The Open and the USA

As Xander Schauffele accepted the gold medal and the Claret Jug at Troon last year, it would have been easy to forget that there was a point when the relationship between American golfers and The Open was virtually non-existent.

Schauffele’s victory by two strokes from Justin Rose and Billy Horschel made it three American wins in four years, the only interruption being the Australian triumph of Cameron Smith at St Andrews in 2022.

This century, 13 Opens have resulted in a win for a player from the United States, more than double the number that have seen a Champion Golfer from Great Britain & Ireland.

In the modern era, the balance of power at The Open has shifted towards players from a country that should, on paper, be the least comfortable with the challenge of links golf.

The devotion American players now have for the Championship cannot be denied, but over the years their love affair with The Open has blown hot and cold, and for a long time there was little affection for the world’s oldest and most prestigious Championship from across the pond at all.

Officially Jock Hutchison was the first American citizen to successfully rise to the challenge of winning the Claret Jug, doing so with his victory at St Andrews in 1921.

The caveat, however, was a significant one. Hutchison was originally from Scotland, and had a very good reason to feel at home at St Andrews, given he was born in the town.

A year later, more definitive proof of Americans beginning to warm to The Open and develop an understanding of how to win it came in the form of Walter Hagen’s success at Royal St George’s, which was the first of two wins in three years for the man known as the father of professional golf.

Hagen would win The Open twice more, while Bobby Jones claimed three Claret Jugs as an amateur, with their affinity for the Championship the foundation for a 12-year run from 1922 to 1933 in which the Jug went to a player born and raised in the United States 10 times – Arthur Havers and Jim Barnes the two English-born players to wrest it away from American hands in that period.

Though Jones would develop a deep affection for St Andrews following his 1927 win at the home of golf, the period of American superiority he helped foster did not inspire a feeling of adoration for the Championship among his countrymen.

It would take the best part of three decades for that to take hold, thanks predominantly to one of the most beloved personalities in the sport’s history, who helped ensure the Championship would remain at the forefront of the American consciousness as one to cherish.

Arnold Palmer’s first exposure to The Open saw him experience heartbreak, as his late charge amid a torrential downpour at St Andrews came up just short as he lost by one stroke to Kel Nagle.

But his close call at the Old Course was the first step towards reviving American interest in The Open, which increased significantly after Palmer went one better at Royal Birkdale in 1961, thriving amid gale force winds and hitting one of the most memorable shots in Open history with his 6-iron from thick rough at the 15th (now the 16th) to claim his first Claret Jug.

“I entered the 1960 Open Championship primarily because I did not feel you could ever call yourself a great champion if you didn’t play internationally, and particularly in the Open Championship,” Palmer said of his decision to enter the field at St Andrews.

After his victory in Southport, it was clear that several of his compatriots had been swayed to his line of thinking.

Indeed, the field at Troon a year later included an increased number of his countrymen, with a young Jack Nicklaus among those to tee it up.

The field might have been different, but the outcome was the same, with Palmer claiming a second successive Open title as the speedy, sun-baked fairways proved a perfect match for his attacking style.

Palmer said of his six–shot victory: “I have never, I mean never, played better golf.”

That was certainly the case at The Open, as Palmer never again lifted the Claret Jug and never finished higher than seventh in any of his appearances following that commanding victory. Yet he had succeeded not only in fulfilling his own criteria for being labelled a great champion, but also in altering the US perception of the Championship.

His successes would not immediately usher in an era of America dominance, even with victories for Tony Lema (1964) and Nicklaus (1966) in the same decade.
It would take a few more years for the Americans to make The Open their dominion again, though their grip on it would last for the best part of two decades once it was established.

Fittingly, four years on from his maiden Open victory at Muirfield, it was Nicklaus who began a run of superiority for American golfers. The Golden Bear’s victory in The 99th Open at St Andrews, which saw him famously take advantage of Doug Sanders’ inaccuracy from three feet to prevail in an 18-hole playoff, would mark the first of a series of iconic moments for players from across the Atlantic during the 1970s, a decade in which Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros were the only players to keep the Claret Jug away from the United States.

From Lee Trevino’s victorious battles with Lu Liang-huan and Tony Jacklin to the ‘Duel in the Sun’ between Tom Watson and Nicklaus, and the latter’s third victory in 1978, Americans defined the 1970s at The Open. The first part of the next decade would see the man from Kansas City who initially hated links golf establish himself as arguably its greatest exponent.

