2017 Open Championship
Dates20–23 July 2017
LocationSouthport, England
CourseRoyal Birkdale Golf Club
OrgThe R&A
Tour
Par70
Yardage7,156 yards (6,543 m)
Field156 players, 77 after cut
Cut145 (+5)
Purse$10,250,000[1]
€8,935,572
£7,890,000 (est.)
Winners share$1,845,000
€1,608,403
£1,420,000 (est.)
ChampionJordan Spieth
Score268 (−12)
Previous2016
Next2018
Coordinates53.622°N 3.0333°W

The 2017 Open Championship was a major golf championship and the 146th Open Championship, held 20–23 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. It was the tenth Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, which held its first in 1954.[2]

Jordan Spieth shot four rounds in the sixties for 268 (−12), three strokes ahead of runner-up Matt Kuchar, for his third major title, and the second in which he led wire-to-wire (2015 Masters). In the third round, Branden Grace scored 62 to set a new major championship record.[3]

This was the first year that the prize money was paid in U.S. dollars, rather than British pounds.[4]

Media

This was the second Open Championship televised domestically by Sky Sports.[5] In the United States, it is the second Open Championship to be televised by NBC (Golf Channel's parent network).[6]

Venue

Main article: Royal Birkdale Golf Club

This was the tenth Open Championship at Royal Birkdale; the ninth in 2008 saw Pádraig Harrington successfully defend his 2007 title from Carnoustie.

Course layout

HoleYardsPar HoleYardsPar
14484104024
24224114364
34514121833
41993134994
53464142003
64994155425
71773164384
84584175675
94164184734
Out3,41634In3,74036
Source:Total7,15670

Lengths of the course for previous Opens:[7]

  • 2008: 7,173 yards (6,559 m), par 70
  • 1998: 7,018 yards (6,417 m), par 70
  • 1991: 6,940 yards (6,350 m), par 70
  • 1983: 6,968 yards (6,372 m), par 71
  • 1976: 7,001 yards (6,402 m), par 72
  • 1971: 7,080 yards (6,470 m), par 73
  • 1965: 7,037 yards (6,435 m), par 73
  • 1961: 6,844 yards (6,258 m), par 72[8]
  • 1954: 6,867 yards (6,279 m), par 73[2]

Field

The Open Championship field was made up of 156 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, could gain entry through regional and final qualifying events.

Criteria and exemptions

Each player is classified according to the first category in which he qualified, but other categories are shown in parentheses.[a]

1. The Open Champions aged 60 or under on 23 July 2017

2. The Open Champions for 2007–2016

3. Top 10 finishers and ties in the 2016 Open Championship

4. Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) for Week 21, 2017

5. Top 30 on the 2016 Race to Dubai

6. Last three BMW PGA Championship winners

7. Top 5 players, not already exempt, within the top 20 of the 2017 Race to Dubai through the BMW International Open

8. Last five U.S. Open winners

9. Last five Masters Tournament winners

10. Last five PGA Championship winners

11. Last three Players Championship winners

12. The 30 qualifiers for the 2016 Tour Championship

13. Top 5 players, not already exempt, within the top 20 of the 2017 FedEx Cup points list through the Travelers Championship

14. Winner of the 2016 Olympic Golf Tournament

15. Winner of the 2016 Open de Argentina

16. Winner and runner-up from the 2017 Korea Open

17. Playing members of the 2016 Ryder Cup teams

18. Winner of the 2016 Asian Tour Order of Merit

19. Winner of the 2016 PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit

20. Winner of the 2016–17 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit

21. Winner of the 2016 Japan Open

22. Top 2 on the 2016 Japan Golf Tour Official Money List

23. Top 2, not already exempt, on the 2017 Japan Golf Tour Official Money List through the Japan Golf Tour Championship

24. Winner of the 2016 Senior Open Championship

25. Winner of the 2017 Amateur Championship

26. Winner of the 2016 U.S. Amateur

  • Curtis Luck forfeited his exemption after turning professional in April 2017.

27. Winners of the 2016 and 2017 editions of the European Amateur

28. Recipient of the 2016 Mark H. McCormack Medal

Open Qualifying Series

The Open Qualifying Series (OQS) consisted of 10 events from the six major tours. Places were available to the leading players (not otherwise exempt) who finished in the top n and ties. In the event of ties, positions went to players ranked highest according to that week's OWGR.

