This Day in Golf History: October 17

The first Open Championship was played on this date in 1860 with eight players competing at Prestwick. Willie Park, Sr., was the winner by two shots over the iconic figure In second place, Tom Morris, Sr., who would become known as Old Tom in the history books. The match, which was three rounds of 12 holes, was played to simply determine who the best player in the land was, now that the recognized No. 1, Alan Robertson, had died the previous year.