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Senior Golf Open: Dates, venues, history, format, odds & more

The Senior Open, which is the third Major of the Legends Tour season, gets underway at Carnoustie on Thursday and we have all you need to know ahead of the event.

This will be the 38th staging of the Senior Open, which is being held at the famous Carnoustie Golf Links course for the third time.

The Senior Open dates

The Senior Open starts on Thursday 25th July 2024 and is played over four days, finishing on Sunday 28th July 2024.

The Senior Open venue

Carnoustie's famous Links course is situated in Angus in Scotland, on the east coast, close to Dundee.

Carnoustie has hosted the Senior Open twice previously, in 2010 and 2016, while it is also on the list of courses that rotate to stage The Open Championship.

It has been the venue for the men's major on eight occasions down the years - in 1931, 1937, 1953, 1968, 1975, 1999, 2007 and 2018.

Carnoustie was also the venue for the Women's British Open in 2011 and 2021.

The Senior Open how to watch

The Senior Open will be televised on Sky Sports Golf and and can be followed on the bet365 Live Golf Tracker.

The Senior Open previous winners

The reigning champion of the Senior Open is Czech-German player Alex Cejka, who won the tournament for the first time when he triumphed at Royal Porthcawl in 2023, beating Padraig Harrington in a play-off.

Neil Coles won the first Senior Open in 1987 at Turnberry, when it was then known as the Seniors' British Open, while Gary Player won the first of his three Senior Open titles the following year.

Seven players have multiple victories in the Senior Open, with German star Bernhard Langer leading the way with four wins. Langer took the crown for the first time in 2010 at Carnoustie, then won again at Royal Porthcawl four years later.

He picked up his third Senior Open title in 2017, again at Royal Porthcawl, and was last victorious in the tournament in 2019 when he came out on top at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Player's Senior Open successes came in 1988, 1990 (both at Turnberry) and then in 1997, when he triumphed at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

Tom Watson has been crowned Senior Open champion on three occasions - in 2003 at Turnberry, 2005 at Royal Aberdeen and 2007 at Muirfield, while Bob Charles' two victories came in 1989 at Turnberry and in 1993 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

Brian Barnes picked up back-to-back Senior Open titles in 1995 and 1996, both at Royal Portrush, Christy O'Connor Jnr also won in successive years in 1999 (Royal Portrush) and 2000 (Royal County Down), while Loren Roberts' brace of Senior Open titles were earned in 2006 at Turnberry and 2009 at Sunningdale.

The Senior Open courses

In total, 14 different courses have held the Senior Open, with Turnberry staging it the most, on seven occasions. Turnberry was the venue for the first four Senior Opens between 1987 and 1990 and the tournament returned there in 2003, 2006 and 2012.

Royal Portrush has been the host six times and for five years running between 1995 and 1999, before the tournament went back to the Northern Irish course in 2004.

Royal Lytham & St. Annes has been the venue on five occasions with the Senior Open last played there in 2019, having previously been the host for four years on the trot in between 1991 and 1994.

Royal County Down Golf Club, Sunningdale and Royal Porthcawl have each staged the Senior Open three times, while Royal Troon,and this year's venue, Carnoustie, have twice been the venue.

Meanwhile, Gleneagles, St Andrews, Muirfield, Royal Birkdale, Walton Heath, and Royal Aberdeen have each staged the tournament once.

The Senior Open format

A total of 144 players aged 50 or over compete for the prize, with the Senior Open jointly owned and run by The R&A, the same body that organises The Open Championship, and the PGA European Tour.

As with The Open, after the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday, the top 70 and tied players qualify to play in the final two rounds and the rest miss the cut. 

The player with the lowest total score over the course of four rounds is then declared the winner.

The Senior Open play-off format

The rules state that in the event of a tie for first place there will be a hole-by-hole play-off.

If the play-off involves more than two players, those other than the winner will be deemed to have tied for second place regardless of their scores in the play-off.

The Senior Open record winning score

Langer holds the record for the best winning score in the Senior Open when he secured his second title in 2014 at Royal Porthcawl.

The German led wire-to-wire and broke the tournament scoring record, finishing on 18-under par. 

Watson's score of 17-under at Turnberry in 2003 is the next best, while Marco Dawson's score of -15 at Sunningdale in 2015 is third on the list.

The Senior Open biggest winning margin

Langer's memorable 2014 triumph by 13 strokes ahead of runner-up Colin Montgomerie is also the biggest winning margin in any Senior Open

Charles' success in 1989, when he won by seven shots, is the next best margin of victory in the Senior Open.

Who was the last player to successfully defend the Senior Open?

The late Irish star Christy O'Connor Jnr is the last man to successfully defend the Senior Open title when he won the event back-to-back in 1999 and 2000.

The Senior Open 2023 winner

Cejka won the Senior Open last year, defeating Harrington in a play-off at Royal Porthcawl thanks to a birdie on the second extra hole.

The Senior Open odds

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