The Open Championship to Return to St Andrews in 2015

The Royal & Ancient (R&A), Golf’s governing body has confirmed that The British Open Championship will return to St Andrews in 2015.

St Andrews, widely considered the ‘Home of Golf’, has hosted the oldest major in the sport a record 28 times, with the Claret Jug coming to be contested at the famous links every five years in recent times.

R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said: “We are delighted to announce that The Open will be returning to St Andrews and the historic Old Course in 2015. St Andrews has proved time and again that it is perfectly equipped to host The Open and I am certain we will yet again see a worthy winner lift the Claret Jug.”

It will be the 144th staging of the event, which will take place between July 16-19. Previous winners at St Andrews include Tiger Woods (2000, 2005), Sir Nick Faldo (1990), Seve Ballesteros (1984) and Jack Nicklaus (1970, 1978). It is often said that every great player in history has teed it up at St Andrews at least once during their career.

Euan Loudon, chief executive of the St Andrews Links Trust, added: “There is always a special sense of anticipation when the Open is played on the Old Course and it promises to be no different in 2015. Almost every great champion in the game has played here and there is no more fitting celebration of the rich heritage of the Home of Golf than hosting golf’s oldest major championship.”

The return of the event should also provide a financial boost to the local area – with the R&A estimating that the 2010 event injected over £100 million ($156.2m) into the Scottish economy, £40.1 million ($62.7m) of that in Fife and the surrounding areas.

Next year’s Open will take place at Royal Lytham & St Annes, with Muirfield and Royal Liverpool also due to host the event before it returns to St Andrews.