LocationTournamentDateSpotsTopQualifiers
AustraliaEmirates Australian Open20 Nov310Aaron Baddeley, Ashley Hall, Cameron Smith
SingaporeSMBC Singapore Open22 Jan412Phachara Khongwatmai, Jbe' Kruger, Prayad Marksaeng, Song Young-han
South AfricaJoburg Open26 Feb310Darren Fichardt, Stuart Manley, Paul Waring
JapanMizuno Open28 May412Adam Bland, Michael Hendry, Chan Kim, Kim Kyung-tae
FranceHNA Open de France2 Jul310Alexander Björk, Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Peter Uihlein
United StatesQuicken Loans National2 Jul412Charles Howell III, Kang Sung-hoon, Martin Laird, Kyle Stanley
IrelandDubai Duty Free Irish Open9 Jul310David Drysdale, Ryan Fox, Richie Ramsay
United StatesGreenbrier Classic9 Jul412Jamie Lovemark, Sebastián Muñoz, Xander Schauffele, Robert Streb
ScotlandAberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open16 Jul310Andrew Dodt, Matthieu Pavon, Callum Shinkwin
United StatesJohn Deere Classic16 Jul15Bryson DeChambeau

Final Qualifying

The Final Qualifying events were played on 4 July at five courses covering Scotland and the North-West, Central and South-coast regions of England. Three qualifying places were available at each location.

LocationQualifiers[a][c]
Gailes LinksRyan McCarthy, Julian Suri, Connor Syme (a)
HillsideAdam Hodkinson, Nick McCarthy, Haydn McCullen
Notts (Hollinwell)Laurie Canter, Joe Dean, Mark Foster
Royal Cinque PortsAustin Connelly, Robert Dinwiddie, Matthew Southgate
WoburnShiv Kapur, Ian Poulter, Toby Tree

Alternates

To make up the full field of 156, additional places were allocated in ranking order from the Official World Golf Ranking at the time that these places were made available by the Championship Committee.

From the Week 26 (week ending 2 July) Official World Golf Ranking:
From the Week 27 (week ending 9 July) Official World Golf Ranking:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, 20 July 2017

Three Americans – Brooks Koepka, Matt Kuchar, and Jordan Spieth – shared the lead after the first round on five under par, a shot clear of England's Paul Casey and Charl Schwartzel, with Ian Poulter a further shot back.[11] Reigning champion Henrik Stenson was one under after a 69. Rory McIlroy was five over par after six holes but recovered to finish with a one-over-par 71.[12][13]

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1Brooks Koepka65−5
Matt Kuchar
Jordan Spieth
T4Paul Casey66−4
Charl Schwartzel
T6Richard Bland67−3
Rafa Cabrera-Bello
Austin Connelly
Charley Hoffman
Ian Poulter
Justin Thomas

Second round

Friday, 21 July 2017

In difficult conditions, Jordan Spieth followed his first round 65 with a 69 to lead by two strokes from Matt Kuchar.[14] Only eight players scored under par for their second rounds, Zach Johnson's 66 being the best round of the day. Alfie Plant was the only amateur to make the cut. He eagled the par-five 15th on his way to a 73 and a 36-hole total of 144.[15]

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1Jordan Spieth65-69=134−6
2Matt Kuchar65-71=136−4
T3Brooks Koepka65-72=137−3
Ian Poulter67-70=137
5Richie Ramsay68-70=138−2
T6Richard Bland67-72=139−1
Austin Connelly67-72=139
Rory McIlroy71-68=139
Gary Woodland70-69=139
T10Kent Bulle68-72=140E
Rafa Cabrera-Bello67-73=140
Charley Hoffman67-73=140
Russell Henley70-70=140
Chan Kim72-68=140
Jamie Lovemark71-69=140
Joost Luiten68-72=140
Hideki Matsuyama68-72=140
Alex Norén68-72=140
Bubba Watson68-72=140

Amateurs: Plant (+4), Syme (+9), Cianchetti (+11), Ellis (+12), McNealy (+12)

Third round

Saturday, 22 July 2017

Jordan Spieth shot a 65 to take a three-stroke lead over Matt Kuchar, who shot a 66. On an easier day of scoring, Branden Grace scored 62, breaking the long-standing men's major championship record of 63.[16] There were also low rounds from Dustin Johnson, with a 64, and Henrik Stenson, with a 65, both getting into a tie for 7th place.[17]

