indeed, he only entered that event three times, finishing second twice as well!
Had the First World War not prevented the Open from taking place between 1915 and 1919 inclusive he would almost certainly have had more Championships to his name, given he finished no worse than third between 1911 and 1914, winning in both of those years. In total, he finished inside the top three (including ties) on 12 occasions, although it should be noted that the fields were generally smaller in those days. That said, a whopping 226 players reportedly teed up in 1911!
Tom Watson – 5 Championships
American great Tom Watson is perhaps the most successful golfer in the modern era of the Championship. Born in 1949, he came so close to adding a sixth Open title to his tally in 2009 when he bogeyed the 72nd hole to drop into a play-off (which he subsequently lost, to Stewart Cink). He was 59 at the time and it was a stunning and perhaps unparalleled feat that demonstrates what an incredible links golfer he was. He won three other majors but fell short of claiming a career Grand Slam, although he will always be indelibly linked with the Open.
Bobby Locke – 4 Championships
South African Locke was another who loved the links game and he had 12 top-10 finishes at The Open in his first 14 appearances. He was a superb putter who some credit for coining the phrase “You drive for show, but putt for dough”. As well as his exceptional ability to read the green, he apparently was able to put a lot of spin on the ball, often overspin but also sometimes cutting them or drawing them! Another major strength of his was his concentration and focus, though this did not always make him popular with others – something he has in common with other members of the Open Championship’s greatest!
Nick Faldo – 3 Championships
During the late 1980s and early 1990s Faldo was the greatest player in the world and as well as his three Opens he also won the US Masters three times. Success on the course did not bring him popularity and his will to win and bloody-minded focus did not endear him to fans, other players, or the media. Nonetheless, he was much loved by some fans and his Open triumphs were memorable occasions. Faldo had 26 top-10 finishes in Majors with exactly half of those coming at The Open. His ability to shape the ball, stay patient and control his approaches into the greens was central to his Open success and was illustrated perfectly by his 18 straight pars on Sunday to win his first Open in 1987.
Tiger Woods – 3 Championships
But for injury and off-course issues, it seems almost certain that Woods would have gone past Jack Nicklaus’s total of Major championship wins. As it is, the man from California will have to settle for matching the Golden Bear’s Open tally. Woods, who spent almost 700 weeks as world number one, was almost unstoppable at the turn of the century. Between 1999 and 2002 inclusive he claimed an incredible seven majors, including his first Open, which he won by six shots in 2000. Over his three wins in 2000, 2005 and 2006 he was a cumulative 51 under par!