Royal Birkdale has hosted The Open 10 times. The Southport links first staged the championship in 1954 and most recently hosted it in 2017.
Its first Open was won by Peter Thomson, who successfully defended the title at Birkdale in 1965. Other champions at the course include Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Mark O'Meara, Pádraig Harrington and Jordan Spieth.
The ten editions were spread across more than six decades: 1954, 1961, 1965, 1971, 1976, 1983, 1991, 1998, 2008 and 2017. That long gap between events reflects the R&A's rotating venue system, which moves The Open among a select group of links courses.
A common mix-up is to count future scheduled championships or confuse Royal Birkdale with nearby Royal Lytham & St Annes, which has hosted The Open 11 times. Royal Birkdale has also staged major team events, including the Ryder Cup in 1965 and 1969.