The 2016 British Open will be staged at Royal Troon in Scotland, it was confirmed on Wednesday.

The Ayrshire course will be hosting the Open for the ninth time and the first since 2004 when America’s Todd Hamilton beat South Africa’s Ernie Els in a playoff.

Other Open winners at Royal Troon are Arthur Havers (1923), Bobby Locke (1950), Arnold Palmer (1962), Tom Weiskopf (1973), Tom Watson (1982), Mark Calcavecchia (1989) and Justin Leonard (1997).

positive legacy for generations to come.”

The selection of Royal Troon means the Open – one of golf’s four major titles – will be held in Scotland three times in four years.

Royal Lytham in northwest England will host the Open next month before it heads to Muirfield in Scotland in 2013, then onto Hoylake’s Royal Liverpool in 2014 and the famous Scottish course at St Andrews in 2015.