The 2015 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 144th Open Championship, held from 16 to 20 July at the Old Course at St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. It was the 29th Open Championship played at the course and Zach Johnson won in a four-hole playoff for his second major title. World number one Rory McIlroy withdrew prior to the tournament due to an off-course ankle injury; he was the first defending champion absent from the Open in over sixty years, since Ben Hogan opted not to participate in 1954. Masters and U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth attempted to win a third consecutive major and take over the top ranking. He finished one stroke out of the playoff, in a tie for fourth. Inclement weather – which included heavy rain and very strong winds – forced play to be suspended twice, on Friday and Saturday, with the latter having play suspended for nearly most of the day. The third round was held on Sunday and the final round (and playoff) on Monday. This was also the last Open Championship played under the then present TV deals with the BBC and ESPN each having their swan song. NBC and Sky Sports would take over coverage the following year at Royal Troon. This was the final Open appearance for five-time champion Tom Watson and three-time champion Nick Faldo who played in his last major championship. Venue The 2015 event is the 29th Open Championship played at the Old Course at St Andrews. The most recent was in 2010 when Louis Oosthuizen won his only major title and became the second South African to win an Open Championship at St Andrews (Bobby Locke is the first, having won at St Andrews in 1957). Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship (since 1950): 2010: 2005: 2000: 1995: 1990: 1984: 1978: 1970: 1964: 1960: 1955: Field Each player is classified according to the first category in which he qualified, but other categories are shown in parentheses. 1. The Open Champions aged 60 or under on 19 July 2015 Mark Calcavecchia (3), Stewart Cink (2,3), Darren Clarke (2,3), Ben Curtis, John Daly, David Duval, Ernie Els (2,3), Nick Faldo, Todd Hamilton, Pádraig Harrington (2), Paul Lawrie, Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard (3), Sandy Lyle, Phil Mickelson (2,3,5,15), Mark O'Meara, Louis Oosthuizen (2,3,5,6), Tiger Woods (2,3,12) Eligible but did not enter: Ian Baker-Finch,