Who Has Won The Most Open Championship Titles?
There have been 27 multiple winners of the Open Championship, but who holds the record for the most victories?


It's the oldest and most coveted prize in golf, but who has won The Open Championship the most times?
First played in 1860, The Open Championship is the fourth and final Major of the year and played on famous old links courses up and down Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Most of golf's great names from the very beginning of the sport right through to modern day heroes have lifted the Claret Jug - the small but historic trophy handed out to the 'Champion Golfer of the Year'.
Americans have lifted the Claret Jug more then anyone else, with 31 winners from the USA combining for 46 Open titles, with Scotland next with 22 different winners taking 41 Opens.
Overall there have been winners from 15 different nations, with England (13), Australia (5) and South Africa (4) next in line.
There have been 27 players who have become multiple Open champions, but top of the whole lot is Harry Vardon who holds the record with his six Open titles from 1896-1914.
Vardon's great rivals James Braid and John Henry Taylor both won five each during the same time, with Scotsman Braid winning all of his five in the space of nine years between 1901-1910.
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Tom Watson is the top American winner of the Open with his five victories - making the fact he could have tied Vardon's record just another reason his 2009 defeat to Stewart Cink sticks in the memory.
Tiger Woods looks at all the names he joined on the Claret Jug
Young Tom Morris is the only man to win four in a row, while Australian Peter Thomson's remarkable hat-trick saw him match Bob Ferguson and Jamie Anderson who both won three in a row in the late 1800s.
Walter Hagen and Bobby Locke both won four Opens while legendary figures such as Bobby Jones, Gary Player, Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros all picked up three.
And given just how dominant they were during their peaks, it's almost a bit of a surprise that Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus 'only' won the Claret Jug three times.
It could've been much more for Nicklaus though, who holds the record for the most runners-up finishes in open history with seven.
Most Open Championship wins
Open wins | Name | Years |
---|---|---|
6 | Harry Vardon | 1989, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914 |
5 | James Braid | 1901, 1905, 1906, 1908, 1910 |
5 | John Henry Taylor | 1894, 1895, 1900, 1909, 1913 |
5 | Peter Thomson | 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965 |
5 | Tom Watson | 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983 |
4 | Tom Morris Sr | 1861, 1862, 1864, 1867 |
4 | Tom Morris Jr | 1868, 1869, 1870, 1872 |
4 | Willie Park Sr | 1860, 1863, 1866, 1875 |
4 | Walter Hagen | 1922, 1924, 1928, 1929 |
4 | Bobby Locke | 1949, 1950, 1952, 1957 |
3 | Jamie Anderson | 1877, 1878, 1879 |
3 | Bob Fergsuon | 1880, 1881, 1882 |
3 | Bobby Jones | 1926, 1927, 1930 |
3 | Henry Cotton | 1934, 1937, 1948 |
3 | Gary Player | 1959, 1968, 1974 |
3 | Jack Nicklaus | 1966, 1970, 1978 |
3 | Seve Ballesteros | 1979, 1984, 1988 |
3 | Nick Faldo | 1987, 1990, 1992 |
3 | Tiger Woods | 2000, 2005, 2006 |

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.