Greatest Open Championship Moments of All Time

The Open Championship is the oldest major in golf, dating to 1860, and its 160-plus years of history have produced moments of drama, beauty, heartbreak, and triumph that no other tournament can match for sheer accumulation. Played on the great links courses of Britain and Ireland — St Andrews, Carnoustie, Muirfield, Royal Birkdale, Royal Troon, Turnberry — The Open has a visual distinctiveness and a competitive character shaped by wind and rain and ancient turf that makes its moments feel genuinely different from anything produced at Augusta National or Pebble Beach. These are the greatest moments in the tournament's history.

The Duel in the Sun — Turnberry, 1977

Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry in 1977 is the definitive answer to the question of what golf at its absolute peak looks like. Over the final two rounds, Watson and Nicklaus played golf that transcended the competitive context entirely — Watson shooting 65-65, Nicklaus matching him shot for shot and finishing 65-66, both players finishing ten shots ahead of the rest of the field. Watson won by a single stroke. The two men finished in a different dimension from everyone else in the field, as though they were playing a private match that the rest of the world happened to witness.

The Duel in the Sun is the moment that defines what a head-to-head golf duel looks like when both players are playing simultaneously at the absolute peak of their ability. It has never been replicated and will likely never be.

Tom Watson's Chip-In — Pebble Beach, 1982 (U.S. Open, but let's count it)

Watson's chip-in from the rough on the 17th hole at the 1982 U.S. Open — turning to caddie Bruce Edwards immediately after the ball dropped and saying "I told you so!" — is one of the defining images of American golf. While technically a U.S. Open moment, Watson's relationship with links golf, his five Open Championship victories, and the specific role that chip-in played in the Watson narrative makes it inseparable from his Open Championship legacy.

Seve Ballesteros at Royal Birkdale — 1976

The 19-year-old Severiano Ballesteros from Pedrena, Spain, tied for second at the 1976 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, introducing the world to a talent of breathtaking audacity. His ball-striking was unreliable enough that he spent much of the tournament playing recovery shots from rough, car parks, and assorted non-fairway locations. His short game was sufficiently brilliant that none of it mattered. The image of Seve at 19 — dark-haired, magnetic, playing golf with the fearlessness of someone who had not yet been told what was impossible — is one of the game's great introduction moments.

Seve Wins at St Andrews — 1984

Severiano Ballesteros winning the 1984 Open at St Andrews with that famous fist pump on the 18th green — the raised arm, the look of pure athletic joy, the sense of a man in complete command of a moment — is one of golf's most reproduced images. It captures both Seve's competitive intensity and the specific pleasure of winning at the home of golf in a way that a victory at any other venue cannot quite replicate.

Jean Van de Velde at Carnoustie — 1999

Jean Van de Velde arriving at the 72nd hole at Carnoustie in 1999 with a three-shot lead and making triple bogey — wading into Barry Burn in his trousers, debating whether to play the ball from the water, eventually taking a drop and making a seven — is golf's greatest collapse and its most watched single hole in the history of television coverage. Paul Lawrie won the playoff. Van de Velde is remembered more vividly than Lawrie, which is the specific injustice of the collapse: it creates a narrative for the loser that subsumes the winner entirely.

Tiger at St Andrews — 2000

Tiger Woods at the 2000 Open at St Andrews won by eight shots without finding a single bunker over four rounds. The course has 112 bunkers. The performance represented golf intelligence of a kind that the field could not compete with — not superior ball-striking, exactly, but superior spatial awareness about what the consequences of specific positions were, and the ability to avoid those positions over 72 holes. He finished at 19 under par, a record at the time, completing a career Grand Slam at age 24.

Phil Mickelson at Muirfield — 2013

Phil Mickelson had never won the Open Championship despite numerous near-misses. At Muirfield in 2013, he played four rounds of near-perfect links golf — managing his ball flight, using the ground game, reading the wind — and won with a final round 66 that remains one of the finest closing rounds in Open Championship history. It was the one major component of the career Grand Slam that Mickelson had not won, and winning it at Muirfield, one of the game's most demanding venues, gave the victory additional weight.

Shane Lowry at Royal Portrush — 2019

The Open Championship returned to Royal Portrush in 2019 for the first time since 1951, and Shane Lowry won it in front of tens of thousands of Irish fans whose emotional investment in a home country player winning on home soil was visible in every gallery shot from that Sunday. Lowry played the final round in deteriorating weather conditions that destroyed most of the field's scores, made birdies when they were needed, and walked up the 18th in something close to a national celebration. His final round 72 in conditions that produced scores well above that from most of the field demonstrated extraordinary competitive composure under extraordinary circumstances.

FAQs About the Open Championship

What is the oldest golf tournament? The Open Championship, first played in 1860 at Prestwick, is the oldest golf major and one of the oldest sporting events in the world.

What was the Duel in the Sun? The 1977 Open Championship at Turnberry, where Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus played the final two rounds at a level far above the rest of the field, with Watson winning by one shot. It is widely considered the greatest head-to-head duel in major championship history.

Who has won the most Open Championships? Harry Vardon holds the record with six Open Championship victories. In the modern era, Tom Watson won five and Tiger Woods won three.