The Open first became a 72-hole tournament in 1892.
That year’s Open Championship was held at the newly built Muirfield course in East Lothian, Scotland. It was also the first Open played over two days, with 36 holes scheduled on each day. The move to 72 holes reflected Muirfield’s full 18-hole layout and helped establish the four-round format now associated with major championship golf.
Harold Hilton, an English amateur, won the 1892 Open by three strokes. He finished on 305, beating fellow amateur John Ball and professionals Sandy Herd and Hugh Kirkaldy. Hilton’s victory was only the second by an amateur in Open history at that time.
Earlier Opens used shorter or less standardized formats. The 1891 championship, for example, was played over 36 holes at St Andrews. A further source of confusion is Musselburgh’s nine-hole course: when the Open was played there, players completed eight nine-hole rounds rather than four conventional rounds of 18. The 1892 event therefore marked both a distance milestone and a major step toward the modern championship structure.