What is The British Open Championship playoff format?

There’s a precedent for playoffs at The Open Championship at Royal Troon. Seven players are separated by a stroke into Sunday at The 152nd Open Championship, meaning another overtime is possible. Billy Horschel holds a one-stroke lead into Sunday at Royal Troon Golf Club, with a sixsome tied for second including Thriston Lawrence, Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Xander Schauffele, Justin Rose and Daniel Brown.

In the event of a tie through 72 holes at The Open, the winner will be determined via a four-hole aggregate playoff. The hole rotation for a playoff at The 152nd Open: Nos. 1, 2, 17 and 18. (In the event of a tie after a four-hole aggregate playoff, the winner will be determined via a sudden-death playoff on No. 18.)

The first two holes are short par 4s, listed at 366 and 389 yards respectively on the scorecard. The 17th hole is a bearish par 3 that measures 242 yards; the hole played into a stiff wind Saturday afternoon, requiring players to hit as much as driver into the green. The stout par-4 18th measures 458 yards and also played into the wind Saturday.

Two of the prior three Open Championships at Royal Troon have required a playoff to determine the Champion Golfer of the Year. Todd Hamilton prevailed over Ernie Els to win the 2004 Open in a four-hole aggregate playoff. Fifteen years prior, Mark Calcavecchia defeated Greg Norman and Wayne Grady in the first Open to utilize a four-hole aggregate playoff (the format was adopted in 1985). Each of these two playoffs featured the same hole rotation of Nos. 1, 2, 17 and 18 that will be used in the event of a playoff Sunday.

Henrik Stenson won the 2016 Open at Royal Troon by three strokes over Phil Mickelson; no playoff was needed. The last Open playoff came in 2015 at St. Andrews, where Zach Johnson prevailed over Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman.

In addition to 1989 and 2015, there has been one other three-man playoff at The Open: 1999 at Carnoustie, won by Paul Lawrie over Jean Van de Velde and Justin Leonard.

The 2002 Open at Muirfield featured a four-man playoff, won by Ernie Els over Stuart Appleby, Steve Elkington and Thomas Levet. (Els and Levet were tied after the four-hole aggregate; Els won on the first hole of sudden death.)