Every golfer to ever win the British Open multiple times

Lifting the Claret Jug one time is historic, winning more than one British Open is legendary.
Tiger Woods - British Open
Tiger Woods - British Open / Andrew Redington/GettyImages
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Being named the Champion Golfer of the Year is one of the most prestigious honors in all of sports, let alone golf. Come Sunday evening, somebody's life will be changed forever as they receive the famed Claret Jug and are called the Champion Golfer of the Year for 2024. One individual will join the legends of the game and win the 152nd edition of the Open Championship at Royal Troon, one year on from Brian Harman's triumph at Royal Liverpool last summer.

The winner of the year's final major championship is still some way from being determined with 36 holes of the famous championship still to be played, but at the halfway point of the 152nd Open, it's Irishman Shane Lowry who will be dreaming of lifting the iconic trophy for a second time, five years on from his emotional first major victory at Royal Portrush. Plenty of others in contention will undoubtedly have something to say about that before it's all said and done, but for now, Lowry can dream.

A second Open Championship victory would see Shane Lowry join an illustrious list of champions who have won golf's historic major on multiple occasions. Lifting the Claret Jug once is life-changing. Accomplishing the feat multiple times is legendary. But who all has accomplished that incredible feat and written their names in the history books alongside the legends of the game, and which player in the championship's illustrious history has won the championship the most times? Let's take a look.

How many players have lifted the historic Claret Jug multiple times?

In the great history of the British Open, there have been a total of 26 players who have lifted the famed Claret Jug on more than one occasion. With the Open having first taken place back in 1860, a handful of the legends of the game have gone on to win the famous championship multiple times including, Tom Watson, Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Arnold Palmer, and Tiger Woods, to name a few of the greats who have all etched their names in the history books of golf's oldest major.

Who holds the record for the most wins in Open Championship history?

Perhaps somewhat of a surprise, it's not legends of the game Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, or Walter Hagen who have won the Open Championship the most times, it's the great Harry Vardon who won the historic championship an incredible six times. Vardon won his first of six Opens in 1896 after a playoff against Englishman J.H. Taylor. Incredibly, Harry Vardon won three of his six Open Championships in a four-year span from 1896 to 1899. Four others, including J.H. Taylor, won five Opens during their illustrious careers but nobody ever matched Vardon who won six of his seven career major titles at golf's historic championship.

Every multi-time winner of the British Open

Here is a look at every player who won multiple British Opens and the years in which they lifted the iconic Claret Jug at golf's oldest major championship.

Player

British Open Wins

Years Won

Harry Vardon

6

1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914

James Braid

5

1901, 1905, 1906, 1908, 1910

J.H. Taylor

5

1894, 1895, 1900, 1909, 1913

Peter Thomson

5

1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965

Tom Watson

5

1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983

Tom Morris Sr.

4

1861, 1862, 1864, 1867

Tom Morris Jr.

4

1868, 1869, 1870, 1872

Willie Park Sr.

4

1860, 1863, 1866, 1875

Walter Hagen

4

1922, 1924, 1928, 1929

Bobby Locke

4

1949, 1950, 1952, 1957

Jamie Anderson

3

1877, 1878, 1879

Bob Ferguson

3

1880, 1881, 1882

Bobby Jones

3

1926, 1927, 1930

Henry Cotton

3

1934, 1937, 1948

Gary Player

3

1959, 1968, 1974

Seve Ballesteros

3

1979, 1984, 1988

Nick Faldo

3

1987, 1990, 1992

Tiger Woods

3

2000, 2005, 2006

Bob Martin

2

1876, 1885

Willie Park Jr.

2

1887, 1889

Harold Hilton

2

1892, 1897

Arnold Palmer

2

1961, 1962

Lee Trevino

2

1971, 1972

Greg Norman

2

1986, 1993

Padraig Harrington

2

2007, 2008

Ernie Els

2

2002, 2012

Shane Lowry will hope to follow in the footsteps of Ernie Els, who was the most recent player to join the illustrious group of multi-time winners of this historic major championship. The Irishman will also hope to become the tenth winner of the British Open at Royal Troon following Henrik Stenson most recently in 2016, and multiple Open winners, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer, and Bobby Locke, who all won the Claret Jug at Troon.

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