The Open 2025: Why Is It No Longer Called The British Open?

5 min read

The best of the best are in Northern Ireland for The Open Championship. Or, as some like to call it, ‘The British Open.’ However, that is not the accurate name of the tournament. The Open Championship, or simply The Open, has been around since 1860. Ever since Willie Park Sr. lifted the Claret Jug back then, it has always held the same name, as per the official website of the major. However, the importance of having the same name has grown over the years.

Being the oldest major in golf, the Open didn’t have any other major event that competed with its title. So, for 35 years from 1860, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, or R&A, continued to use the name without any conflicts. However, in 1895, the USGA introduced the U.S. Open, the second oldest major in golf. The tournament brought the prestige of The Open to American soil and turned it into a grand event in golf. While the world knew The Open as it was named, the American audience referred to it as the British Open, which complemented the U.S. Open.

However, the factual error in calling The Open the British Open didn’t begin until the early 50s. In 1951, for the first time in history, the R&A hosted a major outside of Britain. It was held in the same venue it is being hosted at in 2025, the Royal Portrush. The tournament that saw Max Faulkner lift the Claret Jug may have also been the one that pushed The British Open name out of the window. Unfortunately, that was not the case, as the American audience continued to refer to it by that name. While the lack of geographical knowledge is not to be blamed here, the title for the major was a topic of discussion within the U.K. itself.

While the Scottish and English don’t mind the major being called the British Open, those living in Northern Ireland protest the claim. They will be hosting the tournament for the third time in 2025. The last edition saw an Irishman, Shane Lowry, lift the championship in the end. As Doug Ferguson quoted in his article for AP News, the R&A might have cringed hearing their champion from 2021, Collin Morikawa, call it The British Open in his victory speech.

While they may not have corrected Morikawa after his win over Jordan Spieth at Royal St. George’s, the R&A did clarify the issue with the media outlets from the United States many years before. As published by Golf Compendium, the R&A pushed the American media to refer to The Open Championship as it is and not as The British Open in 2005. In fact, as per the new terms with broadcast partners ESPN, CBS, and NBC, the major will strictly be referred to as ‘The Open’ or ‘The Open Championship.’ The term ‘British Open’ was strictly prohibited. However, they were allowed to use variants that included the edition of the tournament, like ‘The 135th Open Championship,’ which set the stage for Tiger Woods‘s iconic win at Royal Liverpool.

Photo by Paul Ellis

 

The R&A is trying to push the narrative of removing ‘Championship’ from the name and only calling it ‘The Open.’ However, Sir Nick Faldo poked fun at their move, suggesting “The Open Championship’ is incorrect. It’s now ‘The Open,’ you see? It’s gone from the British Open to the Open Championship. Now, it’s The Open. In another five years it will be just called ‘The.’” 

Whatever it ends up being, one thing is clear: it was never the British Open. However, that is not the only way the American media has butchered the name of the major in the past.

Media houses destroy The Open Championship’s name to suit their preference

Calling The Open Championship The British Open still made some sense, considering the origin of the major. However, imagine referring to an event being played in Scotland as an English tournament. In 1900, when John Henry Taylor won the major by 8 strokes, he was bound to make the news. His triumph at St. Andrews was heavily publicized in the American newspapers. However, as per AP News, one of the papers referred to the event as the open golf championship.’

That would have been acceptable, even if it wasn’t entirely accurate. However, just a few lines in, the writer changed the major’s name to ‘English Championships.’ The fact that it was being played on a Scottish golf course made the whole episode quite comical. The only aspect that probably made sense was that J.H. Taylor was an Englishman himself. However, changing the name of the oldest major in golf from The Open Championship to The English Championship shows how the media outlets in the United States perceived the tournament back in the day.

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