Who Are The Previous Open Winners At Royal Troon?

This year Royal Troon will host the Open Championship for the 10th time, coming 101 years since it first staged the event back in 1923.

There have been some low scores over the Ayrshire course during those nine times the Claret Jug has been won here, and some legendary figures have claimed the spoils.

Bobby Locke and Arnold Palmer won their second Opens here, Tom Watson won his fourth and Todd Hamilton claimed one of the biggest surprise victories the tournament has ever seen.

All that plus Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson putting on a stunning show on one of the most exhilarating Open Sundays in history - let's look at all the Open winners at Royal Troon.

Arthur Havers - 1923

The first Open held at Troon came in 1923 after a James Braid re-design of the course, and the title went to Arthur Havers in dramatic fashion.

The Englishman holed a bunker shot on the 72nd hole to earn a one-shot victory over Walter Hagen and claim his one and only Major.

Back in the days when The Open was staged over two gruelling 36-hole days it was some effort, with Havers finishing the first round T2 then climbing into a lead he'd never relinquish.

Bobby Locke - 1950

South African great Bobby Locke won the second of his four Open titles and successfully defended the crown he won at Royal St George's the year before.

Locke was the only player in the field to finish under par with his one under giving him a two-shot victory over Argentina's Roberto Di Vicenzo.

His score of 279 was the best in the four-round era of the Open to that date - beating the previous mark of 283.

Arnold Palmer - 1962

The great Arnold Palmer also successfully defended his Open title at Royal Troon, which was also his second Claret Jug and sixth of his seven Major triumphs.

Palmer was in great form in 1962 as he'd also claimed his third Masters title back in April to make this his second year of winning two Majors.

And he was dominant at Troon as his record 12 under par score of 276 gave him a six-shot victory over runner-up Kel Nagle in an event that also marked Jack Nicklaus' first ever Open appearance.

Tom Weiskopf - 1973

Just the one Major title for Tom Weiskopf but it came in style with a three-shot victory over newly-crowned US Open champion Johnny Miller and Neil Coles.

Weiskopf went wire-to-wire to win on 12 under par, which equalled Arnold Palmer's Open scoring record set at the same course.

Gene Sarazen made a hole-in-one at the Postage Stamp in another memorable moment for this tournament - but the Open, and the Claret Jug, belonged to Weiskopf.

Tom Watson - 1982

The links genius that is Tom Watson won his fourth Open title as he managed to fend off Nick Price and Peter Oosterhuis to win by a shot on four under.

It gave Watson back-to-back Majors after his US Open victory just a month earlier, and was the seventh of his eight Major titles.

A top 10 also containing Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Fuzzy Zoeller and Jack Nicklaus all battled hard in tough scoring conditions, but it was Watson who outlasted them all.

Mark Calcavecchia - 1989

A dramatic way to win his one and only Major title for Mark Calcavecchia, as he emerged with the Claret Jug after a playoff with Greg Norman and Wayne Grady.

Norman shot a course-record 64 to get into the first ever Open playoff to use the four-hole aggregate format, but then collapsed on the final hole.

The Australian found two bunkers then hit one out of bounds as he failed to even complete the hole as Calcavecchia was the last man left standing. 

Justin Leonard - 1997

Another only Major victory here for Justin Leonard but the American did it in great style as he overturned a five-shot deficit with a sparkling Sunday 65.

Jesper Parnevik held the 54-hole lead but the Swede could only manage a 73 on Sunday while Darren Clarke carded a 71 to both finish three shots off the surging Leonard.

Despite his flying six-birdie salvo on the front nine, Leonard never topped the leaderboard playing in the penultimate group until he birdied 17 - leading Parnevik to then crumble and bogey his final two holes behind him.

Todd Hamilton - 2004

It was no surprise that an American won The Open at Troon for the sixth successive time, but the identity of that American was a huge shock as outsider Todd Hamilton beat Ernie Els in a playoff.

Again there was drama as Hamilton looked to have blown it on the 18th as he made a bogey while Els left himself a 12-footer for the title, but he left it short and it went to a playoff.

And again against all the odds Hamilton held his nerve to shoot level par over four holes to claim one of the most unlikely Open victories we've seen.

Henrik Stenson - 2016

Final round Open duels can be thrilling, nervy epics, but none have ever had the sheer quality that Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson dished up on Sunday as they traded heavyweight blows up and down the Ayrshire coast.

Quite ridiculously Mickelson went bogey-free in a round of 65 that would more than do the job under normal circumstances, but Stenson was in the zone and birdied four of the last five holes to go from joint leader to three-shot winner.

The Swede equalled the course record with a final-round 63, ironically matching Mickelson's effort from the first round, while his 20 under par total was the lowest in Open history.

But to shoot that 63 in this event in the final round while under the most severe pressure and Mickelson firing birdies at him left, right and centre was just an incredible way to win a Major.