page_title: List of The Open Championship champions
section_title: By year
hierarchical_section_title: List of The Open Championship champions / Champions / By year
caption_attribution_description: English: Scottish golfer James Braid (1870-1950) playing at the Open de France at Chantilly in 1913
context_page_description: The Open Championship is an annual golf competition held in the United Kingdom that was established in 1860. It is played on the weekend of the third Friday in July, and is the third of the four major championships to be played each year. In addition, this championship is conducted by The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. The championship was not held in 1871 due to a disagreement over a new trophy, and from 1915 to 1919 and from 1940 to 1945 due to the First and Second World Wars respectively.
  The reigning champion of the competition is automatically invited to play in the other three majors for the next five years. The prize of the tournament is the Golf Champion Trophy, commonly known as the Claret Jug, and the champion personally keeps the trophy until the next competition the following year. The champion also receives a gold medal, which they are allowed to keep permanently. Until 1870 the champion received the Challenge Belt, however when Tom Morris Jr. won the Open Championship three times in a row he won the belt outright, necessitating the need for a new trophy.
caption: James Braid, five-time Open Champion in 1901, 1905, 1906, 1908, and 1910
exif: {}