St Andrews confirmed as host of The Open in 2027

The Old Course at St Andrews has been confirmed as the host of the Open Championship in 2027.

The announcement by the Royal & Ancient (R&A) maintains the five-year cycle the Old Course has had, with just one exception, since 1990.

Royal St George's was awarded the 2020 Open so the Old Course - widely regarded as the Home of Golf - could stage the 150th edition of the game's oldest major the following year.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic meant the Claret Jug was contested on the Kent coast in 2021 before the championship returned to Fife in 2022.

That was the 30th time St Andrews had been the host - comfortably ahead of Prestwick with 24 - since it first did so in 1873.

The 2027 championship - from 15 to 18 July - will be the 100th anniversary of the great Bobby Jones' victory in The Open at St Andrews, where six years earlier he had torn up his scorecard after taking four shots to escape from a bunker on the 11th.

For the R&A to return The Open to St Andrews to the regular slot of years ending in a 5 or 0, as it had had since 1990, it would have had to host either just three years after it last did so - or seven.

Instead the governing body has opted to retain the five-year cycle and awarded St Andrews the 155th Open, meaning it is also poised to host in 2032 and 2037.

"I'm looking forward to The Open's return to St Andrews every bit as much as the fans and the players," said new R&A chief executive Mark Darbon.

"There is something incredibly special about The Open being played on the Old Course and so many of the great champions have walked these fairways since the first staging.

"St Andrews generates a unique atmosphere for the fans and the players as well as providing an amazing spectacle on television and digitally for millions of viewers around the world."

Cameron Smith pipped Rory McIlroy to the 150th Open title at St Andrews in 2022, when record crowds of 290,000 attended.

The compact course is not a natural venue for the huge championship The Open has become - but Jack Nicklaus, who like Tiger Woods has twice won the Claret Jug over the Old Course - said of it: "If you're going to be a player that's remembered, you must win at St Andrews."

Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland will hold this year's championship with Royal Birkdale in Southport the stage in 2026.

Analysis - BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter

Maintaining the usual five-year cycle for playing The Open at the Home of Golf is the first significant move in the reign of new R&A boss Mark Darbon.

St Andrews guarantees bumper crowds and the 2027 edition is likely to be another all-ticket sell-out.

The Old Course provides a historic test that often yields great winners including Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, who both won there twice there, as well as Seve Ballesteros (1984) and Sir Nick Faldo (1990).

However, the golfing integrity of the layout is increasingly threatened by massive hitting distances achieved by modern players.

Might they have waited until the mandatory 2028 introduction of balls modified to fly shorter distances?

St Andrews championships are always special, but the venue's unique double greens and shared fairways can lead to very slow rounds that make it almost impossible to keep a 156-player event on schedule.