Todd Hamilton won his only major championship, defeating 2002 champion Ernie Els by a stroke in a four-hole playoff.

Royal Troon's list of champions includes Arthur Havers (1923), 4-time Open winner Bobby Locke (1950), 7-time major winner Arnold Palmer (1962), Tom Weiskopf (1973), 5-time Open champion Tom Watson (1982), Mark Calcavecchia (1989), and Justin Leonard (1997).

Thomas Bjørn (3,4), Ben Curtis (2,3), Brian Davis (4), Gary Evans, Nick Faldo (2), Sergio García (3), Retief Goosen (3,4,9,13,17), Freddie Jacobson (3,4), Davis Love III (3,12,13,17), Hennie Otto, Kenny Perry (3,13,17), Phillip Price (4), Vijay Singh (3,10,13,17), Tiger Woods (2,3,9,10,11,13,17) Mark Calcavecchia, John Daly, Ernie Els (3,4,13,17), Paul Lawrie, Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard (3,13,17), Sandy Lyle, Greg Norman, Mark O'Meara, Nick Price (3,13,17), Tom Weiskopf Robert Allenby (17), Stephen Ames, Stuart Appleby (13,17), Chad Campbell (13), Paul Casey (4), K. J. Choi (17), Stewart Cink, Darren Clarke (4), Chris DiMarco (13,17), Brad Faxon (13), Steve Flesch, Jim Furyk (9,13,17), Jay Haas (13,17), Todd Hamilton (23), Pádraig Harrington (4), Charles Howell III (13,17), John Huston, Trevor Immelman (4), Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Zach Johnson, Jonathan Kaye (13), Jerry Kelly (17), Stephen Leaney (4,17), Peter Lonard (4,17,19), Shigeki Maruyama, Shaun Micheel (11), Phil Mickelson (10,17), Craig Parry, Ian Poulter (4), Chris Riley, Adam Scott (4,12,17), David Toms (11,13,17), Bob Tway (13,21), Scott Verplank (13), Mike Weir (10,13,17) Michael Campbell, Alastair Forsyth, Ignacio Garrido (5), David Howell, Raphaël Jacquelin, Lee Westwood Scott Drummond, Anders Hansen Joakim Haeggman, Barry Lane, Graeme McDowell Richard Green, Jean-François Remésy Thomas Levet, Peter O'Malley Rich Beem Craig Perks Frank Lickliter, Rory Sabbatini Steve Lowery Tim Clark Arjun Atwal Darren Fichardt Keiichiro Fukabori Tetsuji Hiratsuka Dinesh Chand, Hidemasa Hoshino, Hur Suk-ho, Takashi Kamiyama Stuart Wilson (a) Nick Flanagan (a) Brian McElhinney (a) Thursday, 15 July 2004 Paul Casey and Thomas Levet both carded 66 (−5) and held a two stroke lead over a group of nine players.

Sunday, 18 July 2004 A see-saw final round led to a two-man playoff between Hamilton and Els.

Hamilton, playing in only his eighth major, opened up a two-shot lead after chipping in for birdie from 30 feet (9 m) on the par-3 14th to get to 10 under.

Hamilton pushed his iron off the tee and into the rough, then chopped it across the fairway next to a guard railing that restricted his swing.

A 67 moved Lee Westwood into sole fourth, matching Davis Love III for low score of the final round.