The Senior Open Championship, or simply The Senior Open (and originally known as the Senior British Open) is a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and over. It is run by The R&A, the same body that organises

The Open Championship 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 t ...

. Prize money won in the event is official money on both

PGA Tour Champions PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many year ...

(formerly the Senior PGA Tour and Champions Tour) and the

European Senior Tour The Legends Tour is the current branding of the European Senior Tour, a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was branded as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based insu ...

. The purse, which is fixed in

United States dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...

s, was $2.5 million in 2021, with a winner's share of $392,800. For sponsorship reasons, it is currently known as The Senior Open Championship presented by

Rolex Rolex SA () is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of ...

History

The tournament was first held in 1987 and became part of the

European Seniors Tour The Legends Tour is the current branding of the European Senior Tour, a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was branded as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based insur ...

schedule in 1992. It is younger than the

PGA Seniors Championship The PGA Seniors Championship is a European Senior Tour golf tournament for men aged fifty and above. It was founded in 1957 and became part of the European Senior Tour on its founding in 1992. It was not held in 2016 or 2017 but returned in 2018 ...

, which started in 1957, as well as the

U.S. Senior Open The U.S. Senior Open is one of the five major championships in senior golf, introduced in 1980. It is administered by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and is recognized as a major championship by both the PGA Tour Champions and the Eu ...

and the Senior PGA Championship. In late 2002 it was designated as the fifth major championship on the Champions Tour schedule. Winners before 2003 were not retroactively designated as Champions Tour major winners until late 2018. Winners gain entry into the following season's Open Championship. The event is usually held the week following The Open Championship, although in 1991 it was held the week before the Open and in 1998 it was held in August, three weeks after the Open. The 2018 Senior Open was held at

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...

for the first time, a decision which was heavily influenced by five-time Open champion Tom Watson. In 2020, the championship was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Field

The standard field size is 144 players and an 18-hole qualifying round is held at the championship course on the Monday before the tournament, with a minimum of 24 places available. If fewer than 120 exempt players enter, the field is filled to 144 with more high finishers from qualifying. If more than 120 exempt players enter, the top 24 finishers earn entry even if it causes the field to expand beyond 144.

Winners

Multiple winners

Seven players have multiple victories in the Senior Open Championship: *4 wins:

Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first official number one ran ...

(2010, 2014, 2017, 2019) *3 wins:

Gary Player Gary James Player DMS, OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tou ...

(1988, 1990, 1997), Tom Watson (2003, 2005, 2007) *2 wins: Bob Charles (1989, 1993), Brian Barnes (1995, 1996),

Christy O'Connor Jnr Christy O'Connor Jnr (born Christopher O'Connor; 19 August 1948 – 6 January 2016) was an Irish professional golfer. He is best known for defeating American Fred Couples at the 1989 Ryder Cup, helping Europe secure the trophy. Early life O'Co ...

(1999, 2000),

Loren Roberts Loren Lloyd Roberts (born June 24, 1955) is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. Early life Roberts was born in San Luis Obispo, California. He competed for San Luis Obispo Senior High Scho ...

(2006, 2009)

Winners of both The Open and The Senior Open

Four players have won both

and The Senior Open Championship, (two of the professional majors run by the R&A).

Host courses

The Senior Open Championship has been played at the following courses, listed in order of number of times hosted (as of 2022): *7 Turnberry Golf Club *6

Royal Portrush Golf Club 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 (the championship course) and the Valley Links. The former is one of the courses on the rota of the Ope ...

Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England, is one of the courses in the Open Championship rotation. The Women's British Open has also been played on the course five times: once prior to being designated a major c ...

*3 Royal County Down Golf Club,

Sunningdale Golf Club Sunningdale Golf Club is a golf club in Sunningdale, Berkshire, England, located approximately west-southwest of London. Sunningdale Golf Club was founded in 1900 and has two eighteen hole golf courses: the Old Course, designed by Willie Pa ...

Royal Porthcawl Golf Club Royal Porthcawl Golf Club is a golf club in Wales in the United Kingdom, located north of Porthcawl and bordering the Bristol Channel. The club has hosted many prestigious tournaments including The Amateur Championship on six occasions, the Wal ...

Royal Troon Golf Club Royal Troon Golf Club is a links golf course in Scotland, located in Troon, South Ayrshire, southwest of Glasgow. Founding and early years The club, which now has a total of 45 holes, was founded in 1878, initially with five holes. It lies ad ...

Carnoustie Golf Links 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 ...

*1 Gleneagles,

Muirfield Muirfield is a privately owned golf links which is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Located in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the Firth of Forth, Muirfield is one of the golf courses used in rotation for The ...

Royal Birkdale Golf Club Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the United Kingdom in North West England, located in Southport, Merseyside. It is one of the clubs in the rotation for both the Open Championship and Women's British Open and has hosted the Open Champi ...

Walton Heath Golf Club Walton Heath Golf Club is a golf club in England, near Walton-on-the-Hill in Surrey, southwest of London. Founded in 1903, the club comprises two 18-hole golf courses, both of which are well known for having heather covering many of the areas o ...

Royal Aberdeen Golf Club Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Aberdeen, Scotland, was founded in 1780 and claims to be the sixth oldest golf club in the world. It was founded as the Society of Golfers at Aberdeen, and became the Aberdeen Golf Club in 1815 subsequently receiving r ...

Future venues

Notes

References

External links

Coverage on the European Senior Tour's official site
{{coord, 51.38, -0.63, type:event, display=title PGA Tour Champions events European Senior Tour events Golf tournaments in the United Kingdom R&A championships 1987 establishments in Scotland Recurring sporting events established in 1987