British Open 2016: Troon has produced both epic and forgettable champions

Arnold Palmer and Todd Hamilton have both won Claret Jugs at Royal Troon

The Champion Golfer of the Year is a designation reserved annually for the British Open. Royal Troon, site of this year's Open, has produced eight of them with a ninth on tap for next weekend. Let's take a look back at the previous eight who have hoisted Claret Jugs at this course.

Arthur Havers (1923): Took home 75 pounds for his efforts (or roughly $98).

Bobby Locke (1950): The year a golfer made a 15 on the Postage Stamp hole. Locke won four Opens in his career. Royal St. George's in 1949. Troon in 1950. Royal Lytham and St. Annes in 1952. And St. Andrews in 1957. The's quite a list.

Arnold Palmer (1962): Only two golfers were under par that year. Kel Nagle finished second at 6 under. Palmer won at 12 under. Just a complete rout. This tournament was also played on Wednesday, Thursday and two rounds on Friday.

Tom Weiskopf (1973): The year Gene Sarazen made an ace on the Postage Stamp hole. This was somewhat famously Weiskopf's only major championship win.

Tom Watson (1982): Watson's fourth British Open came in a year in which he also won the U.S. Open. At the time, only four other golfers had ever accomplished that (Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Lee Trevino).

Mark Calcavecchia (1989): Calc beat two Australians (Wayne Grady and Greg Norman) in a playoff. It was his only major championship win (a theme, as you will see).

Justin Leonard (1997): Big Cat's first Open as a pro! Leonard was down five to Jesper Parnevik going into the final round before shooting a 65 to beat him and Darren Clarke by three each. It would be Leonard's only major win.

Todd Hamilton (2004): Hamilton is arguably the worst major winner in the modern golf era. Hamilton had just one other top 30 at majors. Think about that. Sergio Garcia has zero majors despite 21 top-10 finishes. Hamilton has one with only two top-30 finishes.

Troon has produced some bizarre results. Five of the eight winners here are one-time major winners. But the other three have 19 majors between them and 11 (!) Opens. So we could get a Jordan Spieth or a Rory McIlroy. Or we could get Scott Piercy. Who knows. It does seem like after a three-tournament run of first-timers, though, that we could be in for a great one.