Editing The Open Championship (section)

===American success with Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones, and the last Open at Prestwick (1920–1939)===
[[Image:Walter Hagen 1922 Open Championship.png|thumb|left|[[Walter Hagen]] playing at the [[1922 Open Championship]] at [[Royal St George's|St George's]], where he became the first American-born winner.]]
In 1920 the Open returned, and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club became the sole organiser of the Open Championship. In 1926 they standardised the format of the tournament to spread over three days (18 holes on day 1 and 2, and 36 on day 3), and include both qualifying and a cut.<ref name="Practice Ruling2"/>

In 1921 eleven U.S.-based players travelled to Scotland financed by a popular subscription called the "British Open Championship Fund", after a campaign by the American magazine ''Golf Illustrated''.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll2/id/5391/rec/2 |magazine=Golf Illustrated |date=March 1921 |page=32 |title=Month at a Glance |access-date=6 August 2013 |archive-date=5 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105145443/https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll2/id/5391/rec/2 |url-status=live }}</ref> Five of these players were British born, and had emigrated to America to take advantage of the high demand for club professionals as the popularity of golf grew.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/the-history-of-how-scotland-brought-golf-to-america-1-4049651 |newspaper=The Scotsman |date=7 March 2016 |title=The history of how Scotland brought golf to America |access-date=6 January 2019 |archive-date=8 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108045744/https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/the-history-of-how-scotland-brought-golf-to-america-1-4049651 |url-status=live }}</ref> A match was played between the Americans and a team of British professionals, which is seen as a forerunner of the [[Ryder Cup]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/rydercup/11110766/How-the-Ryder-Cup-was-born-at-Gleneagles.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/rydercup/11110766/How-the-Ryder-Cup-was-born-at-Gleneagles.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=20 September 2014 |title=How the Ryder Cup was born at Gleneagles |access-date=6 January 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> When the Open was held two weeks later, one of these visitors, [[Jock Hutchison]], a naturalised American citizen, won in [[St Andrews]], the town of his birth.<ref name="Open - 1921">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/1921/ |title=1921 |publisher=The Open |access-date=6 January 2019 |archive-date=7 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107233514/https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/1921/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1922 [[Walter Hagen]] won the first of his four Opens, and become the first American-born winner. The period between 1923 and 1933 saw an American-based player win every year (two were British-born), and included three wins by amateur [[Bobby Jones (golfer)|Bobby Jones]], and one by [[Gene Sarazen]], who had already won top tournaments in the United States. English players won every year between 1934 and 1939, including two wins by [[Henry Cotton (golfer)|Henry Cotton]] (he would go on to win a third in 1948).<ref name="PGA College"/>

After overcrowding issues at the 1925 Open at Prestwick, it was decided it was no longer suitable for the growing size of the event, being too short, having too many blind shots, and it could not cope with the volume of spectators.<ref name="Open - 1925">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/1925/ |title=1925 |publisher=The Open |access-date=6 January 2019 |archive-date=7 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107233514/https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/1925/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Open's original venue was replaced on the rota with [[Carnoustie Golf Club|Carnoustie]],<ref name="Open - 1931">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/1931/ |title=1931 |publisher=The Open |access-date=6 January 2019 |archive-date=7 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107233514/https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/1931/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> which hosted for the first time in 1931. [[Royal Troon Golf Club|Troon]] hosted for the first time in 1923,<ref name="Open - 1923">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/1923/ |title=1923 |publisher=The Open |access-date=6 January 2019 |archive-date=7 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107233514/https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/1923/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club|Royal Lytham & St Annes]] was also added, hosting for the first time in 1926.<ref name="Open - 1926">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/1926/ |title=1926 |publisher=The Open |access-date=6 January 2019 |archive-date=7 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107233514/https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/1926/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Prince's Golf Club|Prince's]] hosted its one and only Open in 1932.<ref name="Open - 1932">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/1932/ |title=1932 |publisher=The Open |access-date=6 January 2019 |archive-date=7 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107233514/https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/1932/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Image:Ben Hogan NYWTS.jpg|thumb|[[Ben Hogan]] gets a ticker-tape parade on his return to [[New York City]], after winning the [[1953 Open Championship]].]]