Watson’s play-off win in 1975 and his triumph over Nicklaus at Turnberry helped him shed his image as a nearly man in majors, but his dominance at Muirfield in 1980, followed by his success in pouncing on Bobby Clampett’s collapse two years later – and his magical 2-iron to secure his fifth title at Royal Birkdale – put the man from Kansas City in rarefied air.

The Claret Jug was eventually snatched from Watson’s grasp in 1984 at St Andrews, though the manner in which he lost out in a gripping battle with the Ballesteros only furthered his popularity, which was still apparent 25 years later at the same site as his duel with Nicklaus.

Watson agonisingly missed out on a sixth Championship triumph as a two-shot lead after 53 holes slipped through his fingers before he lost out to compatriot Stewart Cink in a play-off.

However, asked for his abiding memory from that Championship, Watson’s answer had nothing to do with events on the course.

“I think coming up the 18th hole again,” Watson replied. "Those memories are hard to forget. Coming up in the amphitheater of the crowd and having the crowd cheering you on like they do here for me.

“As I said, the feeling is mutual. And that warmth makes you feel human. It makes you feel so good.”

Watson’s valiant but unsuccessful effort to retain the Championship in his epic battle with Ballesteros marked the start of another largely barren run for Amercians at The Open. Just one of the next 11 Championships held after Watson’s victory at The 112th Open was claimed by an American, Mark Calcavecchia prevailing at The 118th Open at Royal Troon.

Yet with Palmer having transformed the image of the Championship Stateside and the likes of Trevino, Nicklaus and Watson writing their name into the history books as multiple winners, the affinity for The Open that for so long was not readily apparent in the United States was firmly established.

While Watson enjoyed appreciation on a scale reserved for the all-time greats, many of his compatriots have felt the warmth as they have emulated him in winning golf’s original Championship.

John Daly was a popular champion in 1995 as he emerged as an unlikely winner after a play-off with Constantino Rocca. Reflecting on that success in his Chronicles of a Champion Golfer film, Daly, in his own unique style, succinctly encapsulated the massive change in attitudes towards The Open among Americans.

“A redneck, blue-collar dumb*** like me goes and wins The Open at St Andrews. It’s awesome,” Daly said.

“Those memories you can just never forget. It’s just the ultimate feeling. The names on that trophy. You could say that about a lot of majors but that one is pretty unreal.”

Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard, Mark O’Meara, David Duval, Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton all added their names to the Claret Jug in the years following Daly’s win but, in the 21st century, no player has done more for The Open’s standing in the United States than Tiger Woods.

Woods’ affection for The Open did not take long to grow. He made the cut on his debut appearance as an amateur in 1995 and, a year later at Royal Lytham, he finished three-under-par in winning the Silver Medal.

Having displayed promise as a links golfer early in his career, Woods mastered St Andrews for two of his three Open victories. He did not find a single bunker en route to an eight-shot victory at the home of golf in The 129th Open and, five years later, Woods was imperious on the Old Course again in claiming a wire-to-wire triumph to complete the career Grand Slam for a second time, fittingly doing so as Nicklaus said farewell to a Championship to which he had given so much.

Tiger then retained the title of Champion Golfer at Hoylake a year later, as he held off an exerted challenge from Chris DiMarco to record an emotional triumph just a month after the passing of his father.

Palmer’s decision that he needed The Open on his CV began a trend of the biggest names in golf in the USA writing some of the most memorable chapters of their careers on the British Isles’ fabled links courses.

With Woods, his Open wins saw arguably the most recognisable athlete of his generation author three of the most remarkable performances in a legendary career, making it no surprise that he said the following about a Championship so often played in conditions in which few would thrive.

“You can have so many different weather conditions. That's just one of the unique things about The Open and why it's my favourite major championship,” Woods said.

Such words from the man many consider the greatest of all time are reflective of the reverence with which golfers from the United States now treat The Open. Long gone are the days in which the challenge presented by The Open was one Americans were reluctant to take on. Now, it is a test they embrace, attack and frequently find suited to their style of play.

Royal Portrush is best known for the joyous scenes when Shane Lowry gave the island of Ireland a home winner back in 2019, but it will once again be American superiority that he and much of the field will be trying to break when The Open returns there next month.

It is a sign of how times have changed that many will be expecting the Claret Jug to once again head to America when the dust settles on the County Antrim coast.