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1Jordan Spieth65-69-65=199−11
2Matt Kuchar65-71-66=202−8
T3Austin Connelly67-72-66=205−5
Brooks Koepka65-72-68=205
T5Branden Grace70-74-62=206−4
Hideki Matsuyama68-72-66=206
T7Rafa Cabrera-Bello67-73-67=207−3
Dustin Johnson71-72-64=207
Chan Kim72-68-67=207
Henrik Stenson69-73-65=207

Grace scorecard

Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par444344344443435454
Grace−1−1−1−2−3−3−3−4−5−5−5−5−5−6−6−7−8−8
{|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%;

|- | style="background:Pink; width:10px;"| |Birdie |}

Final round

Sunday, 23 July 2017

Beginning the round with a three-shot lead, Jordan Spieth bogeyed three of his first four holes to fall into a tie with Matt Kuchar.[18] A birdie at the 5th combined with a bogey by Kuchar at the 6th allowed Spieth to re-open a two-stroke advantage, but a bogey-birdie swing at the 9th evened the score heading to the back-nine. The score remained level until the 13th, when Spieth hit his tee shot well to the right of the fairway. Forced to take an unplayable lie and drop from the practice area, he managed to get up-and-down to save bogey while Kuchar took the lead by making par.[19] At the par-3 14th, however, Spieth nearly holed his tee shot and converted the birdie attempt to tie Kuchar.[20] Then at the par-5 15th, Spieth made a 48-foot (15-metre) eagle putt to take the lead once again. With birdies on the next two holes Spieth played 14–17 in five-under to take a two-stroke lead heading to the last. When Kuchar found a greenside bunker and made bogey, Spieth was able to tap in for par and win the championship by three strokes.[21] Li Haotong birdied his last four holes for 63 (−7) and jump into third place at 274 (−6), the best finish for an Asian player at the Open Championship since Lu Liang-Huan in 1971, also at Royal Birkdale.[22] With the victory, Spieth joined Jack Nicklaus as the only golfers to win three legs of the career Grand Slam before the age of 24.[23]

Final leaderboard

Champion
Silver Medal winner (low amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion

Note: Top 10 and ties qualify for the 2018 Open Championship; top 4 and ties qualify for the 2018 Masters Tournament

