Carnoustie Golf Links modifications to the course by James Braid in 1926. The winner then was Tommy Armour, from Edinburgh. Later Open winners at Carnoustie include 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. The 1975, 1999 and 2007 editions were all won in playoffs. The Championship course was modified significantly (but kept its routing used since 1926) prior to the 1999 Open, with all
The Open Championship decided to play in The Open for one final time in 2005, when the R&A announced St Andrews as the venue, giving his final farewell to the fans at the Home of Golf. There have also been wins by previously little known golfers, including Paul Lawrie's playoff win after the 72nd-hole collapse of Jean van de Velde in 1999, Ben Curtis in 2003 and Todd Hamilton in 2004. In 2007, the Europeans finally broke an eight-year drought in the majors when Pádraig Harrington of Ireland defeated Sergio García by one stroke in a four-hole playoff at Carnoustie. Harrington retained the