Words are tricky. Their meanings change constantly, and the next thing you know, a phrase as old as time has a new definition. Golf is a sport of history, which makes this entire rigamarole over what to call the British Open/Open Championship/The Open so confusing.
Every year, we do this little game, jumping back and forth between labels as if we’re in a HIIT class. So let’s just figure this all out. Once and for all.
We’ve been doing these debates for a while now and have yet to settle on one actual answer, but maybe (hopefully!) this is the one where we reach an agreement. If not, we’ll see you right back here in a year’s time, calling this major all sorts of names. Apologies in advance.
E. Michael Johnson, Equipment Editor: This might be the most tired, useless, asinine debate ever. Who. Freaking. Cares? It’s like my name. Call me Mike, Michael, Jackass, whatever. So my answer is this: If the Brits prefer Open Championship, cool. I’ll do my best. But don’t throw a hissy fit if I fall into American-ese and refer to it as the British Open once in a while. After all, I grew up with ABC referring to its telecast that way for decades. Now, can we finally be done with this? Pretty please?
Jamie Kennedy, Digital Content Director: As someone who grew up going to The Open with my dad and granddad, I can’t even bring myself to say the alternative phrasing. The name, certainly over here in the U.K., has always had significance. Not as a reference to where it is, but more to what it is. The Open. The oldest Open. “Thee” Open. As much as the players respect the event and claret jug, calling it The Open represents that same belief. At least to me and those who grew up with it over here.
Christopher Powers, Staff Writer: In contrast to Jamie, growing up in America in the early-to-mid 2000s, my formative golf-watching years, it was quite literally ONLY referred to as the British Open on television. So you’ll have to forgive me and all the other ugly Americans who still refer to it as such in 2025, purposely or accidentally. When Tiger Woods is raising claret jug after claret jug and every headline here reads “Tiger claims British,” that’s going to stick in your brain. So I’m still going to call it the British Open … partially too because I know it makes a bunch of European knobheads angry and the thought of that makes me spin with glee.
Alex Myers, Senior Writer: As I’ve argued for years against “Open Championship” bullies, it’s fine to call it the “British Open” instead. That’s what the tournament has been called by many respected figures through the years and that’s what most people in the U.S. have gotten used to calling it. And while I realize an Open at Portrush presents a unique situation in that Northern Ireland isn’t part of Great Britain, to use a football comp, the Giants and Jets technically play in New Jersey, but they’re still called the New York Giants and New York Jets. OK, I better stop because now I’ve probably offended the soccer crowd as well.
A headline in the Fargo (N.D.) Forum from 1926 trumpets Bobby Jones’ Open victory with the label “British Open.”
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Dave Shedloski, Contributing Editor: It’s not only OK to use British Open instead of Open Championship, but it seems kind of mandatory from this side of the pond. We understand the value of branding, and we appreciate the sentiment behind the emphasis to differentiate from the U.S. Open in a way that signifies the specialness of the game’s oldest tournament. From here, it’s just a matter of simplicity to refer to said championship as the British Open as identified by newspapers going back to at least 1900. If we value tradition, then the use of the term British Open should not cause consternation in any corner.
Greg Gottfried, Web Producer: Yeah, whatever. Does it truly matter? I honestly like the “Open Championship” title a bit more, since it has more of a regal ring to it. But it’s certainly not a critical thing for me. The only thing that annoys me (although it has little to do with this argument) is that there are two U.S. Opens, tennis and golf, mostly for when I’m searching for something or trying to find a specific tidbit. I know they’re different sports and whatnot, but can we not have the same exact name for two of the biggest sporting events of every calendar year? What are we doing here? Anyway, the British Open is fine. The Open Championship is fine. Would love it if we just settled on one for SEO purposes, and so I stop putting the wrong one into every story I write.
Ryan Herrington, Managing Editor: I’ve changed my thoughts on this over the years, not because of some sort of moral epiphany or an evolved understanding of the definition of “British.” Rather it’s from covering the championship in person more than a dozen times and becoming accustomed to the signage that the R&A uses for its signature event. The official name is The Open Championship, or colloquially The Open. Out of respect for the people running the event—earned by having run it for 166(!!) years—that’s the name we should be using. It’s hard to think of too many instances where outsiders can simply ignore (or turn away) a label and create their own instead.
Shane Ryan, Contributing Editor: Yes, for god’s sake, it’s fine. I wrote a whole thing about it a literal decade ago, and I stand by those words, but in short: Americans have used “British Open” for decades to make things less confusing, because we have our own open championship, the U.S. Open. Nobody gets upset when the Brits say “U.S. PGA Championship” to distinguish it from the British PGA, or when Aussies say “U.S. Masters” to distinguish it from their own Masters. And anyone who cares is being hyper-sensitive and coming off as insecure. Nor does it degrade the tournament in any way; I only knew it as the British Open for my entire childhood, and it was my favorite tournament to watch. I now call it “The Open Championship” as a show of respect, but believe me when I tell you that a ton of Americans have absolutely no clue about its official name and mean no disrespect by when they say “British Open.” There are so many more important things to care about.
Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. But since many United States golf fans continue to refer to it as the British Open, and search news around the event accordingly, Golf Digest continues to utilize both names in its coverage.
