PORTRUSH, Northern Eire — The ultimate main championship of the yr has arrived, and if the 2019 Open Championship is any indication, Royal Portrush is as soon as once more set to supply the proper canvas for an epic 4 rounds of golf to find out the champion golfer of the yr.
This yr’s majors have already given us compelling outcomes as world No. 2 Rory McIlroy accomplished the profession grand slam on the Masters, and the highest participant on this planet, Scottie Scheffler, added to his main whole by successful the PGA Championship. Then, journeyman J.J. Spaun shocked the golf world final month when he outlasted each participant within the area and conquered Oakmont for his main victory in the usOpen.
All three are within the Open this week in addition to the remainder of the highest gamers on this planet who will look to play their method into the story of this main season.
Here is a have a look at the 25 gamers probably to be elevating the Claret Jug come Sunday.
1. Scottie Scheffler
There’s by no means a lot to say about Scheffler earlier than any of those majors any extra than simply to at all times body any prediction with the caveat that he would possibly merely overpower the remainder of the sector in a method solely he can. However what’s extra intriguing is seeing the three-time main champion make his method abroad and attempt to translate what makes him excel stateside to a vastly totally different type of golf.
On the Scottish Open this week, Scheffler completed tied for eighth and his file at Open Championships to this point has been, comparatively talking, essentially the most combined of any of the opposite majors. In 4 begins, Scheffler’s finest end is a tie for seventh eventually yr’s Open (he completed tied for eighth in his Open debut in 2021) and he has two finishes simply exterior the highest 20 in between. If you happen to wanted a reminder of how good he’s, since 2021 (the primary yr he performed all 4 majors) that is the one main by which Scheffler has multiple end exterior of the highest 20 in 19 begins.
So, sure — spoiler alert — it is secure to say the very best participant on this planet might be going to contend this week.
2. Jon Rahm
Maybe nobody has been slowly however absolutely trending in the fitting course over the course of this yr greater than Rahm. Certain, there are the sheer variety of top-10 LIV finishes he has accrued, however extra notably is the best way he has carried out on the yr’s largest occasions. Since final yr’s Open Championship at Royal Troon the place he quietly completed in a tie for seventh, Rahm has discovered his recreation.
On the Masters, he completed 14th and adopted up that efficiency with heading into the again 9 at Quail Hole with an actual probability to win the PGA Championship. The Spaniard could not catch Scheffler, however the best way he battled there and at Oakmont to complete tied for seventh felt quintessential Rahm. No person will get the aggressive juices flowing greater than him, and given the place he already occupies in European golf historical past, it feels as if he ought to have a Claret Jug on his résumé. The best way Rahm has been taking part in lately, Portrush ought to arrange effectively to present him an opportunity to do exactly that.
3. Rory McIlroy
Nicely, right here we’re once more. The Open has returned to McIlroy’s dwelling nation and he ought to — emphasis on ought to — be within the combine to win his sixth main championship. In 2019, that was additionally the sense and McIlroy proceeded to hit his first tee shot of the match out of bounds and missed the reduce. It was an anticlimactic conclusion to a extremely anticipated week.
So much has modified since — McIlroy has received a inexperienced jacket and is now a profession grand slam winner. He has additionally underperformed since that historic win in April. Furthermore, he has spoken at size about struggling to seek out motivation whereas additionally acknowledging that there’s something about this particular match being in Northern Eire that ought to spark one thing in him. Maybe that spark got here every week early, too. On the Scottish Open this previous week, McIlroy performed a few of his finest golf because the Masters, posting rounds of 68-65-66-68 to complete tied for second.
In the identical method that there was a fascination with how DeChambeau strategizes and assaults Augusta Nationwide on a year-to-year foundation, I am at all times fascinated by how his recreation interprets — or would not — to hyperlinks golf. In seven appearances, DeChambeau has just one top-10 end (Royal Liverpool in 2022) and has missed the reduce thrice, together with final yr at Royal Troon.
Something is on the desk this week for the two-time U.S. Open winner. You could possibly inform me DeChambeau will someway discover his strategy recreation and experience his brief recreation to a commanding win at Portrush and I might imagine it. You could possibly additionally inform me he struggles to maintain it within the fairway below powerful circumstances and misses the reduce. This type of recreation would not precisely match DeChambeau, however watching him attempt to crack the code is well worth the worth of admission.
The defending champion is just right here, at No. 5, as a result of he has had a comparatively quiet yr since successful two majors final yr. After coping with a rib damage initially of the yr, Schauffele took a while off after which took time to get again into kind. He has just one top-10 end this season and his strategy recreation (prime 10 in strokes gained on tour) has buoyed what has been an uncharacteristically dangerous yr for his driver, brief recreation and placing.
