Ready to host for an 11th time in 2026, Royal Birkdale has seen plenty of Open Championship golf over the years.
The north-west English layout first welcomed the world's oldest championship in 1954 and has witnessed great performances from the likes of Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Johnny Miller in the years since.
Last time out was another magical display, this time from the clubs of Jordan Spieth as he produced one of the all-time Open Championship shots in the final round on his way to claiming the Claret Jug by three strokes.
His 12-under winning total wasn't the lowest ever seen at Royal Birkdale, though, with Trevino's incredible 14-under score back in 1971 remaining the benchmark.
Also in 2017 arrived Branden Grace's third-round 62. At that stage, it was the first time anyone had ever carded a 62 (or better) at a Major championship.
On the flip side, The Open has twice been claimed at Royal Birkdale with scores of even par or worse. Mark O'Meara triumphed in a playoff against Brian Watts in 1998 - the pair just holding off a young Tiger Woods who finished solo third on one-over.
Then, 10 years later, Padraig Harrington managed to reign supreme on three-over-par. Only four players managed to end a round leading the championship under par, with a baked-out Birkdale pushing everyone back over the weekend.
But, more often than not, the winning score relative to par has ranged between four-under and nine-under.
In fact, the average winning total of The Open at Royal Birkdale is less than seven-under (-6.9). That equates to 278.7 strokes overall, with Royal Birkdale having begun life as a par-73 at The Open before flicking down to a par-70 via the intermediate numbers.
Spieth is the only player to have broken 270 strokes across four rounds here so far because Birkdale was a par-70 last time out, and will continue that way in 2026. Whereas when Trevino lifted the Claret Jug with 278 shots, the course was a par 73.
Interestingly, the average winning score of The Open across all of its historic sites used in the modern era is around two strokes lower than at Birkdale, making the Lancashire layout one of the tougher courses on the rota.
The average winning score at The Open is approximately nine-under-par - so around 276 strokes.
Yet, Henrik Stenson and Cameron Smith have both won the Claret Jug with a score of 20-under (Royal Troon and St Andrews) while Paul Lawrie's six-over total at Carnoustie in 1999 remains the highest victorious figure since 1947.
THE OPEN WINNING SCORES AT ROYAL BIRKDALE
Year |
Winner |
Par |
Score |
|---|---|---|---|
1954 |
Peter Thomson |
73 |
283 (-9) |
1961 |
Arnold Palmer |
72 |
284 (-4) |
1965 |
Peter Thomson |
73 |
285 (-7) |
1971 |
Lee Trevino |
73 |
278 (-14) |
1976 |
Johnny Miller |
72 |
279 (-9) |
1983 |
Tom Watson |
71 |
275 (-9) |
1991 |
Ian Baker-Finch |
70 |
272 (-8) |
1998 |
Mark O'Meara |
70 |
280 (E) - Playoff |
2008 |
Padraig Harrington |
70 |
283 (+3) |
2017 |
Jordan Spieth |
70 |
268 (-12) |
