The Royal St George's Golf Club located in Sandwich, Kent, England, is a golf club in the United Kingdom and one of the courses on The Open Championship rotation and is the only Open rota golf course to be located in South East England. It has hosted 15 Open championships, the first in 1894 when it became the first club outside Scotland to host the championship. Past champions include Collin Morikawa, Darren Clarke, Ben Curtis, Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle, Bill Rogers, Bobby Locke, Reg Whitcombe, Henry Cotton, Walter Hagen, Harry Vardon, Jack White and John Henry Taylor. It has also hosted The Amateur Championship on 14 occasions.
José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer from the Basque Country, Spain, who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships, both at The Masters.
The 2003 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 132nd Open Championship, held from 17 to 20 July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Ben Curtis won his only major title, one stroke ahead of runners-up Thomas Bjørn and Vijay Singh. Bjørn had led in the final round by two shots with three holes to play, but needed three attempts to play out of a greenside bunker on the 16th hole. Playing in his first major championship and number 396 in the world rankings, Curtis became the first debut winner at The Open since Tom Watson in 1975.
The 1986 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 115th Open Championship, held from 17 to 20 July at Turnberry Golf Resort, Scotland. Aided by a 63 in the second round, Greg Norman won his first major championship at even-par, five strokes ahead of runner-up Gordon J. Brand.
The 1984 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 113th Open Championship, held from 19 to 22 July at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland. Seve Ballesteros won his second Open Championship and fourth major title, two strokes ahead of runners-up Bernhard Langer and five-time champion Tom Watson, the defending champion.
The 1983 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 112th Open Championship, held from 14 to 17 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. It was the sixth time the course had hosted, with the first in 1954.
The 1982 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 111th Open Championship, held from 15 to 18 July at Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland. Tom Watson won his fourth Open Championship, one stroke ahead of runners-up Peter Oosterhuis and Nick Price. It was Watson's second consecutive major victory—he won the U.S. Open a month earlier—and the seventh of his eight major titles.
The 1981 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 110th Open Championship, held from 16 to 19 July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Bill Rogers won his only major championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Bernhard Langer. The Open returned to Royal St. George's for the first time since 1949, making it a new venue for all; no former champions finished in the top ten.
The 1979 Open Championship was the 108th Open Championship, held 18–21 July at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. Seve Ballesteros, 22, won the first of his five major titles, three strokes ahead of runners-up Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw. It was the first of his three Open Championship victories; he raised the Claret Jug again in 1984 and 1988.
The 1977 Open Championship was the 106th Open Championship, held 6–9 July on the Ailsa Course at Turnberry, Scotland. Tom Watson won the second of his five Open titles by one stroke over runner-up Jack Nicklaus. The two played together in the final two rounds and had separated themselves from the field under clear skies, leading this Open to be remembered as the "Duel in the Sun." This was the first Open held at Turnberry, which renamed its 18th hole after the duel. Three months earlier, Watson had held off Nicklaus to win his first green jacket at the Masters.
The 1976 Open Championship was the 105th Open Championship, played 7–10 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Johnny Miller won his only Open championship, six strokes ahead of runners-up Seve Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus. It was Miller's second and last major championship title; his first was the U.S. Open in 1973.
The 1974 Open Championship was the 103rd Open Championship, held from 10 to 13 July at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. Gary Player won his third Open Championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Peter Oosterhuis. It was the eighth of his nine major titles and second of the year; he won the Masters in April. In the other two majors in 1974, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship, Player had top ten finishes.
The 1899 Open Championship was the 39th Open Championship, held 7–8 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Defending champion Harry Vardon won the Championship for the 3rd time, by five strokes from runner-up Jack White.
The 1904 Open Championship was the 44th Open Championship, held 8–10 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Jack White won his only major title, one stroke ahead of runners-up James Braid and J.H. Taylor, both former champions.
The 1911 Open Championship was the 51st Open Championship, held 26–30 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Harry Vardon won the Championship for the fifth time in a playoff over Arnaud Massy, the 1907 champion.
The 1922 Open Championship was the 57th Open Championship, played 22–23 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Walter Hagen became the first American-born winner of the Open Championship, one stroke ahead of runners-up Jim Barnes and George Duncan. It was the first of Hagen's four Open Championships and the fourth of his eleven major titles.
The 1928 Open Championship was the 63rd Open Championship, held 9–11 May at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Walter Hagen won the third of his four Open Championship titles, two strokes ahead of runner-up Gene Sarazen. It was his second triumph at Royal St George's, the site of his first Open win in 1922. It was the tenth of his eleven major titles; his second Open victory came in 1924 at Royal Liverpool.
The 1934 Open Championship was the 69th Open Championship, held 27–29 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Henry Cotton dominated the championship, leading wire-to-wire on his way to a five-stroke win and his first of three Open titles.
The 1938 Open Championship was the 73rd Open Championship, held 6–8 July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. In terrible weather conditions that caused scores to soar, Reg Whitcombe prevailed by two strokes over runner-up Jimmy Adams to win his only major title. The purse was £500 with a winner's share of £100.
The 1949 Open Championship was the 78th Open Championship, held 6–9 July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England. Bobby Locke of South Africa won the first of his four Open titles in a 36-hole playoff, twelve strokes ahead of runner-up Harry Bradshaw of Ireland. It was the first playoff at the Open since 1933.
Sandy Lyle 
