Editing The Open Championship (section)

===Tiger Woods and the modern era (1994 onwards)===
[[File:Tiger out of reach - geograph.org.uk - 363460.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tiger Woods]] won the Open twice at St Andrews.]]
Every year between 1994 and 2004 had a first-time winner.<ref name="European Tour Open">{{cite web |url=http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2019/tournamentid=2019062/history/index.html |title=Tournament History |publisher=European Tour |access-date=6 January 2019 |archive-date=30 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240630135325/https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/schedule/2019/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1999, the Open at Carnoustie was famously difficult, and Frenchman [[Jean van de Velde (golfer)|Jean van de Velde]] had a three-shot lead teeing off on the final hole. He ended up triple bogeying after finding the [[Barry Burn]], and Scotman [[Paul Lawrie]], ranked 241st in the world, ended up winning in a playoff. He was 10 strokes behind the leader going into the final round, a record for all majors.<ref name="Open - 1999">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/1999/ |title=1999 |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#!/1999/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was not the only unheralded champion during this span, as 396th-ranked [[Ben Curtis (golfer)|Ben Curtis]]<ref name="Open - 2003">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/2003/ |title=2003 |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#!/2003/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and 56th-ranked [[Todd Hamilton]]<ref name="Open - 2004">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/2004/ |title=2004 |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#!/2004/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> won in 2003 and 2004, respectively.

In 2000, [[Tiger Woods]], having just won the U.S. Open, became champion by a post-war record 8 strokes<ref name="Open - 2000">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/2000/ |title=2000 |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#!/2000/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> to become the youngest player to win the [[Grand Slam (golf)#Career Grand Slam|career Grand Slam]] at age 24.<ref name="PGA College"/> After winning the 2002 Masters and U.S. Open, he became the latest American to try to emulate [[Ben Hogan]] and win the Open in the same year. His bid came to a halt on Saturday with the worst round of his career up to that time, an 81 (+10) in cold, gusty rain.<ref name="Open - 2002">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/2002/ |title=2002 |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#!/2002/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> He went on to win again back-to-back in 2005 and 2006 to bring his total to three wins. Other multiple winners in this era are South African [[Ernie Els]] (2002, 2012) and Irishman [[Pádraig Harrington]] (2007, 2008).<ref name="PGA College"/><ref name="European Tour Open"/>

[[File:Blackpool Transport bus 370 (F370 AFR), 15 July 2012.jpg|thumb|Bus service taking attendees to the 2012 Open at Royal Lytham in Lancashire.]]
In 2009, 59-year-old [[Tom Watson (golfer)|Tom Watson]] led the tournament through 71 holes and needed just a par on the last hole to become the oldest ever winner of a major championship, and also match [[Harry Vardon]]'s six Opens. Watson bogeyed, setting up a four-hole playoff, which he lost to [[Stewart Cink]].<ref name="Open - 2009">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/2009/ |title=2009 |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#!/2009/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2015, [[Jordan Spieth]] became another American to arrive having already won the year's Masters and U.S. Open tournaments. He finished tied for fourth as [[Zach Johnson]] became champion.<ref name="Open - 2015">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/2015/ |title=2015 |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#!/2015/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Spieth would go on to win the 2017 Open at [[Royal Birkdale]].<ref name="European Tour Open"/>

American [[Phil Mickelson]] won his first Open, and fifth major, in 2013.<ref name="European Tour Open"/> In 2016, he was involved in an epic duel with Sweden's [[Henrik Stenson]], which many people compared to the 1977 [[1977 Open Championship|Duel in the Sun]] between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. Stenson emerged the winner, and the first [[Scandinavia]]n winner of a male professional major championship, with a record Open (and major) score of 264 (−20), three shots ahead of Mickelson, and 14 shots ahead of third place. [[Jack Nicklaus]] shared his thoughts on the final round, saying: "Phil Mickelson played one of the best rounds I have ever seen played in the Open and Henrik Stenson just played better—he played one of the greatest rounds I have ever seen".<ref name="Open - 2016">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/2016/ |title=2016 |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#!/2016/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Jack">{{cite news |url=https://www.golfchannel.com/article/golf-central-blog/jack-henrik-v-phil-better-duel-suntitle=2016 |title=Jack: Henrik v. Phil better than Duel in the Sun |work=Golf Channel |access-date=6 January 2019 |archive-date=30 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240630135315/https://www.nbcsports.com/golf |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Francesco Molinari]] won the 2018 Open at [[Carnoustie Golf Club|Carnoustie]] by two shots, to become the first Italian major winner.<ref name="Open - 2018">{{cite web |url=https://scores.theopen.com/Heritage/PreviousOpens#!/2018/ |title=2018 |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#!/2018/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Shane Lowry]] won the [[2019 Open Championship|2019 Open]] when the tournament returned to [[Royal Portrush Golf Club]], to become the second champion from the [[Republic of Ireland]].<ref name=espscbd>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/golf/leaderboard/_/tournamentId/401056547 |work=ESPN |title=The Open Championship: Leaderboard |date=18 July 2019 |access-date=27 July 2019 |archive-date=30 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240630135315/https://www.espn.com/golf/leaderboard/_/tournamentId/401056547 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2020, the Open Championship was cancelled because of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. It was the first time the championship had been cancelled since World War II. The R&A also confirmed that [[Royal St George's]], which would have hosted the championship in 2020, would be the host venue in 2021, effectively retaining the [[Old Course at St Andrews]] as the venue for the 150th Open.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/52135613|title=The Open cancelled – R&A announces St George's in Kent to host 149th Championship in 2021|date=2020-04-06|work=BBC Sport|access-date=2020-04-06|language=en-gb|archive-date=5 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105051918/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/52135613|url-status=live}}</ref>