The English Open was a professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

tournament held in England. First played in 1988, it was an annual event on the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

until 2002. After several aborted attempts at reviving the tournament, it returned to the tour schedule in 2021, when it was titled as the Cazoo Classic. Winners of the tournament include some of the most successful players in European Tour history including Mark James,

Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam (born 2 March 1958) is a Welsh professional golfer. Nicknamed 'Woosie', Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europ ...

Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 23 June 1963) is a Scotland, Scottish professional golfer. He has won a record eight European Tour PGA European Tour#Order of Merit winners, Order of Merit titles, including a stre ...

Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including ...

and

Darren Clarke Darren Christopher Clarke, (born 14 August 1968) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions and has previously played on the European Tour and PGA Tour. He has won 21 tournaments worldwide on a ...

. James and Clarke are the only two players to have won the title more than once.

History

In most countries where golf is played there is a national open, but in England this role was effectively filled by

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

, sometimes referred to as the "British Open". The English Open was founded in 1988, replacing the

Lawrence Batley International The Lawrence Batley International was a European Tour golf tournament which was played annually from 1981 to 1987. The first three editions were played at Bingley St Ives, Bradford, the next three at Ryder Cup venue The Belfry and the final edit ...

on the tour schedule, and despite initial sponsorship issues, there were hopes that the new English Open would develop into another major national open on the circuit. After the first event, which was held at

Royal Birkdale 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 Champ ...

, the Brabazon course at

The Belfry The Belfry is a golf resort and hotel in Wishaw, Warwickshire, close to Sutton Coldfield, England, located approximately 8 miles from the centre of Birmingham. It was acquired by KSL Capital Partners in August 2012. The resort has three golf c ...

was home to the tournament until 1993, when it moved to the

Forest of Arden Arden is an area located mainly in Warwickshire, England, with parts in Staffordshire and Worcestershire, and is traditionally regarded as extending from the River Avon to the River Tame. It was once heavily wooded, giving rise to the name 'F ...

. It was then played at

Hanbury Manor Hanbury Manor, centred on the multi-wing Hanbury Manor Hotel, is a converted late-Victorian country house and adjoining golf course in Thundridge, north of Ware, Hertfordshire, some north of Greater London. It is part of a leisure retreat and cou ...

between 1997 and 1999, before returning to the Forest of Arden until the tournament was cancelled following the 2002 season as part of long-term plans for the European Tour to expand globally, by reducing the number of tournaments held in Europe, especially the United Kingdom. In the tour's first official season in 1972 12 out of 20 events were staged in the UK; by 1988 the ratio was 11 to 15, but by 2005 this was down to 8 out of 47. After a six-year hiatus the English Open was due to return to the European Tour schedule in 2009. A five-year deal with the tour had been agreed, with the tournament being played over the

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

designed Signature Course at the

St. Mellion International Resort The St Mellion Estate, formerly St Mellion International Resort, is a hotel with golf and other recreational facilities in the parish of St Mellion, near Saltash, in east Cornwall. St Mellion, which comprises a hotel, conference facilities, h ...

in Cornwall, initially an alternate event to the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

, one of professional golf's

majors Jonathan Michael Majors (born September 7, 1989)Majors in is an American actor. He rose to prominence after starring in the independent feature film ''The Last Black Man in San Francisco'' (2019). In 2020, he garnered wider notice for portraying ...

. However early in 2009, the revival was postponed until 2011 at the earliest, after developers ran into financial problems, reportedly as a result of the ongoing

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

. In March 2011 it was announced that the event had been cancelled due to insufficient sponsorship revenue having been raised by the organisers. The tournament was due to return in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

as part of a revamp of the European Tour's schedule in the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The event was played at

Forest of Arden Hotel and Country Club The Forest of Arden Hotel & Country Club is a hotel and country club complex in England. Operated by Marriott Hotels & Resorts, it is located to the east of Birmingham Airport in Warwickshire. The Forest of Arden has two golf courses, the Arden ...

as part of a 6-week "UK Swing". When

Hero MotoCorp Hero MotoCorp Limited (formerly Hero Honda) is an Indian multinational motorcycle and scooter manufacturer headquartered in New Delhi. The company is one of the largest two-wheeler manufacturers in the world, as well as in India, where it has ...

agreed to sponsor of the scheduled event in July 2020, it was renamed as the

Hero Open The Hero Open was a professional golf tournament played on the European Tour. The event was created as part of the tour's overhaul in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It was originally planned as a revival of the English Open, but afte ...

, and later separated historically from the English Open. The English Open did return in 2021, however a sponsorship agreement with

Cazoo Cazoo is a British online car retailer based in London, England which was founded in 2018 by Alex Chesterman. History Cazoo was founded in 2018 by British internet entrepreneur Alex Chesterman. It launched an online marketplace for used cars in ...

saw the tournament renamed as the

Cazoo Classic The English Open was a professional golf tournament held in England. First played in 1988, it was an annual event on the European Tour until 2002. After several aborted attempts at reviving the tournament, it returned to the tour schedule in 20 ...

. Cazoo's multi-year partnership with the tour also included title sponsorship of the

Wales Open The Wales Open was a professional golf tournament on the European Tour played at the Celtic Manor Resort. It was played annually from 2000 to 2014, as part of a 15-year deal between the tour and the Celtic Manor Resort, that included staging the ...

Winners

References

External links

Coverage on the European Tour's official site
{{Former European Tour Events Former European Tour events Golf tournaments in England 1988 establishments in England Recurring sporting events established in 1988

History

Winners

See also

References

External links