2008 British Open

The British Open golf tournament is the oldest of the four major golf tournaments, dating back to the 1860’s. This tournament occurs outside of the United States and that is the way it has been held since its inception. Many viewers tune in to what these golfers bring to such a prestigious competition. The prize is £4.2 million (approximately €6.197 million or $8.638 million).

It used to be that the Open’s prize money was the smallest amount of the four majors. However, since 2002, it has been the highest. The Open has its specialties in the golf game; for example, when golfers are tied at the end of a match, they play in sudden death mode, which makes the game more exciting.

From 1860-1870, this tournament was hosted by the Prestwick Golf Club. Now the tournament is hosted at a number of different venues on a rotation basis. Most of the selected venues are link courses. Lately, most of the tournaments have been held in Scotland and England. The field of golfers is 156. Most of the field has highly ranked players, who are administered exemptions. The rest of the field is made up of players who did well in the local qualifying term and international qualifiers. For anyone looking to watch top quality golf by the best players in the world, the British Open is exactly what you are looking for. The tournament is usually called the Open Championship outside the U.S. to distinguish it from the other four major opens held across the world.