Back
Playing golf in the place where the game began half a millennium ago is special.
Winning an Open Championship there is darn-near divine.
The list of Open Champions includes not only most of the very best players of all time but some genuine surprise winners as well. Royal Troon, host of the 2024 Open Championship, has supplied both. Tom Watson won the fourth of his five Claret Jugs there in 1975. In 2004, Todd Hamilton shocked the world, capturing his lone major there. And in 2016, Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson gave golf fans one of history's great duels, with Stenson ultimately prevailing to bring Sweden its first men's major.
The variety in Open championship winners speaks to the mercurial nature of links golf. It's not just a test of skill but of will. Golfers who embrace firm turf, windy and sometimes wet weather and the occasional vexing bounce or bunker lie tend to win. Those are the sorts of golfers the rest of us should look up to.
In that spirit, here are some of my favorite tips from GolfPass' vast and growing archive of tips, all coming courtesy of past Open champions.
Rory McIlroy: Low trajectory
Play
Flighting the ball down is key to winning on links golf courses, and even though it happened in the Scottish Open in 2023, a piercing 2-iron into the final green stands out as one of the most impressive shots of the 2014 Open Champ's career. In this segment from his series 9 Shots, McIlroy explains how he hits this sort of shot.
Shane Lowry: Putting from off the green
Play
Lowry, who won the 2019 Open in dominant fashion, joined us for an installment of our Lessons with a Champion Golfer series. In this segment, he discusses his approach to putting from off the green, which is something everyone faces at some point during The Open.
Sir Nick Faldo: Starting your swing
Play
Faldo's three Open Championships helped established him as one of the great players of the latter half of the 20th century, and an authority on the golf swing. Here, he shows you how to take the club away from the ball properly with one simple drill.
Best Lessons Ever: The Open Champions
Play
For any fan of The Open, this roundup of great instruction tips over the years from Tom Watson, Nick Faldo, Gary Player and more is a must-see.
Comments (0)