How The Open Championship Decides a Tie: A Super Simple Guide

Updated July 19, 2026, 12:10 p.m. ET

Imagine you and your friend both finish a board game with the exact same score. Who wins? In golf, they have a special extra round called a playoff to break the tie. Let’s look at how the biggest golf tournaments do it, and then zoom in on The Open.

How Other Majors Break Ties

Golf has four big tournaments called "majors." Each one has its own way of breaking a tie:

• The Masters uses sudden-death. This means players keep playing one hole at a time. The first person to do better on a hole than the others wins right away.
• The PGA Championship uses a three-hole aggregate. Players play three holes, and the person with the lowest total score across those three holes wins.
• The U.S. Open uses a two-hole aggregate (add up scores from two holes). If still tied, they go to sudden-death until someone wins.

What About The Open Championship?

The Open is the oldest major (we call it golf’s original major). It is run by a group called the R&A. So how do they break a tie?

What is The Open Playoff Format?

If two or more golfers are tied for the lead after the normal 72 holes (that’s four rounds of 18 holes each) at The Open in 2026, here is what happens:

• They play a three-hole aggregate on these holes at Royal Birkdale:
  • Hole 14 (a par-5, meaning good score is 5)
  • Hole 15 (a par-3)
  • Hole 18 (a par-4)
• The golfer with the best combined score on those three holes becomes the "Champion Golfer of the Year."
• If they are still tied after those three holes, the remaining players keep playing hole 18 again and again (sudden-death) until only one person is left ahead.

Important Point: There has not been a playoff at The Open since 2015. That means this three-hole aggregate format has never actually been used yet at The Open!

When Did the R&A Switch to the Three-Hole Aggregate?

The R&A didn’t always do it this way. Here is the simple timeline:

1. Before 1989: They used 18-hole and 36-hole playoffs (play a whole round or two to break the tie).
2. 1989 to 2018: They used a four-hole aggregate (add up four holes). This was needed eight times.
3. 2019 onward: They changed to the three-hole aggregate that we explained above.

The Open Playoff History

The Open is 153 years old, and in that time there have been 21 playoffs:

• The first was in 1876
• The most recent was in 2015
• The only playoff ever at Royal Birkdale (where 2026 is held) was in 1998

Here is the full list of past playoffs:

• 1876: Bob Martin def. Davie Strath (walkover) | St. Andrews (Scotland)
• 1883: Willie Fernie def. Bob Ferguson (36 holes) | Musselburgh (Scotland)
• 1889: Willie Park Jr. def. Andrew Kirkaldy (36 holes) | Musselburgh (Scotland)
• 1896: Harry Vardon def. J.H. Taylor (36 holes) | Muirfield (Scotland)
• 1911: Harry Vardon def. Arnaud Massy (34 holes) | Royal St. George’s (England)
• 1921: Jock Hutchison def. Roger Wethered (36 holes) | St. Andrews (Scotland)
• 1933: Denny Shute def. Craig Wood (36 holes) | St. Andrews (Scotland)
• 1949: Bobby Locke def. Harry Bradshaw (36 holes) | Royal St. George’s (England)
• 1958: Peter Thomson def. Dave Thomas (36 holes) | Royal Lytham & St. Annes (England)
• 1963: Bob Charles def. Phil Rodgers | Royal Lytham & St. Annes (England)
• 1970: Jack Nicklaus def. Doug Sanders (18 holes) | St. Andrews (Scotland)
• 1975: Tom Watson def. Jack Newton (18 holes) | Carnoustie (Scotland)
• 1989: Mark Calcavecchia def. Greg Norman and Wayne Grady (4 holes) | Royal Troon (Scotland)
• 1995: John Daly def. Constantino Rocca (4 holes) | St. Andrews (Scotland)
• 1998: Mark O’Meara def. Brian Watts (4 holes) | Royal Birkdale (England)
• 1999: Paul Lawrie def. Jean Van de Velde and Justin Leonard (4 holes) | Carnoustie (Scotland)
• 2002: Ernie Els def. Thomas Levet, Stuart Appleby and Steve Elkington (4 holes) | Muirfield (Scotland)
• 2004: Todd Hamilton def. Ernie Els (4 holes) | Royal Troon (Scotland)
• 2007: Padraig Harrington def. Sergio Garcia (4 holes) | Carnoustie (Scotland)
• 2009: Stewart Cink def. Tom Watson (4 holes) | Turnberry (Scotland)
• 2015: Zach Johnson def. Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman (4 holes) | St. Andrews (Scotland)

Summary

The Open Championship breaks ties with a three-hole aggregate playoff (holes 14, 15, and 18 at Royal Birkdale in 2026), and if still tied, sudden-death on hole 18. The R&A switched to this from a four-hole aggregate in 2019. The Open has had 21 playoffs in 153 years, but none since 2015, so the new three-hole method hasn’t been used in real life yet.

FAQ

Q: What does "aggregate" mean in a playoff?
A: It means they add up your scores from several holes, and the person with the lowest total wins.

Q: Why does The Open use three holes instead of one like the Masters?
A: The R&A (the group in charge) thinks three holes is a fairer test than one sudden-death hole. They changed to three holes in 2019.

Q: Has the three-hole playoff ever been used at The Open?
A: No. The last playoff was in 2015 under the old four-hole rule, so the three-hole format is still waiting for its first use.

Q: What happens if players tie after the three holes at The Open?
A: They keep playing hole 18 over and over until someone wins and the others are behind (sudden-death).

This article was written by Todd Kelly, an assistant managing editor at Golfweek.