# 2024 Senior Open Championship

The 2024 Senior Open Championship, by sponsor reasons named The Senior Open presented by Rolex, was a senior major golf championship for players aged 50 and over. It was the 37th Senior Open Championship. It was held 25–28 July at Carnoustie Golf Links in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland. It was the 21st Senior Open Championship played as a senior major championship.

## Venue

The 2024 event was the third Senior Open Championship played at the Carnoustie Golf Links. The previous event was in 2016, with Paul Broadhurst winning his first of two senior major championships.

### Championship Course

Championship scorecard:
| Hole | Name | Yards | Par | | Hole | Name | Yards | Par |
| 1 | Cup | 396 | 4 | | 10 | South America | 465 | 4 |
| 2 | Gulley | 461 | 4 | | 11 | John Philp | 382 | 4 |
| 3 | Jockey's Burn | 350 | 4 | | 12 | Southward Ho | 503 | 5 |
| 4 | Hillocks | 415 | 4 | | 13 | Whins | 175 | 3 |
| 5 | Brae | 412 | 4 | | 14 | Spectacles | 513 | 5 |
| 6 | Hogan's Alley | 580 | 5 | | 15 | Lucky Slap | 472 | 4 |
| 7 | Plantation | 410 | 4 | | 16 | Barry Burn | 248 | 3 |
| 8 | Short | 187 | 3 | | 17 | Island | 460 | 4 |
| 9 | Railway | 474 | 4 | | 18 | Home | 499 | 4 |
| Out | Out | 3,685 | 36 | | In | In | 3,717 | 36 |
| Source: | Source: | Source: | Source: | Source: | Total | Total | 7,402 | 72 |
Length of the course for previous Senior Open Championships at Carnoustie Championship Course:
* 2016: 7,345 yards (6,716 m), par 72
* 2010: 7,297 yards (6,672 m), par 71

## Field

The field of 154 competitors included 149 professionals and five amateurs, either exempt via different criteria or advancing from qualifying competitions.

### Exemptions

130 exempt players, 127 professionals and three amateurs, participated.
Former winners of The Senior Open aged 65 or under
* Russ Cochran, Paul Broadhurst, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Stephen Dodd, Darren Clarke, Alex Čejka
Former winners of the Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open Championship aged 65 or under
* José María Olazábal, Vijay Singh, Pádraig Harrington, Ángel Cabrera, John Daly, Rich Beem, Shaun Micheel, Y.E. Yang, Retief Goosen, Michael Campbell, Justin Leonard, Paul Lawrie
Top 60 players on the career money list (including the Legends Tour, the European Tour and the Challenge Tour)
* Colin Montgomerie, Thomas Bjørn, Robert Karlsson, Raphaël Jacquelin, Paul McGinley, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Niclas Fasth, Richard Green, Bradley Dredge, Philip Price, Thomas Levet, Jeev Milkha Singh, Peter O'Malley, Ricardo González, Simon Khan, Gary Orr, Peter Lawrie, James Kingston, Mark McNulty, Peter Fowler, Peter Baker, Jarmo Sandelin, Joakim Haeggman, Marcus Brier, Jean-François Remésy, Jean van de Velde, Alex Čejka, Miguel Ángel Martín
Top 60 players on the PGA Tour Champions all-time money list
* Jerry Kelly, K. J. Choi, Fred Funk, Stuart Appleby, Jeff Sluman, Stephen Ames, Jeff Maggert, Chad Campbell, Kirk Triplett, Bob Estes, Tom Pernice Jr., Joe Durant, Scott McCarron, John Senden, Paul Goydos, Tim Herron, Rod Pampling
The leading 20 players, not otherwise exempt on the closing date, on the Legends Tour Order of Merit for 2023
* Phillip Archer, Michael Jonzon, Greig Hutcheon, Keith Horne, Greg Owen, Emanuele Canonica, Michael Long, Robert Coles, Andrew Raitt, Thomas Gögele, Paul Streeter, Jason Norris, Paul Eales, Van Phillips, Lionel Alexander, Philip Golding, David Shacklady, Christian Cévaër, Andrew Marshall
The leading 20 players, not otherwise exempt on the closing date, on the Charles Schwab Cup points list for 2023
* Dicky Pride, Paul Stankowski, Mark Hensby, Rob Labritz, Tim Petrovic, Charlie Wi, Shane Bertsch, Tim O'Neil, Glen Day, Scott Parel, Matt Gogel, David Branshaw, David McKenzie, Wes Short Jr., Arjun Atwal, Jason Bohn
Players finishing in positions 1–15, and those tying for 15th place, in the 2023 Senior Open Championship
* Euan McIntosh, Steven Alker, Mario Tiziani, John Kemp (a), Tom Gillis
Winners of official tournaments on the Legends Tour or PGA Tour Champions since The 2023 Senior Open
* Patrik Sjöland, Brett Quigley, Scott Dunlap, Doug Barron, Clark Dennis, Adilson da Silva
Winners of official tournaments on the European Tour or PGA Tour, when aged 50 years on 24 July 2024
* Scott Drummond, Ted Purdy, Greg Chalmers, Jason Gore, Mikael Lundberg, Stephen Allan, Joe Ogilvie, Daniel Chopra, Chris Riley, Eric Axley, Heath Slocum
Past members of Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup teams aged 50 on 24 July 2024
* Boo Weekley, Brett Wetterich
Winners of the Senior PGA Championship 2019–2024
* Ken Tanigawa
The leading two players, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 of the Japan PGA Senior Tour money list for 2023
* Prayad Marksaeng, Hiroyuki Fujita
The first four players, and those tying for 4th place, who are not otherwise exempt, in the top 30 of the current Legends Tour Order of Merit
* Jyoti Randhawa
The Senior Amateur champion for 2024
* Todd White (a)
The European Senior Men’s Amateur champion for 2023
* Rodrigo Lacerda Soares (a)

