A look into which competitors have won the Open Championship over the last 10 years
The Last 10 Open Championship Winners
In this piece we take a look at the last 10 Open Championship winners, starting with Padraig Harrington at Royal Birkdale.
1) Padraig Harrington – 2008, Royal Birkdale
This was Harrington’s second Open Championship in a row after shooting a final round 69. His eagle at the par-5 17th gave him a four shot lead going down the last and this would prove to be the margin of victory after one final par.
2) Stewart Cink – 2009, Turnberry
The winner of the 2009 Open at the Turnberry was Stewart Cink from America. It went down to a play-off between him and Tom Watson, who missed a putt on the 72nd hole to win. However Cink eventually took the top spot, denying Watson a 6th Open.
3) Louis Oosthuizen – 2010, St Andrews
The 2010 Open Championship was the last held at St. Andrews with the South African Louis Oosthuizen triumphing. He finished on 16 strokes under par, winning by seven shots from Lee Westwood of England.
4) Darren Clarke – 2011, Royal St Georges
Northern Irish golfer Darren Clarke won the 2011 Open which was hosted at Royal St. George’s Golf Club. Runners up were Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson who both trailed by three strokes.
5) Ernie Els – 2012, Royal Lytham and St Annes
In 2012 the Open was hosted at Royal Lytham and St. Annes Golf Club and was won by South African Ernie Els, who already had an Open to his name from 2002. It ended up being a very tight finish with Australian Adam Scott missing out by one stroke after a late collapse.
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6) Phil Mickelson – 2013, Muirfield
In 2013 Phil Mickelson won his first Open Championship at Muirfield in Scotland. In the final round he played 66 strokes to win with an ending score of 3 under par, finishing closely ahead of Henrik Stenson who finished as runner up.
7) Rory McIlroy – 2014, Royal Liverpool
Rory McIlroy won his third Major title at Royal Liverpool in 2014. He would shoot a final round 71 to win by 2 strokes over Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia. McIlroy would win the US PGA in the very next Major.
8) Zach Johnson – 2015, St Andrews
Zach Johnson celebrates holing a putt at St Andrews (Getty Images)
Zach Johnson shot a final round 66 at St Andrews to get himself into a playoff alongside Marc Leishman and 2010 winner Louis Oosthuizen. In the four hole playoff Johnson would birdie the first two, bogey the road hole and par the last to win by a stroke.
9) Henrik Stenson – 2016, Royal Troon
Henrik Stenson shot a final round 63 to win at Royal Troon (Getty Images)
The 2016 tournament was a straight up duel between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson with the former coming out on top. Both players played some incredible golf on the final day with Stenson shooting a 63 thanks to ten birdies. Mickelson shot a bogey free 65 to come in second place by three strokes.
10) Jordan Spieth – 2017, Royal Birkdale
Jordan Spieth taking a drop onto the driving range in 2017 (Getty Images)
Last year Jordan Spieth led by three going into the final round and yet was four over par after 13 holes on the fourth day. But his bogey on 13 caused controversy after he took a penalty drop and then a free drop onto the driving range due to the presence of equipment trucks in his line. He got down in three from there and then played the last five holes in five under to win by three over Matt Kuchar.
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