1961 Open Championship

The 16th Ryder Cup Matches were held 7–9 October 1965 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. For the first time commercialisation started to make a presence on site. The United States team won the competition by a score of 191⁄2 to 121⁄2 points.

The 1991 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 120th Open Championship, held from 18 to 21 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Ian Baker-Finch won his only major championship, two strokes ahead of runner-up Mike Harwood. Baker-Finch was two-over after two rounds in a tie for 28th place, then was ten-under on the weekend. His 66 on Sunday was bolstered by a 29 on the front nine, with birdies on five of the first seven holes.The cut at 148 (+8) included those within ten strokes of the lead, which resulted in a record 113 players on the weekend, nearly three-quarters of the field.

The 2005 Women's British Open was held 28–31 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. It was the 29th edition of the Women's British Open, and the fifth as a major championship on the LPGA Tour. Jeong Jang led wire-to-wire, winning her first LPGA event and only major title, four strokes ahead of runner-up Sophie Gustafson. Michelle Wie, age 15, tied for third and was the low amateur in her final major before turning professional in the fall.

The 1976 Open Championship was the 105th Open Championship, played 7–10 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Johnny Miller won his only Open championship, six strokes ahead of runners-up Seve Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus. It was Miller's second and last major championship title; his first was the U.S. Open in 1973.Ballesteros, age 19, was the 54-hole leader at 211 (−5), two strokes ahead of Miller. In the final round, he was seven over par after twelve holes, which included a triple-bogey at the eleventh. Ballesteros rallied on the final six holes, with three birdies and an eagle, to tie Nicklaus for second place. Defending champion Tom Watson carded an 80 (+8) in the third round for 227 (+11) and missed the second cut by a stroke. U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate was level par after two rounds, but also missed the second cut with an 87 for 231. Masters winner Raymond Floyd finished in fourth at 286 (−2), a stroke behind Ballesteros and Nicklaus. The championship is also well remembered for the one and only appearance of Maurice Flitcroft who posed as a professional to gain entry and carded a record 121 for his first round qualifier before being banned by the R&A.

The 2010 Women's British Open was held 29 July to 1 August at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. It was the 34th edition of the Women's British Open, and the tenth as a major championship on the LPGA Tour. This was the fifth time the Women's British Open had been held at Royal Birkdale and the second as an LPGA major, previously in 2005. The course had also hosted nine Open Championships, most recently in 2008. The par-72 course was set by the Ladies Golf Union at 6,458 yards (5,905 m), 715 yards (654 m) shorter than the par-70 set-up for The Open Championship in 2008. The champion was Yani Tseng of Taiwan at 277 (−11), one stroke ahead of runner-up Katherine Hull of Australia. With the victory, the 21-year-old Tseng became the youngest-ever winner of three major championships.

The 1954 Open Championship was the 90th Open Championship, played 7–9 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Peter Thomson, age 23, won the first of his five Open titles by one stroke over runners-up Bobby Locke, Dai Rees, and Syd Scott. This was the first time the championship was held at Royal Birkdale.The total prize money was increased forty per cent, from £2,500 to £3,500. The winner received £750 with £500 for second, £350 for third, £200 for fourth, £150 for fifth, £100 for sixth, £75 for seventh and eighth, £50 for ninth and tenth, £30 for next 15 places and then £25 each for the next 25 players. The £3,500 was completed with a £25 prize for winning the qualification event and four £25 prizes for the lowest score in each round.Qualifying took place on 5–6 July, Monday and Tuesday, with 18 holes on the Championship course and 18 holes at Hillside Golf Club. The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100, and ties for 100th place would not qualify. On Monday, John McGonigle set a new course record of 65 on the Hillside course. Norman Von Nida led the qualifiers on 137, four ahead of the rest. and McGonigle shot 80 at Royal Birkdale for 145; the qualifying score was 151 and 97 players advanced. After a long voyage from America, Toney Penna and Jim Turnesa were amongst the group of sixteen on 151 who narrowly qualified.Sam King and Bill Spence established a new course record at 69 in the opening round on Wednesday. It lasted just one day as Syd Scott bettered it in on Thursday with a 67, but Spence retained the lead after 36 holes at 141, one ahead of Antonio Cerdá, with Scott, Dai Rees, Thomson, and King one stroke back in a tie for third. A maximum of 50 players could make the cut after 36 holes, but ties for 50th place were not included. It was at 151 (+5) and fifty players advanced to the final two rounds.Scott continued his hot play in the third round, scoring a 69. Thomson and Rees also carded 69 and joined him at the top of the leaderboard going into the final round. Scott shot a 72 over the last 18-holes, posting a clubhouse lead of 284. Rees also posted 284 after missing a putt at the 18th. Thomson missed a short putt at the 12th, but managed to get up-and-down from a bunker at 16. He went to the 17th needing a par and a bogey on his last two holes to become the new clubhouse leader. He got the par, but at 18 he found trouble in a bunker. He again managed a superb recovery, and while he missed his first putt he easily tapped in for a round of 71 and a 283 total. Bobby Locke had a chance to tie Thomson with a 3 at the last, but his birdie putt came up just short making Thomson the winner of the championship.This win was the first in a run of three consecutive Open Championship titles by Thomson, becoming the first player since Bob Ferguson from 1880-82 to win three straight Opens. Altogether he would win three of the next four Opens and add another win in 1965, which was also held at Royal Birkdale. Thomson was the first Australian to win the Open Championship, and the youngest champion since Bobby Jones. Three-time Masters champion Jimmy Demaret made his only Open Championship appearance this year and tied for tenth place. Defending champion Ben Hogan did not compete; his victory in 1953 at Carnoustie was his only Open Championship.