### Qualifying

24 places were available to players not qualified under the exemption categories.
One 18-hole stroke play qualifying event took place on 8 July, at Firestone Country Club (Fazio Course), Akron, Ohio, United States, where 137 players competed for five places and three alternate spots. Six places came available, why the first alternate also qualified.
Four 18-hole stroke play qualifying events took place on Monday 22 July at four venues in Scotland; Downfield Golf Club in Dundee (five spots), Panmure Golf Club in Carnoustie (five spots), the Medal Course at Monifieth Golf Links (four spots) and 1562 course at Montrose Golf Links (four spots).

### Qualifying competitions and qualifiers

8 July at Firestone Country Club (Fazio Course), Akron, Ohio, United States
* Jay Jurecic, Ryan Jansa, Jason Perry, Donald Carpenter III, Omar Uresti, Guy Boros (alternates: Anthony Rodriguez, Bob Sowards)
22 July at Downfield Golf Club, Dundee, Panmure Golf Club, Carnoustie, the Medal Course at Monifieth Golf Links and 1562 course at Montrose Golf Links
* Barry Austin, Notah Begay III, Barry Conser, Hidetomo Sato, Roderick Bastard
22 July at Panmure Golf Club, Carnoustie
* Andrew Oldcorn, Cameron Clark, Scott Henderson, Craig Shaw (a), Michael Wright
22 July at the Medal Course at Monifieth Golf Links
* José Manuel Carriles, Fran Quinn, Neil Rowlands (a), Peter Wilson
22 July at 1562 course at Montrose Golf Links
* Carlos Balmaseda, Garry Houston, Doug McGuigan, Chris Gane

## Round summaries
### First round

Thursday, 25 July 2024
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Stephen Ames | 68 | −4 |
| T2 | Peter Baker | 69 | −3 |
| T2 | Paul Broadhurst | 69 | −3 |
| T2 | K. J. Choi | 69 | −3 |
| T2 | Richard Green | 69 | −3 |
| 6 | Scott Hend | 70 | −2 |
| T7 | Steven Alker | 71 | −1 |
| T7 | Thomas Bjørn | 71 | −1 |
| T7 | Markus Brier | 71 | −1 |
| T7 | Emanuele Canonica | 71 | −1 |
| T7 | José Manuel Carriles | 71 | −1 |
| T7 | Bradley Dredge | 71 | −1 |
| T7 | Retief Goosen | 71 | −1 |
| T7 | Jason Gore | 71 | −1 |
| T7 | Pádraig Harrington | 71 | −1 |
| T7 | Peter Lawrie | 71 | −1 |
| T7 | Miguel Ángel Martín | 71 | −1 |
| T7 | Fran Quinn | 71 | −1 |

