SOUTHPORT, England — The 154th Open Championship opens Thursday at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, where warm temperatures and dry conditions have baked out the Merseyside coastline. Royal Birkdale has often been called The Open rota’s “fairest” test, though that can depend on weather. “It’s a fantastic track,” Jordan Spieth, the 2017 Birkdale champion, said. “[It’s] maybe the hardest Open venue, most difficult Open venue; obviously, weather dependent.”
Reigning Open champion Scottie Scheffler and two-time defending Masters champion Rory McIlroy enter the week as the betting favorites. The key questions include whether Scheffler can rebound from his first missed cut in 78 starts and whether McIlroy can win his first Claret Jug since 2014.
Mark Schlabach wrote that McIlroy may be in better form heading into Birkdale, noting McIlroy tied for seventh at last week’s Scottish Open and fired a 6-under 64 on Sunday. Schlabach added that McIlroy hit 61.5% of fairways last week and ranked first in strokes gained: off the tee (5.981), which he called a good sign because “you can’t miss fairways at Royal Birkdale.” Schlabach also said this week was the first time in a long time he considered ranking someone other than McIlroy or Scheffler atop his pre-major list.
Schlabach also flagged concerns about Scheffler. Though Scheffler has four runner-up finishes and had been in the top 25 in all but one start, he has not won in his last 14 starts and missed the cut in Scotland, hitting 11 of 24 fairways and 23 of 36 greens in regulation. Schlabach noted Scheffler needed 1.8 putts per hole in the second round there.
Paolo Uggetti wrote that neither player appears to be at his best, but both remain the top two players in the world and could quickly find form. Uggetti said he would slightly lean toward Scheffler as the defending champion, adding that Scheffler’s last victory came in January at the first PGA Tour event of the year and this is his last chance this season to add a major.
Schlabach pointed to English contenders and the host-country narrative: no Englishman has won the Claret Jug since Nick Faldo in 1992, and no English player has won on English soil since Tony Jacklin in 1969. He highlighted Matt Fitzpatrick, who has three wins this season and tied for third last week and leads the tour in strokes gained: approach (.846) and around the green (.533). Tommy Fleetwood, raised in Southport, is expected to be a gallery favorite as he attempts to win his first major.