Certainly one of Schauffele’s finest qualities, his total steadiness, is what allowed him to return from behind final yr at Troon. This week most likely would require loads of that once more at Portrush.
6. Shane Lowry
Maybe that is too excessive for Lowry, however in 2019, he rode the emotional wave of taking part in in a area he is aware of all too effectively to a commanding six-shot victory. The power that Lowry will carry with him as followers cheer him on at a spot the place he has already received must be price some sort of worth to his probabilities this week.
Like McIlroy, he’ll be one of many emotional favorites and although his recreation hasn’t precisely been in nice form on the majors this yr (two missed cuts and a tied for forty second on the Masters) he does have 4 top-10 finishes on Tour and it would not shock anybody if he once more performed effectively at Portrush.
Having an actual sense for simply precisely how Hovland will play at a serious championship as of late is a whole guessing recreation. Although he is perhaps waxing within the information convention about how dangerous his swing feels and the way he is chasing the proper really feel, he would possibly find yourself contending the best way he did at Oakmont final month the place he completed third and had an actual shot to win it on the again 9.
Earlier this yr, Hovland missed three straight cuts. Shortly after, he received the Valspar Championship. Final yr, Hovland completed third on the PGA Championship and likewise missed the reduce on the three different majors, together with the Open. Like DeChambeau, Hovland has the sport to win this week, however the house between his ceiling and his ground is as vast as anybody close to the highest of this record.
There aren’t too many individuals on this planet who’re hitting the ball in addition to Morikawa has this season. His ballstriking is as elite as ever and but, regardless of having 4 top-10s this season, he can not seem to recover from the road and win his first match because the 2023 Zozo Championship.
Morikawa is aware of find out how to win this match — he did it in 2021 at Royal St. George’s — and although his recreation has objectively improved since then, there appears to be one thing lacking in his potential to place 4 high quality rounds collectively on the sport’s prime tournaments. This yr, he completed 14th on the Masters however has gone backward, ending tied for fiftieth on the PGA Championship and tied for twenty third on the U.S. Open. Theoretically, at a course like Portrush, Morikawa’s iron play and accuracy off the tee ought to put him in competition. How his placing fares (presently 99th on tour this season) will decide how far up the leaderboard he can go.
9. Ludvig Åberg
There was some extent, proper after Aberg’s win at this yr’s Genesis Invitational, that it felt as if he was the speak of the game. Since then, Aberg has fallen right into a little bit of a rut, lacking 4 cuts (together with at each the PGA and the U.S. Open) and solely notched one top-10 end (seventh place on the Masters). However Aberg is quietly lurking. On the Scottish final week, he appeared to seek out some kind and completed tied for eighth and it will not be a shock if he entered the dialog at Portrush this week and hung round till Sunday.
10. Tommy Fleetwood
Might this lastly be the week? Fleetwood has come agonizingly near not solely a serious win in recent times however actually, grabbing any win that is not on the DP World Tour. Fleetwood’s recreation, with its elite ballstriking, feels primed for an Open Championship and this one, particularly, ought to swimsuit his recreation. Although he missed the reduce at Troon final yr, in his two earlier appearances on the Open, Fleetwood completed inside the highest 10.
11. Tyrrell Hatton
Maybe Hatton must be a bit increased right here. His efficiency at Oakmont was totally spectacular — a tie for fourth was his finest end ever at a serious and it feels as if he has been slowly trending towards being extra of an element on the weekend of main championships (he has two top-15 finishes prior to now two years at Augusta).
Nonetheless, it is exhausting to shake the truth that Hatton’s perspective, the best way he responds to dangerous photographs or dangerous breaks can be examined this week at a hyperlinks setup like Portrush. Both method, it’s going to be enjoyable to look at him do that week.
12. Robert MacIntyre
MacIntyre was totally spectacular at Oakmont, battling the circumstances and delay on Sunday and nonetheless carding a spherical of two below to carry the clubhouse lead and practically get right into a playoff with Spaun. MacIntyre is snug, to say the least, on this a part of the world and on hyperlinks programs. Although he missed the reduce on the Scottish this previous week, he has the sport to contend at Portrush this week.
13. Russell Henley
Any time ballstriking and accuracy — and never driving distance — are prioritized in a specific venue, Henley appears to rise to the highest and with good cause. He’s a top-10 participant in strokes gained and has eight top-10s and one win this season. On the main entrance, Henley has struggled, lacking the reduce on the Masters and the PGA. At Oakmont, a top-10 end felt extra apt, and now he’ll arrive at Portrush coming off a fifth-place end at Troon final yr.
