It took some time for an American to triumph in the Open Championship. In fact, the first US victory in the grand old competition came 61 years after Willie Park Snr won the inaugural Open Championship at Prestwick in 1860.
But since then, the USA has been the dominant nation in the oldest Major. Players from the US have won no fewer than 47 titles, with 32 different champions over the last 104 years.
The USA is now the most successful nation in The Open. The country has six more wins than the next most successful, Scotland. It should be noted that 39 of the 41 Scottish victories came between 1860 and 1920.
England sits third on the all-time list with 22 wins, then come Australia and South Africa, both with 10. Aside from the USA and Great Britain and Northern Ireland, there are only 10 other nations that can claim an Open champion as one of their own. They are – Australia, South Africa, Spain, Ireland, Argentina, France, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden and Zimbabwe. Bonus points if you can name their respective winners!
The middle two of these players were Open champions, George Duncan from Scotland and another man who was an American citizen – can you name him?
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Seven American champions have won multiple instalments of The Open Championship, with the most successful US competitor tied second on the all-time victory list with five. Only Harry Vardon with six titles has been more successful.
In the 21st Century, the USA has won half of The Open Championships contested, 12 of 24. Players from the US have won three of the last four.
The following golf quiz gives you a chance to name all 32 of the American golfers to win The Open Championship. Some are pretty obvious but there are a few lesser-known players that might be trickier to identify. See how many you can get…
