The 2024 Open Championship was organised by the R&A, and was included in the PGA Tour, European Tour, and Japan Golf Tour calendars under the major championships category. The tournament was a 72-hole (4 rounds) stroke play competition held over four days, with 18 holes played each day. Play was in groups of three for the first two days, and groups of two in the final two days. Groupings for the first two days were decided by the organizers, with each group having one morning and one afternoon tee time. On the final two days, players teed off in reverse order of aggregate score, with the leaders last. After 36 holes there was a cut, after which the top 70 and ties progressed through to compete in the third and fourth rounds. In the event of a tie for the lowest score after four rounds, a four-hole aggregate playoff would be held to determine the winner; followed by sudden-death extra holes if necessary.[3]
The 2024 event was the 11th Open Championship (tenth for men) played at Royal Troon.[4] The most recent was in 2020, when The R&A only staged the Women's Open Championship (both Open Championships for men were not held in 2020). Sophia Popov scored a major upset in winning her only major by two strokes.[5] The previous men's Open was in 2016, where Henrik Stenson won the event by three strokes for his only major title.[6]
The Open Championship field is made up of 157 players, who gained entry through various exemption criteria and qualifying tournaments. The criteria included past Open champions, recent major winners, top ranked players in the world rankings and from the leading world tours, and winners and high finishers from various designated tournaments, including the Open Qualifying Series; the winners of designated amateur events, including The Amateur Championship and U.S. Amateur, also gained exemption provided they remain an amateur. Anyone not qualifying via exemption, and had a handicap of 0.4 or lower, can gain entry through regional and final qualifying events.[citation needed]
Most exemption criteria remained unchanged from previous years. The previous Order of Merit exemptions for the Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia, and Sunshine Tour were replaced by a category based on the Official World Golf Ranking's International Federation Ranking List, and a new exemption was added for the winner of the Africa Amateur Championship; it was also announced that winners of the 2024 Open and future editions will remain exempt through age 55, instead of through age 60 as with previous winners.[8]
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, 18 July 2024
Dan Brown, making his major championship debut after earning a place in the field through final qualifying, claimed the first-round lead following a bogey-free 65. Ranked 272nd in the Official World Golf Ranking, Brown had made only one cut in his last eight tournaments prior to the Open.[9][10]
The scoring average was 74.43, more than three strokes over par, and only 17 players broke par on the round as wind and rain created difficult playing conditions.[13]
Shane Lowry shot a 2-under 69 to take the lead headed into the weekend. Overnight leader Dan Brown carded a 72 to slide into a tie for second alongside former world number one Justin Rose, who shot 68, the joint-lowest round of the day. Rose was the only player in the early-late tee time groupings to be under par through two rounds, as his side of the draw faced more difficult scoring conditions.[14][15]
World number one Scottie Scheffler, seeking his seventh win of the season, moved into a share of fourth alongside Dean Burmester and Billy Horschel following a second consecutive 1-under round of 70.[16]
Joaquín Niemann made a quintuple-bogey 8 at the par-3 8th hole, but bounced back with a 31 on the back nine to post 71 and remain at even par for the championship, seven strokes off the lead.[17]
Billy Horschel established a 54-hole lead in a major championship for the first time in his career with a 2-under 69. Horschel and Xander Schauffele, winner of the 2024 PGA Championship, were the only players from the final 12 groupings to shoot under par in the third round, as weather conditions worsened throughout the day. The scoring average for the final 12 groupings was 73.92, compared to 71.46 for the prior 12 groupings.[21]
Teeing off earlier in the day when the weather was sunny and calm, Thriston Lawrence and Sam Burns shot rounds of 65 to vault into contention. Russell Henley also moved into a six-way tie for second following a 66.[22]
36-hole leader Shane Lowry carded a 6-over 77 to fall into ninth place, while Dan Brown double bogeyed his final hole to post 73. Scottie Scheffler shot even-par 71 to remain in contention. In an interview after his round, Scheffler described the back nine, with its cold, rainy, and windy conditions, as "probably the hardest nine holes that I'll ever play."[23]
As one of the early players on the course, Kim Si-woo made a hole-in-one at the par-3 17th hole. This was the first ace made in championship history at that hole, and at 238 yards (218 m) it became the longest hole-in-one in the recorded history of the Open championship.[21]
Xander Schauffele shot the lowest round of the day, a bogey-free 65, to post a winning score of 9-under 275 and win the Claret Jug. This was his second major championship of the year, making him the first since Brooks Koepka in 2018 to win two majors in a calendar year.[24][2]
Playing alongside Schauffele, Justin Rose shot 67 to finish as runner-up at 7-under. 54-hole leader Billy Horschel birdied the final three holes to tie Rose in second place.[25]Thriston Lawrence made four birdies and no bogeys on the front nine to hold the solo lead at 7-under, before faltering with a 1-over 36 on the back nine to finish fourth.[26]World number one and pre-tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler was at 4-under for the tournament after eight holes, but four-putted for double bogey on the 9th hole, fell out of contention, and finished eight strokes back.[27]
Of the twelve amateurs, four made the cut.[28]Calum Scott, from Nairn in the Highlands of Scotland, won the Silver Medal as low amateur with a score of 8-over 292.[29]
