The 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club has been very competitive this year. Big stars like defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Jordan Spieth are fighting hard for the trophy. But what happens if two or more players finish tied after 72 holes at The Open? The champion isn’t decided by a single sudden-death hole. Instead, the R&A uses a three-hole aggregate playoff—a mini-tournament designed to give players a fairer chance at the Claret Jug.

The Three-Hole Aggregate System

The three-hole aggregate playoff begins with three designated holes. The organizers choose these specific holes on the course for this extra match.

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This Should Be an Easy One, Right?

01/10

Under Which Golf Rule Was Bryson DeChambeau Penalized for Improving His Lie?

Rule 8.1 Rule 4.1b Rule 16.1 Rule 14.7b

Oops, bogey!

But don’t worry, there’s still the back 9 to prove your high golf IQ

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The players must finish all three of these chosen holes. The golfer with the lowest total score at the end of the three holes wins the tournament and takes home the famous Claret Jug trophy. This system is very fair because one bad shot on the first extra hole will not instantly ruin a player’s chance to win the championship.

Sudden Death Rules

Sometimes, even three extra holes are not enough to find a winner. If the golfers are still tied after finishing the three-hole loop, the rules change immediately to sudden death. The players will go straight to the 18th hole and keep playing it over and over again until someone wins a hole outright.

There is also a unique rule if three or four players are in the playoff together. The player with the lowest score gets the trophy, while all the other players in the playoff automatically tie for second place, no matter what their individual playoff scores look like.

The History of the Rules

These tie-breaking rules have changed a lot over the long history of the tournament. The event started using the current three-hole format in 2019 at Royal Portrush. Before that change, the tournament used a longer four-hole playoff system that started back in 1989.

The very first four-hole playoff happened in 1989 when Mark Calcavecchia beat Greg Norman and Wayne Grady. If you go back even further into the old days of golf, tied players had to return the next day to play a full 18-hole or even a 36-hole round to find a winner.

Past Playoff Memories

Playoffs do not happen every single year, which makes them very special for the fans to watch. The last time the tournament went into extra holes was back in 2015 at St. Andrews. That year, Zach Johnson won a close three-man battle against Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman.

Other famous playoffs include 2002 when Ernie Els won a four-man shootout, and 1999 when Paul Lawrie won after a historic collapse by the leaders. Royal Birkdale will surely give fans a great finish if a tie happens this weekend.