The Open Championship, sometimes known as The Open or the British Open, is the world's oldest and most renowned golf competition. The Open is one of four major golf competitions for men, the others being the Masters, the PGA Championship, and the U.S. Open. Open. It was first played in 1877 at Prestwick Golf Club in South Ayrshire, just outside Glasgow. The course has since been replaced by another called Turnberry, but the original site of the championship is now a public parkland venue named St Andrews Golf Club in St Andrews, Scotland. Major championships are divided into two parts: the qualification round, which determines who plays who in the final tournament; and the final round, which decides the winner. The Open will be held over three days in June at Royal Birkdale with a cut made to the top-100 players in the World Ranking List. The prize money for this year's event is $5 million, which makes it the richest golf championship in history. Birkdale is a private golf club located near Preston, Lancashire, England, that has hosted the British Open on nine occasions, most recently in 2015. The Open is also known as "Britain's Major" because only the best golfers in the world are invited to play. The other majors are awarded based on performance in the previous season's PGA Tour, European Tour, and Japan's JPGA Tours.