Darren Clarke won his first and to date only major championship, three strokes ahead of runners-up Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.

Past Open Champions aged 60 or under on 17 July 2011 Mark Calcavecchia, Stewart Cink (2,4,20), Ben Curtis (2,4), John Daly, David Duval (2), Ernie Els (2,4,6,7,16), Todd Hamilton (2), Pádraig Harrington (2,4,6,7,14,20), Paul Lawrie, Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard (4), Sandy Lyle, Mark O'Meara, Louis Oosthuizen (2,4,5,6,7) 2.

First 10 and anyone tying for 10th place in the 2010 Open Championship Paul Casey (6,7,8,16), Retief Goosen (6,7,16), Martin Kaymer (6,7,14,20), Rory McIlroy (6,7,12,20), Sean O'Hair, Robert Rock, Henrik Stenson (15), Nick Watney (6,16), Lee Westwood (6,7,20) 6.

The first 50 players on the Official World Golf Rankings for Week 22, 2011 Robert Allenby (16), Jonathan Byrd, K. J. Choi (15,16), Ben Crane (16), Jason Day (16), Luke Donald (7,8,16,20), Rickie Fowler (20), Jim Furyk (16,20), Bill Haas, Anders Hansen (7), Peter Hanson (7,20), Miguel Ángel Jiménez (7,20), Dustin Johnson (16,20), Zach Johnson (13,16,20), Robert Karlsson (7), Kim Kyung-tae (24), Matt Kuchar (16,20), Martin Laird (16), Hunter Mahan (16,20), Matteo Manassero, Graeme McDowell (7,12,20), Phil Mickelson (13,16,20), Francesco Molinari (7,20), Edoardo Molinari (7,20), Ryan Moore (16), Geoff Ogilvy (16,22), Ryan Palmer (16), Ian Poulter (7,20), Álvaro Quirós (7), Justin Rose (16), Rory Sabbatini, Charl Schwartzel (7,13,23), Adam Scott (16), Brandt Snedeker, Steve Stricker (16,20), Bo Van Pelt (16), Bubba Watson (16,20), Yang Yong-eun (14) 7.

First 30 in the European Tour Final Race to Dubai for 2010 Fredrik Andersson Hed, Darren Clarke, Rhys Davies, Ross Fisher (20), Stephen Gallacher, Richard Green, Grégory Havret, Thongchai Jaidee, Simon Khan (8), Joost Luiten, Danny Willett 8.

First 3 and anyone tying for 3rd place, not exempt having applied above, in the top 20 of the 2011 European Tour Race to Dubai on completion of the 2011 BMW PGA Championship Thomas Aiken, Raphaël Jacquelin 10.

6, in the top 20 of the FedEx Cup points list of the 2011 PGA Tour on completion of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Aaron Baddeley, Mark Wilson, Gary Woodland 18.

The leading player, not exempt having applied above, in the first 5 and ties of each of the 2011 AT&T National and the 2011 John Deere Classic Charles Howell III, Kyle Stanley 20.

The leading 4 players, not exempt, in the 2011 Mizuno Open Bae Sang-moon, Hwang Jung-gon, Brad Kennedy, Prayad Marksaeng 27.

First 2 and anyone tying for 2nd place, not exempt having applied (26) above, in a cumulative money list taken from all official 2011 Japan Golf Tour events up to and including the 2011 Mizuno Open Hiroo Kawai, Tadahiro Takayama 28.

[5] Thursday, 14 July 2011 Returning to the course where he led by three with four holes to play in 2003, Thomas Bjørn (who gained entry into the tournament as the fifth alternate) shot 65 (−5) in the morning to set the early pace.

Pre-tournament favourite Rory McIlroy played better on Friday shooting 69 for an even par 140, earning a third straight round alongside Rickie Fowler.

1 Luke Donald, World No.2 Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar, Nick Watney, and Pádraig Harrington.

Saturday, 16 July 2011 In wet and windy difficult morning conditions, some of the best play came from Tom Watson, using his 35 years of Open experience to survive the worst of the weather and move up the field with a +2 (72).

Four-time major winner Phil Mickelson had 71 for even par 210,[30] while Thomas Bjørn, repeating his strong showing at the 2003 Open on this course, shot 71 for 208 (−2).

[34] A short missed par putt stalled Mickelson's momentum, and he faded on the back nine with three further bogeys to finish with a 68 (−2), tied for second with Dustin Johnson.

Earlier in the day, Sergio García, playing his 49th consecutive major, had threatened to go low after being −4 for his round late on his front nine, but faded to a 68 (−2), and tied for ninth place.