4 LIV Golfers who have won The Open Championship before ft. Cameron Smith
The Open Championship is set to begin in a few hours, and this time, too, we will have several LIV Golf players competing. A total of 18 players from the Saudi-backed circuit will be in action at the Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland this week.
Among the eighteen golfers from LIV Golf, there are many names who have previously tasted success at the oldest major championship. Here in this article, we will look at five players who have won the Open Championship in the past.
Four LIV Golf players who have won the Open Championship in the past
1) Cameron Smith
Among the four LIV Golf winners of the Open, Cameron Smith is the most recent one. Two years ago he won at St. Andrews after beating Cameron Young by one stroke.
This was Smith's last event as a PGA Tour professional as he switched to Saudi backed circuit a month later.
2) Henrik Stenson
Henrik Stenson emerged winner at the Open in 2016 after beating Phil Mickelson by three strokes. This was his first and only major championship. Interestingly, he is the most recent Open champion at the Royal Troon.
3) Phil Mickelson
While Stenson beat Mickelson in 2016, the exact opposite result had taken place three years earlier.
In 2013, Mickelson was 2-over after 54 holes and was tied for ninth, five strokes behind Lee Westwood. However, in the final round, he fired a low 66 to make a huge surge and win the first and only Claret Jug of his career.
4) Louis Oosthuizen
Among the LIV Golfers, Louis Oosthuizen is the first to have won the Open Championship. However, the Saudi-backed circuit wasn't in existence at that time.
Oosthuizen won the Open in 2010 after beating Lee Westwood by a whopping seven strokes at the Old Course, St Andrews. The South African golfer entered the event with just one cut in his past eight major starts but started the week differently. He shot 65 in the first round, which was followed by a 67 on Friday.
On Saturday, Oosthuizen took a four-stroke lead after shooting 69. In the final round, he carded his worst round of the tournament, a 71, but others played much worse, resulting in his seven-shot win over Westwood.