The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later the venue rotated between a select group of coastal links golf courses in the United Kingdom. It is organised by The R&A.
The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf.
Lee John Westwood is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, he is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He has also won tournaments in four decades, the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. He was named European Tour Golfer of the Year for the 1998, 2000, 2009 and 2020 seasons. He has won the 2000 European Tour Order of Merit, and the renamed 2009 and 2020 Race to Dubai. He has frequently been mentioned as one of the best golfers without a major championship victory, with several near misses including three runner-up finishes.
Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo, is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. A top player of his era, renowned for his dedication to the game, he was ranked No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking for a total of 97 weeks. His 41 professional wins include 30 victories on the European Tour and six major championships: three Open Championships and three Masters.
Royal Troon Golf Club is a links golf course in Scotland, located in Troon, South Ayrshire, southwest of Glasgow.
Pádraig Peter Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008. He spent over 300 weeks in the top-10 of the world rankings, and reached a career-high ranking of third in July 2008. Harrington was a member of six consecutive Ryder Cup teams between 1999 and 2010. In 2024, he will be an inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Justin Peter Rose, is an English professional golfer. Rose first achieved significant media attention when he finished fourth place at the 1998 Open Championship as an amateur. He turned pro the next day but struggled during his first couple years as a professional, making few cuts. In the early 2000s, however, he had success, winning his first European Tour event in 2002 and ultimately leading the tour's Order of Merit in 2007. In the ensuing years, Rose focused primarily on the United States, winning a number of notable tournaments, culminating with a victory at the 2013 U.S. Open. Rose has continued with success since then, earning a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, finishing runner-up at the 2017 Masters, and reaching number one in the world for the first time in 2018.
The Senior Open Championship, or simply The Senior Open, is a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and over. It is jointly owned and run by The R&A, the same body that organises The Open Championship, and the PGA European Tour. Prize money won in the event is official money on both PGA Tour Champions and the European Senior Tour. The purse, which is fixed in United States dollars, has increased to $2.75 million for 2023.
The Women's Open is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour as a major. The reigning champion is Ashleigh Buhai, who won in a playoff at Muirfield in 2022.
The Real Club Valderrama is one of the best known golf clubs in the world. It is located in the resort of Sotogrande, San Roque in the Andalusia region of southern Spain, a few miles from Gibraltar, and has a single 18-hole course, along with a 9-hole par 3 course.
Royal Portrush Golf Club is a private golf club in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The 36-hole club has two links courses, the Dunluce Links and the Valley Links. The former is one of the courses on the rota of the Open Championship and last hosted the tournament in 2019.
Miguel Ángel Jiménez Rodríguez is a Spanish professional golfer. He has won 21 times on the European Tour, holds the record for most starts on the European Tour, and has been a member of two victorious Ryder Cup teams.
Ian James Poulter is an English professional golfer who plays in the LIV Golf League. He has previously been ranked as high as number 5 in the world rankings. The highlights of Poulter's career to date have been his two World Golf Championship wins at the 2010 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and the 2012 WGC-HSBC Champions. He is the touring professional for Woburn Golf and Country Club.
The Wales Open was a professional golf tournament on the European Tour played at the Celtic Manor Resort. It was played annually from 2000 to 2014, as part of a 15-year deal between the tour and the Celtic Manor Resort, that included staging the 2010 Ryder Cup. The event was not held from 2015 to 2019 but returned in 2020, following a revamp of the European Tour because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Carnoustie Golf Links is in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland. Carnoustie has four courses – the historic Championship Course, the Burnside Course, the Buddon Links Course and a free-to-play short, five-hole course called The Nestie. Carnoustie Golf Links is one of the venues in the Open Championship rotation and has hosted golf's oldest major on eight occasions, as well as the Senior Open Championship in 2010 and 2016 and the Women's British Open in 2011 and 2021.
Ross Daniel Fisher is an English professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, where he has won five times, including the 2009 Volvo World Match Play Championship at Finca Cortesin Golf Club in Spain.
TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm is a private golf club in the eastern United States, located in Potomac, Maryland, a suburb northwest of Washington, D.C. It was formerly a regular stop on the PGA Tour as host of the Booz Allen Classic. After a major renovation to both clubhouse and course, the clubhouse reopened in late 2008 while the course reopened on April 28, 2009.
The Bethpage Black Course is a public golf course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island, New York. The course was designed by Joseph H. Burbeck and was assisted by noted golf architect A. W. Tillinghast. It is the most difficult of Bethpage's five courses, and is known for the warning sign at the first tee, placed in the early 1980s, which reads "WARNING The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers". The course has hosted a number of major championships in recent years, including the 2002 U.S. Open, 2009 U.S. Open, and 2019 PGA Championship.
Golf is a popular sport in Wales. Although the sport of golf in Great Britain is most associated with Scotland, where it was established and developed, Wales can record its first courses back to the 1880s, and today has over 200 clubs. The first amateur golf competition was held in 1895, and the first professional championship was in 1904. Wales has produced several players of note, including one player, Ian Woosnam, who has won one of the Men's major golf championships and Wales has twice won the men's World Cup, in 1987 and 2005, respectively. Wales also hosted the Ryder Cup, when it was held at Newport's Celtic Manor Resort in 2010.
The 2011 Senior Open Championship was a senior major golf championship and the 25th Senior Open Championship, held on 21–24 July at Walton Heath Golf Club in Walton on the Hill, Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It was the 9th Senior Open Championship played as a senior major championship.
