Page "Men's major golf championships" Paragraph 22

* The Open Championship ( also referred to as the British Open outside of the United Kingdom ) is organized by The R & A, an offshoot of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, and is typically played on a links-style course in Scotland or England.

It carries the prestige of being the original " Open " championship ( although the very first event was held only for British professionals ) and is respected for maintaining the tradition of links play that dates back to the very invention of the game in Scotland.

This is typified by courses that are coastal, flat and often very windswept, with the fairways cut through dune grass and gorse bushes that make up the " rough ", and have deep bunkers.

The course is generally not " doctored " to make it more difficult, effectively making the variable weather the main external influence on the field's score.

As well as exempting from qualifying recent professional major and amateur champions and leading players from the world rankings, the R & A ensures that leading golfers from around the globe are given the chance to enter by holding qualifying events on all continents, as well as holding final qualifying events around the UK in the weeks prior to the main tournament.

Several recent champions have been relatively unknown players who came through one of these qualifying routes.

The champion receives ( and has his name inscribed on the base of ) the famous Claret Jug, a trophy that dates back to 1872 ( champions from 1860 until 1871 received instead a championship belt, much like a champion professional boxer's belt nowadays ) and the engraving of the champions ' name on the trophy prior to them receiving it is, in itself, one of the traditions of the closing ceremony of the championship, as is the award of the silver medal to the leading amateur player to have made the cut to play the last 36 holes.