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
1Jordan Spieth65-69-65-69=268−121,845,000
2Matt Kuchar65-71-66-69=271−91,067,000
3Li Haotong69-73-69-63=274−6684,000
T4Rafa Cabrera-Bello67-73-67-68=275−5480,000
Rory McIlroy (c)71-68-69-67=275
T6Branden Grace70-74-62-70=276−4281,000
Brooks Koepka65-72-68-71=276
Marc Leishman69-76-66-65=276
Alex Norén68-72-69-67=276
Matthew Southgate72-72-67-65=276
Leaderboard below the top 10
PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
T11Paul Casey66-77-67-67=277−3175,333
Chan Kim72-68-67-70=277
Henrik Stenson (c)69-73-65-70=277
T14Austin Connelly67-72-66-73=278−2128,917
Jason Dufner73-71-66-68=278
Zach Johnson (c)75-66-71-66=278
Hideki Matsuyama68-72-66-72=278
Ian Poulter67-70-71-70=278
Chris Wood71-72-68-67=278
T20Charley Hoffman67-73-72-67=279−1104,500
Xander Schauffele69-75-70-65=279
T22Richard Bland67-72-70-71=280E88,000
Rickie Fowler71-71-67-71=280
Jamie Lovemark71-69-70-70=280
Richie Ramsay68-70-70-72=280
Adam Scott69-74-70-67=280
T27Aaron Baddeley69-76-72-64=281+164,500
Daniel Berger68-76-70-67=281
Jason Day69-76-65-71=281
David Drysdale72-73-66-70=281
Tony Finau70-73-67-71=281
Tommy Fleetwood76-69-66-70=281
Thongchai Jaidee70-73-68-70=281
Andrew Johnston69-74-67-71=281
Bubba Watson68-72-71-70=281
Lee Westwood71-74-69-67=281
T37Laurie Canter70-72-72-68=282+245,286
Sergio García73-69-68-72=282
Russell Henley70-70-75-67=282
Martin Kaymer72-72-70-68=282
Søren Kjeldsen71-71-72-68=282
Webb Simpson71-74-70-67=282
Steve Stricker70-72-69-71=282
T44Chang Yi-keun71-71-71-70=283+331,070
Andrew Dodt69-75-69-70=283
Ross Fisher70-72-66-75=283
Matt Fitzpatrick69-73-68-73=283
Kang Sung-hoon68-73-76-66=283
Joost Luiten68-72-70-73=283
Kevin Na68-75-68-72=283
Thomas Pieters69-75-68-71=283
Jon Rahm69-74-70-70=283
Peter Uihlein72-72-69-70=283
T54Scott Hend71-74-65-74=284+425,843
J. B. Holmes71-72-71-70=284
Dustin Johnson71-72-64-77=284
Kevin Kisner70-71-74-69=284
Justin Rose71-74-69-70=284
Toby Tree70-75-69-70=284
Jimmy Walker72-72-70-70=284
61Ernie Els (c)68-73-70-74=285+525,000
T62Kim Kyung-tae73-71-69-73=286+624,500
Mike Lorenzo-Vera75-70-70-71=286
Shaun Norris71-74-65-76=286
Sean O'Hair72-73-71-70=286
Thorbjørn Olesen70-72-74-70=286
Alfie Plant (a)71-73-69-73=2860
Charl Schwartzel66-78-71-71=28624,500
Song Young-han71-74-69-72=286
T70Joe Dean72-72-70-73=287+723,556
Brandon Stone73-72-68-74=287
Andy Sullivan70-75-69-73=287
Gary Woodland70-69-74-74=287
T74James Hahn68-76-70-74=288+823,163
Bernd Wiesberger69-75-71-73=288
76Danny Willett71-74-73-71=289+922,975
77Kent Bulle68-72-74-76=290+1022,850
CUTRoberto Castro76-70=146+6
Mark Foster75-71=146
Ryan Fox74-72=146
Pádraig Harrington (c)73-73=146
Shiv Kapur73-73=146
Kim Si-woo70-76=146
Anirban Lahiri73-73=146
Pablo Larrazábal72-74=146
Alexander Lévy71-75=146
David Lipsky68-78=146
Julian Suri74-72=146
Adam Bland75-72=147+7
Paul Broadhurst75-72=147
Matthew Griffin70-77=147
Russell Knox74-73=147
Martin Laird68-79=147
Francesco Molinari73-74=147
Robert Streb69-78=147
Justin Thomas67-80=147
Paul Waring74-73=147
Fabrizio Zanotti77-70=147
An Byeong-hun77-71=148+8
Alexander Björk75-73=148
Kevin Chappell73-75=148
Darren Clarke (c)75-73=148
Dylan Frittelli73-75=148
Brian Harman70-78=148
Kim Gi-whan73-75=148
Jbe' Kruger76-72=148
Tom Lehman (c)72-76=148
Ryan McCarthy76-72=148
Haydn McCullen73-75=148
Ryan Moore74-74=148
Patrick Reed73-75=148
Kyle Stanley70-78=148
Emiliano Grillo76-73=149+9
Bill Haas71-78=149
Ashley Hall75-74=149
Charles Howell III74-75=149
Paul Lawrie (c)70-79=149
Stuart Manley68-81=149
William McGirt77-72=149
Pat Perez74-75=149
Cameron Smith74-75=149
Connor Syme (a)73-76=149
Stewart Cink (c)77-73=150+10
Michael Hendry73-77=150
David Horsey75-75=150
Yuta Ikeda71-79=150
Shane Lowry72-78=150
Prayad Marksaeng76-74=150
Phil Mickelson (c)73-77=150
Wang Jeung-hun77-73=150
Luca Cianchetti (a)75-76=151+11
David Duval (c)79-72=151
Tyrrell Hatton75-76=151
Nick McCarthy74-77=151
Mark O'Meara (c)81-70=151
Jhonattan Vegas75-76=151
Wesley Bryan74-78=152+12
John Daly (c)74-78=152
Harry Ellis (a)77-75=152
Darren Fichardt71-81=152
Billy Horschel76-76=152
Maverick McNealy (a)78-74=152
Yūsaku Miyazato70-82=152
Louis Oosthuizen (c)78-74=152
Matthieu Pavon74-78=152
Callum Shinkwin74-78=152
Hideto Tanihara77-75=152
Bryson DeChambeau76-77=153+13
Adam Hadwin71-82=153
Sandy Lyle (c)77-76=153
Sebastián Muñoz74-79=153
Brendan Steele76-77=153
Phachara Khongwatmai74-80=154+14
Robert Dinwiddie77-79=156+16
Adam Hodkinson80-76=156
Todd Hamilton (c)79-79=158+18
Source:[24]

