Carnoustie the Championship course, on which several international tournaments are held, the Burnside course and the Buddon course. Carnoustie Golf Links is one of the venues in The Open Championship's rotation. The course first played host to The Open in 1931, when it was won by Tommy Armour of the USA. Subsequent winners have included Henry Cotton of England in 1937, Ben Hogan of the USA in 1953, Gary Player of South Africa in 1968, Tom Watson of the USA in 1975, Paul Lawrie of Scotland in 1999, Pádraig Harrington of Ireland in 2007, and Francesco Molinari of Italy in 2018.
Carnoustie Golf Links year's show was based around a US vs Europe theme, with the two teams competing for European Tour exemptions. In North America, the course is nicknamed "Car-nasty," due to its famous difficulty, especially under adverse weather conditions. Carnoustie is considered by many to be the most difficult course in the Open rota, and one of the toughest courses in the world. The term Carnoustie effect dates from the 1999 Open, when the world's best players, many of whom were reared on manicured and relatively windless courses, were frustrated by the unexpected difficulties of the Carnoustie links, which was compounded by