The Open Championship, or simply The Open (often referred to as the British Open outside the UK), is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only major held outside the USA and is administered by the R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico. The Open is played on the weekend of the third Friday in July, and is the third major to take place each year following The Masters and the U.S. Open and before the PGA Championship.

The event takes place every year on one of nine historic links courses in Scotland or England (the event has been held once in Northern Ireland, but Royal Portrush is no longer on the rota). In 2007, The Open had a prize fund of £4.2 million (at the time, approximately €6.197 million or $8.638 million). Historically, The Open's prize money was consistently the least of the four majors; since 2002 it has been the highest. Uniquely among the four Major championships, the Open features a four hole playoff for all golfers tied at the end of regulation, with the playoff continuing into sudden death holes if players remain tied after four holes.

The Open Championship was first played on 17 October 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club, in Ayrshire, Scotland. The inaugural tournament was restricted to professionals, and attracted a field of eight Scottish golfers, who played three rounds of Prestwick's twelve-hole course in a single day. Willie Park Senior won with a score of 174, beating the favourite, Old Tom Morris, by two strokes. The following year the tournament was opened to amateurs; eight of them joined ten professionals in the field.