Golf's oldest championship returns to Royal Birkdale
The 154th Open Championship tees off Thursday, July 16 at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, marking the final men's major of 2026. The Southport links will stage The Open for the 11th time, trailing only St Andrews in championship appearances since first hosting in 1954. All 50 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are scheduled to compete, setting up what should be the deepest field of the season for golf's original championship.
Scottie Scheffler returns as the defending champion after winning by four strokes at Royal Portrush last summer. Rory McIlroy successfully defended his title at The Masters, while Aaron Rai won his first career major at the PGA Championship. Wyndham Clark then survived a loaded field and a brutal Shinnecock Hills course to win the U.S. Open at four under. All three major winners are in the field, along with 14 past Open champions and players from 28 countries.
A links test reshaped
Royal Birkdale was established in 1889 but redesigned in 1922 to create the current layout, which winds its way through sand dunes towering over each fairway. Unlike the blind shots and uneven lies that define other links venues, Royal Birkdale presents a more straightforward test. Course hazards will reward precision off the tee, but the open layout should also allow for some creative strategies.
Since the 2017 Open Championship, the course has undergone a renovation. The principal change has come on the back nine; the former par-3 14th was removed, the par-5 15th relocated and became the 14th hole, and a new 15th hole (a par-3) inserted. The new 14th won't simply be longer. "The entire fairway was shifted 30 yards to the right and now plays closer to the edge of the dunes. Four fairway pot bunkers have been repositioned to make players shape drives into the landing zone."
The last time the tournament was at Royal Birkdale, in 2017, Jordan Spieth won it at 12 under par. Conditions have varied wildly here. Averse weather was a factor the last time the Open Championship was at Royal Birkdale, and weather conditions may come into play again this time around. Links golf rewards ball-strikers who can control trajectory in crosswinds and scramble when the course firms up.
Defending champion seeks history
Scottie Scheffler will try to become the first back-to-back winner of The Open since Padraig Harrington in 2008-09. The world number one enters in an unusual position for him. The world's top-ranked player hasn't been particularly dominant this season, winning just once. However, he was consistently competitive before missing the cut at the Scottish Open, his first missed cut since 2022.
That stumble last week could be recency bias obscuring a broader pattern. Scheffler has never had a bad performance at this major, notching top 25s in all five of his Open starts. His ball-striking profile travels well to links conditions, though his opening-round struggles this season (a departure from prior years when he dominated Round 1 scoring) have forced him to chase on weekends. At Royal Birkdale, where conditions can shift dramatically between waves, getting off to a clean start matters.
McIlroy's major opportunity
Tommy Fleetwood, Aaron Rai and others will try to become the first English golfer to hoist a Claret Jug since Nick Faldo won his third in 1992. But the player with the clearest path to lifting the trophy is Rory McIlroy. Rory McIlroy, a two-time Masters winner, aims to solidify his legacy as Europe's greatest golfer. He won his only Open title 12 years ago and has been maddeningly inconsistent in recent editions of this championship, with three top-10s and three finishes 46th or worse over his last six Open starts.
McIlroy has built his 2026 schedule around the majors, and when he's teed it up, he's performed. The Masters victory in April proved he can still win when the spotlight burns brightest. Royal Birkdale's relatively fair setup (minimal blind shots, fairways routed through dune valleys) should suit a player of his caliber who strikes it as purely as anyone in the world.
Clark's recent surge
No golfer in the world has played as well as Wyndham Clark over the past two months. He won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and the U.S. Open for the second time. Clark didn't finish outside the top 11 in each of his past six starts and was in contention again in the Scottish Open. Clark seemed to figure out links golf when he tied for fourth in last year's Open Championship.
His U.S. Open triumph at Shinnecock Hills three weeks ago demonstrated his ability to win on firm, fast conditions that reward precision iron play. Royal Birkdale's narrow fairways and over 100 bunkers present a similar test, though the crosswinds and pot bunkers are uniquely Open challenges. If Clark finds fairways at the rate he did at Shinnecock, he'll be in contention Sunday.
Pool strategy for a wide-open field
This Open feels less top-heavy than most majors. Not even Scheffler is an overwhelming favorite, which is a testament to the overall quality of the field and the wide-open nature of the Open Championship. Weather will play a significant role in determining which half of the draw gets favorable conditions, making course-fit archetypes more valuable than pure ranking this week. Target players who rank well in scrambling and proximity from 150-200 yards, the distance range that defines approach play on par 4s when wind forces clubs down.
Look for players with positive Open history at this venue or similar straightforward links courses. Birkdale rewards patience more than it punishes aggression, making it a solid week to roster steady ball-strikers who avoid big numbers rather than boom-or-bust talents. Stuck between players? Our player comparison tool uses real PGA Tour strokes-gained data and weights each category by what this course rewards, then names the pick with a probability score.
Run your Open pool this week
The season's final major offers the perfect excuse to fire up one last pool before the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Whether you're running a traditional format or experimenting with a prize-money-based scoring system, getting your pool live before Thursday's first tee time takes minutes. Set up a traditional Open pool with custom scoring rules, or let our admin tools handle everything from tee time-based pick windows to live leaderboard updates.
Ready to launch? Create your pool now and invite your group before the opening tee shot at Royal Birkdale.