Which golfer has won the most Open Championship titles?

As the final major of the men’s calendar, the Open Championship crowns the ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ – but who has won it most often?

First, a bit of background.

Organised by the R&A, the Open is the golf’s oldest championship, having first been played in 1860 at Prestwick.

Since then, there have been several multiple winners of the Claret Jug, but it has been over ten years since that feat was achieved.

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The most recent multiple winner of the Open Championship is Ernie Els. The South African lifted a second title in 2012, a decade after his first in 2002.

Between 2005 and 2008, Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington took turns defending the title, respectively – the most recent golfers to do so.

But which golfer has won the most Open Championship titles?

Currently, one man stands alone at the top of the pile with six Open Championship titles, but whilst that record won’t be topped any time soon, four golfers won five titles.

Peter Thomson, five-time Champion Golfer of the Year, is the only man to have won a 72-hole Open three years in a row.

The Open that completed the triple? At Hoylake in 1956.

Read more from Peter’s son Andrew about the legendary Australian.@RLGCHoylake

— The Open (@TheOpen) June 22, 2023

The first golfer to reach six Open Championship titles was Harry Vardon.

The Jersey-born player won the event in 1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, and 1914.

Vardon clinched his first title at Muirfield before bringing his Open Championship dominance to an end at Prestwick Golf Club.

The last of Vardon’s Claret Jug successes marked the end of a productive spell for the triumvirate of JH Taylor, Vardon, and James Braid.

That record-claiming sixth title meant the trio made it 16 wins in 21 Open Championships, and those chasing Vardon’s record follow close on the honours list.

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James Braid of Scotland, Englishman John Henry Taylor, Australia’s Peter Thomson, and Tom Watson from the United States, have all lifted the Claret Jug five times.

Impressively, Thomson remains the most recent player to win the Open Championship in three consecutive years.

He achieved that feat between 1954 and 1956 before winning again in 1958.

Five golfers won four Open Championship titles, including Old Tom Morris and his son, Young Tom Morris, whilst nine golfers have lifted the Claret Jug three times.

Of those to complete the hat-trick, the most notable are Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, and Tiger Woods.