14. Brooks Koepka
It is exhausting to gauge the place precisely Koepka’s recreation is in the intervening time. Although he confirmed flashes of his outdated self Oakmont and talked at size about how misplaced his swing had been for some time, he withdrew from the next LIV occasion and completed tied for thirty second in its most up-to-date match. If circumstances at Portrush get gnarly this week, I may see Koepka rising, nevertheless it may also be that his recreation is just not fairly sharp sufficient proper now to really contend.
15. Joaquín Niemann
Here is the factor: Niemann must be increased than fifteenth on this record, however the actuality is that, although he continues to excel on LIV (4 wins this season), his performances on the sport’s largest occasions proceed to underwhelm. Even this yr, after lastly recording his first top-10 end at a serious through the PGA, Niemann adopted it up with a missed reduce at Oakmont.
16. Justin Thomas
Thomas and the Open Championship do not appear to get alongside very effectively. In eight appearances at this occasion, Thomas has missed three cuts and by no means completed inside the highest 10. However should you’re in search of optimism, Thomas’ finest end at an Open got here at Portrush in 2019. That week, Thomas performed 4 rounds of even-par golf or higher. He’ll be hoping to deliver that very same sort of show to the Dunluce course this week.
17. Matt Fitzpatrick
I actually do not know what to make of Fitzpatrick, who hasn’t had a win on tour since 2023 and hasn’t actually contended at a serious since his 2022 U.S. Open win, however he has proven some kind going into this week with an eighth-place end on the Rocket Classsic and a fourth-place end this previous week on the Scottish Open.
18. Jordan Spieth
Talking of gamers who you by no means know what you are going to get, this is Spieth. I’ve a tough time believing he truly has an opportunity to win this week, however at the same time as erratic as he will be, Spieth has 4 top-10 finishes this season and has missed solely two cuts. Final yr, these two numbers have been three and 7, respectively.
19. Justin Rose
Let it not be forgotten that Rose had an actual shot to win this match final yr at Troon and completed in a tie for second. Rose has had a roller-coaster yr to this point, taking McIlroy to a playoff at Augusta however lacking three of his previous 4 cuts, together with on the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. Nonetheless, at 44, he has proved he can nonetheless contend and an Open is perhaps his finest shot at getting a second main.
20. Corey Conners
Very like Henley, Conners’ superpower is his elite ballstriking, which ought to translate effectively to a hyperlinks course reminiscent of Portrush. It is by no means fairly felt as if Conners has ever raised his recreation sufficient to really compete at a serious championship (his finest end is a sixth-place end on the 2022 Masters), however because it did in 2022 with Brian Harman, the Open typically tends for giving us sudden winners who merely maintain the ball in entrance of all of them week. Conners may actually be that.
21. J.J. Spaun
Very like Wyndham Clark after the 2023 U.S. Open win, Spaun’s profession now takes on a distinct tone. Whether or not he is ready to observe up his win at Oakmont with one other aggressive begin at a serious championship is perhaps a tricky ask, particularly given that is Spaun’s first time competing in an Open.
22. Ben Griffin
How do you not embody Griffin? The 29-year-old has been the most effective gamers on tour this season, successful twice and racking up eight top-10 finishes. Griffin hasn’t had a lot luck with the Open — he has missed the reduce in two appearances — however he is taking part in at an entire totally different stage this yr.
23. Keegan Bradley
5 top-10 finishes, a top-10 at a serious and a PGA Tour victory — that is what Bradley’s season appears to be like like to this point and the dialog about him being a taking part in captain on the Ryder Cup is already at a fever pitch. He won’t want it, however a fantastic end at Portrush, and even an unbelievable win, would seal it.
24. Sepp Straka
In a transfer that may solely be described as the alternative of Koepka, Straka has made a dwelling off excelling at PGA Tour occasions however continues to wrestle on the game’s largest levels. Like Griffin, he additionally has two wins this season whereas including 5 top-10s, however he has missed the reduce on the Masters, the PGA and the U.S. Open.
25. Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama’s finest end at an Open Championship got here in his Open debut in 2013 when he completed tied for sixth at Muirfield. Can Matsuyama win? After all. However it will take quite a bit for a participant who hasn’t had a top-10 end this yr exterior of his win on the Sentry.
First 4 out: Cameron Smith, Patrick Reed, Adam Scott, Sam Burns