### Second round

Friday, 26 July 2024
74 players, all professionals, made the 36-hole cut at +7. Among notable players making the cut was the 1999 Open winner at Carnoustie Paul Lawrie, while the two players losing the playoff in 1999, Justin Leonard and Jean van de Velde, both missed the cut. The only other participating Open Championship winner at Carnoustie, the 2007 winner Pádraig Harrington, also made the cut.
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | K. J. Choi | 69-69=138 | −6 |
| 2 | Stephen Ames | 68-72=140 | −4 |
| T3 | Richard Green | 69-72=141 | −3 |
| T3 | Pádraig Harrington | 71-70=141 | −3 |
| 5 | Miguel Ángel Martín | 71-71=142 | −2 |
| T6 | Arjun Atwal | 75-68=143 | −1 |
| T6 | Peter Baker | 69-74=143 | −1 |
| T6 | Paul Broadhurst | 69-74=143 | −1 |
| T6 | Ángel Cabrera | 73-70=143 | −1 |
| T6 | Darren Clarke | 74-69=143 | −1 |

### Third round

Saturday, 27 July 2024
K. J. Choi kept his solo lead after 54 holes, despite making two double bogeys in a row on holes 15 and 16. He finished the round with a birdie on the 18th hole. The best round of the day and of the best round of the tournament so far belonged to Arjun Atwal, who shot 67 and advanced to third place, two strokes behind the leader.
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | K. J. Choi | 69-69-70=208 | −8 |
| 2 | Richard Green | 69-72–68=209 | −7 |
| 3 | Arjun Atwal | 75-68-67=210 | −6 |
| 4 | Paul Broadhurst | 69-74-69=212 | −4 |
| 5 | Ángel Cabrera | 73-70-70=213 | −3 |
| T6 | Stephen Ames | 68-72-74=214 | −2 |
| T6 | Pádraig Harrington | 71-70-73=214 | −2 |
| T8 | Steven Alker | 71-73-71=215 | −1 |
| T8 | Miguel Ángel Martín | 71-71-73=215 | −1 |
| T10 | Ricardo González | 75-70-71=216 | E |
| T10 | Bernhard Langer | 74-70-72=216 | E |
| T10 | Paul Lawrie | 75-70-71=216 | E |

### Final round

Sunday, 28 July 2024
54-year-old K. J. Choi kept the lead he held after both the second and third round and won the tournament, becoming the first South Korean player to win a senior major championship, men or women. After birdies on the 12th and 13th holes and an eagle on the 14th hole, Choi reached a four-shot-lead. He finally finished two shots ahead of runner-up Richard Green, who played the last three holes 2 under par. Defending champion Alex Čejka finished tied 15th, 12 strokes behind the winner.
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
| 1 | K. J. Choi | 69-69-70-70=278 | −10 | 447,800 |
| 2 | Richard Green | 69-72-68-71=280 | −8 | 298,680 |
| 3 | Paul Broadhurst | 69-74-69-70=282 | −6 | 168,036 |
| 4 | Stephen Ames | 68-72-74-71=285 | −3 | 134,292 |
| T5 | Steven Alker | 71-73-71-71=286 | −2 | 74,067 |
| T5 | Arjun Atwal | 75-68-67-76=286 | −2 | 74,067 |
| T5 | Thomas Bjørn | 71-73-73-69=286 | −2 | 74,067 |
| T5 | Ángel Cabrera | 73-70-70-73=286 | −2 | 74,067 |
| T5 | Pádraig Harrington | 71-70-73-72=286 | −2 | 74,067 |
| T5 | Bernhard Langer | 74-70-72-70=286 | −2 | 74,067 |
| T5 | Miguel Ángel Martín | 71-71-73-71=286 | −2 | 74,067 |
Sources: