This year’s Open Championship will have a brand-new playoff format

July 5, 2019

Ties at the end of regulation play at the upcoming Open Championship at Royal Portrush will be decided by a three-hole aggregate for the first time ever, according to a tweet posted by the official Open Championship handle.

The 148th Open will have a three hole play-off ?️‍♂️ If needed that will be the first of its kind 3️⃣

We will play the 1st, 13th & 18th ⛳️ pic.twitter.com/xnW9lcH9Of

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 5, 2019

The previous playoff format of a four-hole aggregate was established in 1989. The last time a playoff was used to determine a winner of the Open was in 2015, when Zach Johnson claimed the title from fellow playoff opponents Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

The 590-yard, par-5 seventh is new to Portrush’s reconfigured Dunluce course. The hole was nicked from the nearby Valley Links, Dunluce’s sister track.

Tournaments

The Open Championship has (finally) returned to Royal Portrush, but its quest back was not so simple

At Royal Portrush, the playoff holes will be comprised of Nos. 1, 13 and 18. If players are still tied after the three-hole session, sudden death will be employed.

Every major championship had its own rules regarding playoffs. The Masters uses sudden death, and the PGA Championship also employs a three-hole aggregate. At the U.S. Open, a two-hole aggregate is used.

To receive GOLF’s all-new newsletters, subscribe for free here.