Scorecard

Final round

Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par444344344443435454
Spieth−10−10−9−8−9−9−9−9−8−8−8−8−7−8−10−11−12−12
Kuchar−8−9−8−8−8−7−7−7−8−8−8−8−8−8−9−9−10−9
Li+1+1+1+1+1+1+1E−1−1−1−2−2−2−3−4−5−6
Cabrera-Bello−3−3−3−3−3−3−3−4−4−4−3−4−4−4−4−4−5−5
McIlroy−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−3−3−4−4−4−4−3−3−5−5

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

{|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%;

|-

|style="background: Red;" width=10| |Eagle |style="background: Pink;" width=10| |Birdie |style="background: PaleGreen;" width=10| |Bogey |} Source:[24]

Notes

  1. ^ (a) – indicates the player was an amateur.
  2. ^ Faldo and Price were in their final year of eligibility.
  3. ^ (R) – indicates a golfer who came through Regional Qualifying.
  4. ^ Scott Piercy, ranked 65, declined his place, which then went to Lahiri.[25]
  5. ^ Finau replaced Ben Curtis.[9]
  6. ^ Hahn replaced Brandt Snedeker.[10]

References

  1. ^ "The Champion Golfer of the Year will win USD1,845,000 at The 146th Open at Royal Birkdale". The Open Championship. 5 July 2017.
  2. ^ "Peter Thomson wins British Open with 283". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 10 July 1954. p. 11.
  3. ^ "Branden Grace shoots first-ever 62 in major championship history". Golf.com. 22 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Open Championship: Royal Birkdale prize money to be paid in US dollars, not sterling". BBC Sport. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  5. ^ Murray, Ewan (19 July 2017). "R&A calls BBC golf coverage 'tired and outdated' and defends Sky's Open deal". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  6. ^ "NBC Takes Over British Open TV Rights From ESPN 1 Year Early". Golf.com. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  7. ^ "Media guide". The Open Championship. 2011. pp. 21, 203. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  8. ^ "Palmer takes British crown". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. 16 July 1961. p. 1B.
  9. ^ Gray, Will (12 July 2017). "Former champ Curtis withdraws from Open; Finau in". Golf Channel. Archived from the original on 16 July 2017.
  10. ^ ".@BrandtSnedeker has withdrawn from The 146th Open at Royal Birkdale and is replaced by @JamesHahnPGA #TheOpen". No. 887682375857180672. 19 July 2017.
  11. ^ Murray, Scott & Burnton, Simon (20 July 2017). "The Open 2017: first round, as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  12. ^ Fordyce, Tom (20 July 2017). "The Open 2017: Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka & Matt Kuchar tied for lead". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  13. ^ Murray, Ewan (20 July 2017). "Jordan Spieth sets standard at Open to share lead after first round". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  14. ^ Murray, Scott & Miller, Nick (21 July 2017). "The Open 2017: Jordan Spieth takes two-shot lead on day two – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  15. ^ "The Open 2017: Jordan Spieth leads by two shots". BBC Sport. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  16. ^ Murray, Ewan (22 July 2017). "Branden Grace shoots lowest-ever men's major round of 62 at the Open". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  17. ^ Murray, Scott & McVeigh, Niall (22 July 2017). "The Open 2017: Jordan Spieth leads the way after third round – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  18. ^ Murray, Scott & Ostlere), Lawrence (23 July 2017). "Jordan Spieth wins the Open 2017: final round, as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  19. ^ Davis, Matt (21 July 2017). "The Open 2017: Jordan Spieth holds off Matt Kuchar to win third major". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  20. ^ DiMeglio, Steve (23 July 2017). "Jordan Spieth puts together incredible finish to win British Open". USA Today. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  21. ^ "Jordan Spieth wins Open for 3rd major title, finishes 3 shots ahead of Matt Kuchar". ESPN. 23 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  22. ^ Herrington, Ryan (23 July 2017). "British Open 2017: With 63 at Birkdale, Li becomes famous for more than just mom's viral video". Golf Digest. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  23. ^ Zak, Sean (22 July 2017). "9 ways Jordan Spieth made history Sunday at Royal Birkdale". Golf.com. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  24. ^ "The Open". ESPN. 23 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  25. ^ Romine, Brentley (11 July 2017). "Scott Piercy declines British Open spot, Anirban Lahiri added to field". Golfweek