The 1971 Open Championship was the 100th Open Championship, played 7–10 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Lee Trevino won the first of his consecutive Open Championships, one stroke ahead of Lu Liang-Huan. It was the third of his six major titles and his second consecutive; he won the U.S. Open less than a month earlier in a playoff over Jack Nicklaus.Trevino became the fourth player to win both the U.S. Open and the Open Championship in the same year, joining Bobby Jones (1926, 1930), Gene Sarazen (1932), and Ben Hogan (1953). Subsequent winners of both were Tom Watson (1982) and Tiger Woods (2000); all six are Americans. Trevino also won the Canadian Open the previous week near Montreal for three national titles in 1971, all won in less than a month. This was the last major championship of 1971 because the PGA Championship was played in February instead of its traditional date in August. (In 2019 the PGA moved to May.) Trevino's win, therefore, assured that Americans won all four major championships in 1971 (Charles Coody won the Masters Tournament and Nicklaus captured the PGA). This was the fifth time this had happened in golf history. (It has happened five more times since 1971 but none since 1982.)

Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the United Kingdom in North West England, located in Southport, Merseyside. It is one of the clubs in the rotation for both the Open Championship and Women's British Open and has hosted the Open Championship ten times from 1954 through 2017. Winners of the Open at the course include Pádraig Harrington, Mark O'Meara, Ian Baker-Finch, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, Peter Thomson (twice) and Jordan Spieth. The course is scheduled to hold Open Championship again in 2026. Royal Birkdale hosted the women's tournament for a sixth time in 2014, and was the site of the Senior Open Championship in 2013. It has also hosted the Ryder Cup (1965, 1969), the Walker Cup (1951), and the Curtis Cup (1948). Other courses in the Open rota near Liverpool are Royal Liverpool Golf Club (Hoylake) and Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club. On 22 July 2017, in the third round of the 2017 Open Championship, Branden Grace became the first man in major championship history to record a score of 62 in a single round.

The 5rd Curtis Cup Match was played on 21 and 22 May 1948 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. The United States won 61⁄2 to 21⁄2.The United States won two of the three foursomes matches and won four and halved another of the six singles.

The 1983 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 112th Open Championship, held from 14 to 17 July at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. It was the sixth time the course had hosted, with the first in 1954. Defending champion Tom Watson won his fifth Open Championship, one stroke ahead of runners-up Andy Bean and Hale Irwin. It was his second consecutive Open win and third in the last four, but was helped by Irwin "whiffing" a one-inch putt on the 14th hole on the third day, which cost him a chance of a play-off with Watson for the tournament.At age 33, this was Watson's eighth and final major title; he had won three of the last six majors, but had not won any event for twelve months.Watson was the fifth to win five Open Championships, last accomplished in 1965 by Peter Thomson, also at Royal Birkdale. He was the first to successfully defend the title in over a decade, since Lee Trevino in 1972 at Muirfield. Of his five Open wins, this was the only one outside Scotland.Seven years earlier at Royal Birkdale in 1976, defending champion Watson posted an 80 in the third round, finishing with a pair of sixes, and missed the 54-hole cut by a stroke.

The 1998 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 127th Open Championship, held from 16–19 July at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. In weekend wind and rain, Mark O'Meara won his second major championship of the year and first Open Championship in a playoff over Brian Watts, the 54-hole leader.Three months earlier, O'Meara won the Masters on the final green by sinking a 20-foot (6 m) birdie putt. At age 41, he became the oldest player to win two majors in a year: Jack Nicklaus (1980), Ben Hogan (1953), and Craig Wood (1941) were all age forty. (Hogan won three majors and turned 41 two weeks after the third.) At the previous Open at Royal Birkdale seven years earlier in 1991, O'Meara was a co-leader after 54 holes, shot 69, and tied for third.

The 2014 Ricoh Women's British Open was played 10–13 July at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. It was the 38th Women's British Open, and the 14th as a major championship on the LPGA Tour. It was the sixth Women's British Open at Royal Birkdale, the most recent was four years earlier in 2010. ESPN and BBC Sport televised the event from Royal Birkdale. Mo Martin won her first major, one shot ahead of runners-up Shanshan Feng and Suzann Pettersen. Martin led after 36 holes at 138 (−6) after consecutive rounds of 69, but fell three shots back with a 77 (+5) on Saturday, tied with six others for seventh place. An hour ahead of the final pair on a clear and breezy Sunday, she shot even par, capped by an eagle at the final hole. Her second shot from the fairway on the par 5 nearly holed out for an albatross (double eagle); it rolled onto the green and struck the flagstick, stopping six feet (1.8 m) away. She sank the putt and waited for the others to finish, preparing for a potential playoff. It was Martin's first win on the LPGA Tour, and moved her from 99 to 26 in the women's world rankings.