In the 152 editions of The Open, Americans have won the major 48 times. The number may make it seem like they are experts in the major, but the reality is far different from that. The fact is, folks like Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, and Tiger Woods helped them amass the majority of those figures. These legends together captured a total of 22 wins in The Open throughout their career. The remaining were once-in-a-career efforts, at least until now.

The biggest factor that comes into play is the choice of course for The Open. The major is only played on links courses across Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, and Scotland. The sandy terrain, unique weather, and lack of greenery are something American golfers aren’t accustomed to. Moreover, links courses also have much narrower fairways. They play their entire season on lush green courses with wider fairways that give them ample space to drive. Add the rainy and windy weather to it, and driving accuracy goes haywire.

As mentioned, golfers from the United States have won The Open 48 times. That may seem like a mammoth number in just 152 tournaments, but Great Britain has had many more winners overall. The territory has produced 76 champions in total, as confirmed by Golf News. In fact, the first time an American won The Open was in the 56th edition of the tournament. It’s evident that the major isn’t favorable for golfers from the United States.

In fact, many of the best in the country have expressed how difficult it is to play on the challenging courses of The Open. Defending champion in 2025, Xander Schauffele, had confessed, “I think, when you say links golf, it comes with weather, and when you play in bad weather, you have to have a good attitude. You have to visualize a lot more than just hitting your number on a machine.”  He believes that just being a skilled golfer is not enough to tackle the obstacles of links courses. You need to have the right strategy to play every hole based on the fairway, weather, and mental state.

Bryson DeChambeau has faced his fair share of difficulties trying to break through the ranks in The Open. After missing the cut in 2024, he put in a lot of work this year to find the right rhythm. The LIV Golf pro said, “All I’ve really done is hit more half shots and tried to play into the wind a lot more. If it’s a left-to-right wind, I’ll draw it. If it’s a right-to-left wind, I’ll try to cut it more often than not.” He believes that going against the wind gives him the best shot at controlling his stroke. While that might reduce the distance he gets on his drives, this approach might help him find the fairway more often. As he confessed, riding the wind will only mean asking for trouble. Hopefully, this strategy will help him make the cut in The Open Championship 2025.

Having said that, the major has also seen some iconic wins from American golfers. Let’s run back in time and explore a few big wins from some big names who didn’t give any of their British rivals a shot.

When the United States dominated The Open Championship

The first and most memorable win that comes to mind is Tiger Woods’s outstanding triumph in The Open 2000. Woods picked up the lead in the second round and didn’t let go of it until the 72nd hole. He won the tournament by 8 strokes, the biggest margin by which an American golfer has won the major. Another one of Woods’s brilliant displays of golf intelligence came in the 2006 edition of The Open. Playing at Royal Liverpool, the 82-time champion only used his driver once throughout the tournament. He proved that he not only had the brawn but also the brains to play strategically to tackle the challenging, narrow fairways. That was his last win in The Open and also the one that proved him to be a complete golfer.

Tom Watson is another polarizing figure in The Open Championship. Not because of any particular win, but because he won the major 5 times in his career. And he did so within a period of 9 years, between 1975 and 1983. Watson had the second highest number of wins in the oldest major in golf history, only 1 behind Harry Vardon. With Xander Schauffele lining up at Royal Portrush in The Open 2025, it will be interesting to see if he becomes the first American to become a multi-time champion of the major since Woods in 2006.