Every Player to Win Back-to-Back British Opens

Xander Schauffele is looking to become the first back-to-back Open winner since Pádraig Harrington in 2008.

Xander Schauffele is the defending Open Championship winner. / Jack Gruber-Imagn Images

The 153rd Open Championship is officially underway at Northern Ireland's Royal Portrush, marking the historic links course's second time hosting the tournament in six years following a 68-year drought. The fourth and final major of the 2025 golf season, this year's Open is sure to bring plenty of drama leading into August's PGA Tour Championship and September's Ryder Cup.

Xander Schauffele enters the weekend as the Open's defending champion, having won last year's tournament at 9-under after edging out Justin Rose and Billy Horschel by two strokes. On a quest to win a third major championship, a victory would also make the 31-year-old Schauffele the first back-to-back Open winner since Pádraig Harrington in 2008.

Since the Open's inception in 1860, there have been 16 back-to-back winners. Here's a look at all of them:

Every Player to Win Back-to-Back British Opens

Of the 16 back-to-back Open Championship winners, two have won three in a row (Jamie Anderson, Bob Ferguson) while one (Young Tom Morris) captured four straight. The longest drought between back-to-back winners came from 1983 to 2005, which saw 23 years of non-consecutive champions before Tiger Woods accomplished the feat in '05 and '06.

The current drought sits at 17 years since Harrington's back-to-back in '07-'08.

Here's a list of all 16 back-to-back Open Championship winners:

Player	Consecutive Open's Won
Old Tom Morris	1861, '62
Young Tom Morris	1868, '69, '70, '72 ('71 championship cancelled)
Jamie Anderson	1877, '78, '79
Bob Ferguson	1880, '81, '82
John Henry Taylor	1894, '95
Harry Vardon	1898, '99
James Braid	1905, '06
Bobby Jones (a)	1926, '27
Walter Hagen	1928, '29
Bobby Locke	1949, '50
Peter Thomson	1955, '56
Arnold Palmer	1961, '62
Lee Trevino	1971, '72
Tom Watson	1982, '83
Tiger Woods	2005, '06
Pádraig Harrington	2007, '08

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