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SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — Facts and figures for the British Open golf championship:
Event: 146th Open Championship.
Dates: July 20-23.
Site: Royal Birkdale.
Length: 7,156 yards.
Par: 70.
Field: 156 players
Playoff (if necessary): 4 holes, aggregate score.
Prize money: $10,250,000.
Winner's share: $1,845,000.
Defending champion: Henrik Stenson.
Last year: In a duel that rates among the best in history, Henrik Stenson closed with a 63 to beat Phil Mickelson by three shots at Royal Troon. Stenson joined Johnny Miller as the only players to shoot 63 in the final round to win a major. He finished at 264 (20 under) to set the major championship scoring record. Stenson and Mickelson combined for 14 birdies and an eagle in the final round. Their best-ball score would have been 59. They were so far ahead of everyone else that the next closest player to Mickelson was 11 shots back.
Last time at Royal Birkdale: Padraig Harrington outlasted 53-year-old Greg Norman, who was taking a break from his honeymoon with Chris Evert. Harrington wound up with a four-shot victory over Ian Poulter to become the first European in more than a century to win the Open in successive years.
Open champions at Royal Birkdale: Peter Thomson (1954, 1965), Arnold Palmer (1961), Lee Trevino (1971), Johnny Miller (1976), Tom Watson (1983), Ian Baker-Finch (1991), Mark O'Meara (1998), Padraig Harrington (2008).
Cashing in: The British Open is paying its prize money in American dollars instead of British pounds for the first time.
Key statistic: Eight of the last 10 British Open champions were 35 or older.
Noteworthy: Dustin Johnson has not played the weekend at a major since he tied for ninth last year at the British Open.
Quoteworthy: "I don't feel like I'm struggling. I'm not really searching. I feel like it's all sort of there. It's just about trying to piece it all together." — Rory McIlroy.
Television (all times EDT): Thursday-Friday, 1:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 4:30-7 a.m. (Golf Channel), 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 4-7 a.m. (Golf Channel), 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. (NBC).
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