This course, not Muirfield, will host the 2028 Open Championship

For years now, the Open Championship schedule has been suspiciously empty. After this year’s 154th Open at Royal Birkdale and next year’s return to the Old Course at St. Andrews, no other locations have been announced. Until today.

Early on Monday morning, the R&A announced that the 2028 Open Championship would be hosted Royal Lytham and St Annes in England. The news comes after many speculated that 2028 could see Muirfield return to the open after a long absence due to controversy.

Here’s what you need to know.

The IR&A has named Royal Lytham and St Annes as the venue for the 2028 Open Championship

The IR&A broke the Open Championship’s big news in a press release, where CEO Mark Darbon praised Royal Lytham and St Annes and noted the greatest champion when the Open was first held at the club in 1926: Bobby Jones.

“Royal Lytham and St Annes is widely recognized as one of the best links courses in the world and has seen many successful championships since the Open was first played in 1926 when the legendary Bobby Jones won,” Darbon said in a statement. “This is one of golf’s most beloved and historic venues and the return of The Open to these iconic links will spark great interest in fans to be a part of one of the world’s greatest sporting events and celebrate the rich traditions of golf’s premier Championship.”

Royal Lytham & St Annes has a serious Open Championship pedigree, with the 1926 Open won by Jones just one of 11 Opens held at the course in Lancashire, England.

Besides Jones, other professionals who have won the Open at Royal Lytham include Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros and David Duval. When the club last hosted the Open in 2012, Ernie Els lifted the Claret Jug with his second Open victory.

In the latest GOLF Top 100 in the World, Royal Lytham is ranked number 68.

The 2028 Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes will not be played in mid-July as most Opens are due to the 2028 Olympics. Instead, the 2028 Open will be contested on August 3-6.

Muirfield’s absence from the Open Championship rota continues

While Royal Lytham is a prestigious course with a storied history, it does not live up to the pedigree held by Muirfield.

Scotland’s famous links course has hosted 16 open tournaments, four more than Lytham if you include the 2028 Open.

While Lytham is ranked 68th in our Top 100 Courses list, Muirfield is 11th.

Muirfield’s Open champions include many tournament legends, such as Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and Nick Faldo (twice). Ernie Els the rest The open win came at Muirfield.

And at the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield, Phil Mickelson shocked the world by capturing his only Open title, a tournament he thought he would never win.

But the 2013 Open was the last at Muirfield. The IR&A then removed it from its long-standing position on the Open rota following a controversial vote in 2016 in which Muirfield members chose to continue their policy of barring women from joining the club.

At the time, the R&A said, “The Open is one of the biggest sporting events in the world and going forward we will not be playing the Championship in a venue that does not accept women as members.”

The club later reversed its vote and welcomed its first female members in 2019. That left many wondering if Muirfield was destined to return to the Open stage.

Even Rory McIlroy has voiced his support for an open return to Muirfield. Earlier this year in Dubai, McIlroy argued that Muirfield “obviously fixed the issues they had,” and praised the course as an open course.

“Muirfield deserves to be back in the Open rota,” McIlroy said in January.

Although we now know that the Open will not be going to Muirfield in 2028, no future Open venues have been announced for 2029 and beyond.

Interestingly, Muirfield last hosted the Open in 2013, one year after Lytham hosted its most recent Open. With Lytham back in 2028, perhaps 2029 is the year the Open Championship finally returns to Muirfield.