The Old Course at Royal Troon Golf Course will stage The Open Championship for the 10th time this year.
Throughout that illustrious history, several players have gone low at Royal Troon, but only two players hold the course record at the iconic Ayrshire links.
Phil Mickelson first made history with a stunning eight-under 63 in his first round of the 2016 Open Championship, before Henrik Stenson also shot a 63 in the final day to equal Mickelson’s feat and claim the title by three strokes after an epic head-to-head battle.
To shoot a 63 – the record score for a Major until Branden Grace carded a 62 at Birkdale in 2017 – is an impressive feat in itself, but Stenson managed to do it in the final round to win The Open title, making it one of the greatest rounds in the history of professional golf.
The previous course record at Royal Troon was held by Greg Norman, who shot a 64 at 1989 Open.
Stenson also claimed the lowest 72-hole score in Open history of 264 on his way to claiming his first Claret Jug. Cameron Smith would later match the 72-hole record at the 2022 Open at St Andrews.
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On the other end of the scale, the worst score ever recorded at Royal Troon at The Open Championship came during the first time the Major was hosted at the course in 1923.
Albert Tingey Jr has the unwanted record of highest score at Royal Troon after carding a 23-over 94 in his first round of the 58th Open.
As there was no cut that year, Tingey also has the unfortunate distinction of having the highest 72-hole score of 331 thanks to rounds of 94, 76, 79 and 82 – a whopping 67 strokes worse than Stenson and Smith’s record decades later.
Arthur Havers won the first Open at Royal Troon with a total score of 295, beating Walter Hagen by one stroke.
The best players in the world will have a shot at beating the Royal Troon course record at the 152nd Open Championship, which runs from 18-22 July.
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