‘How many umbrellas?’ The incredible numbers of the 2024 British Open
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As the light fades on Sunday at Royal Troon we pick out our favorite facts and figures that characterized the 152nd British Open Championship.
The enduring memory of the 2024 British Open when all is said and done will start and end with Xander Schauffele raising the Claret Jug on the 18th green at Royal Troon. The last numbers have been slotted into place inside the iconic yellow Open leaderboards that tower above the grandstands flanking the hole known as ‘Craigend’. It’s time for the scorers to head for a well-deserved pint of Tennents or wee dram of something stronger.
But behind every Open Champion is a set of 72 numbers, and responsible for those numbers is a set of 18 unique obstacles that morph daily on a South Ayrshire whim, creating four chapters of a twisting storyline that keep us guessing until the last putt drops.
The 157 protagonists have earned their keep this week, battling through some stretches that will be looked back on one day as their toughest test in the game. But we shouldn’t forget the supporting cast of volunteers, officials, marshalls, security, media, and hospitality personnel that enable the story to be observed, communicated, and enjoyed by the equally important and weather-hardened fans of the world’s greatest golf tournament.
So while much of the marveling this week has centered on a collection of arbitrary numbers on a scorecard, let’s also appreciate the figures that tell the whole tale of how an Open Championship comes together.
The Open 2024: The facts that defined golf’s greatest week
15,000 – The population of Troon when the Open’s not in town.
258,174 – The record-breaking number of spectators for an Open at Royal Troon.
£64m – The amount generated for Ayrshire’s local economy in 2016. This year is expected to far exceed that number with Royal Liverpool generating £187 million in 2023.
576 – The number of green fee-paying golfers at Troon Links on Wednesday before The Open.
199 – The number of countries The Open is being broadcast to.
6,500 – The number of permanent and temporary staff working across the week in various capacities including security, officials, marshalls, and employees of The R&A.
1,900 – The number of volunteers who The Open couldn’t run without.
£7.50 – The cost of a pint of beer!
152 – Bottles of limited edition Open whisky were available, 3 of which were bought by the same gentleman.
£110 – The cost of a ticket for Sunday’s final round.
$17m – The total prize fund for the final men’s Major of the year. That’s a $500,000 increase on 2023.
$3.1m – The winner’s share of the prize fund, a $100,000 increase on 2023.
7 – Past Open champions who made the cut. Brian Harman, Collin Morikawa, Shane Lowry, Jordan Spieth, Darren Clarke, and Padraig Harrington all reached the weekend.
12 – Past Open champions missed the cut or withdrew before the weekend. Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods. Cameron Smith, Henrik Stenson, Louis Oosthuizen, Francesco Molinari, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Justin Leonard, Todd Hamilton, John Daly, and Ernie Els all missed the weekend.
18 – Aguri Iwasaki endured the biggest score swing across two rounds. The Japanese player shot 74 on Thursday before producing one of the worst rounds in Open history with his Friday 91. It included playing a three-hole stretch in 13-over on the back nine!
45 – The highest front nine score of the week belonged to Justin Thomas, the two-time Major champion tumbling down the leaderboard with a nine-over opening stretch on Friday. He came back in two-under.
15 – The shots swing between Justin Thomas’ front nine score on Friday and his front nine score on Saturday. The US star fired a five-under 31 in the third round, taking advantage of the calm conditions before the afternoon chaos set in.
238 – The yardage of the longest hole-in-one in Open history. Si Woo Kim made the first-ever ace in the Championship’s history at the par-3 17th hole on Saturday.
124 – The cumulative total of the worst scores on each hole on Friday. That’s 53-over-par. I think even I’d have a shot of beating that!
13 – The number of players who made the cut in The Open having made the cut at the year’s previous three Majors. Can you name them all? Find out who they are, here.
7 – Players split by one shot at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final round – the most since The Open at St Andrews in 1932.
623 – The yardage of the par-5 6th hole… the longest in Open history.
74.44 – Field average for Round 1.
74.36 – Field average for Round 2.
72.43 – Field average for Round 3.
73.15 – Field average for Round 4.
73.85 – Field average for all four rounds.
9 – Years since Correy Conners had shot a round in the 80s on the PGA Tour. Before his nine-over 80 on Saturday, the Canadian’s last 80 came on his Major debut at The Masters in 2015.
4 – Percent chance of two left-handed players being paired together on the final day.
272 – The winning score of Xander Schauffele – ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’.
292 – The second lowest by an amateur in an Open at Royal Troon (Calum Scott).
1982 – The last time America completed a clean sweep on the four Majors.
8.15 – The total strokes gained on the field in round 4 by Xander Schauffele.
6 – The number of players to win the PGA Championship and Open in the same season.
52 – The percentage of times Xander Schauffele has finished in the top 10 at Majors – the best in the last 50 years for those who have played a minimum of 25 Majors.
15 – Sam Burn’s score differential between rounds 3 and 4. The highest under-to-over-par swing at The Open this week.
1,786 – The number of bogeys at Royal Troon this week.
300 – The number of double bogeys or worse at Royal Troon this week.
1,107 – The number of birdies at Royal Troon this week.
13 – The number of eagles at Royal Troon this week.
$677,450 – The prize fund distributed equally between those players not making the cut.
16 – The easiest hole this week a scoring average of 4.830 (par 5).
11 – The hardest hole this week a scoring average of 4.426 (par 4).
57 – The average percentage of fairways hit by the field this week.
54.6 – The average percentage of greens hit by the field this week.
279.7 – The average driving distance of the field this week.
Oh. And if you’re still wondering about the umbrellas…we’re still waiting to hear back ourselves. It seems the R&A is keen to keep the information “undercover.”
About the author
Ross Tugwood
Senior Digital Writer
Ross Tugwood is a Senior Digital Writer for todays-golfer.com, specializing in data, analytics, science, and innovation.
Ross is passionate about optimizing sports performance and has a decade of experience working with professional athletes and coaches for British Athletics, the UK Sports Institute, and Team GB.
He is an NCTJ-accredited journalist with post-graduate degrees in Performance Analysis and Sports Journalism, enabling him to critically analyze and review the latest golf equipment and technology to help you make better-informed buying decisions.
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The incredible facts and figures from the 2024 British Open Championship at Royal Troon
