SOUTHPORT, England -- As much of this country turns its attention to England's spectacular quest for its first World Cup title since 1966, the world's best golfers will descend on Royal Birkdale Golf Club this week for the 154th Open Championship.
Several of the country's golf heroes will try to end another long English drought in the final major championship of the season.
Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Rose, 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.
World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler, who will try to become the first back-to-back winner of The Open since Padraig Harrington in 2008-09, and Rory McIlroy are once again the betting favorites.
It will be the 11th time that Royal Birkdale has hosted The Open. Jordan Spieth won the last time in 2017 when he famously made bogey on the 13th hole after taking a drop from an unplayable lie onto the driving range. Then Spieth played the next four holes at 5 under par to beat Matt Kuchar by three strokes.
The golf course has changed dramatically since then. The par-3 fourth has been extended by 20 yards to 219. The fifth has been shortened by 25 yards and is now a drivable par 4. The par-3 14th was transformed into a 602-yard par 5, and the par-5 15th is now a demanding 241-yard par 3.
Here are the favorites to watch when the tournament tees off Thursday:
1. Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler is coming off his first missed cut in nearly four years when he didn't play on the weekend in the Genesis Scottish Open. That gave him a chance to get an early look at Royal Birkdale, where he had never played. Scheffler hasn't won since his first event of the season in the American Express, a stretch of 13 starts. Still, the defending Open Championship winner is among the favorites every week. Scheffler hasn't finished outside the top 25 in five career starts in The Open.
2. Rory McIlroy
It almost feels as if McIlroy is making cameos on the PGA Tour schedule this season; the back-to-back Masters winner has made only 10 starts. But McIlroy has played consistently well and loves playing in the wind and on links courses. The 2014 Open Championship winner can become only the 12th golfer to win at least seven majors. He tied for fourth in the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale at 5 under, seven strokes behind Spieth.
3. Matt Fitzpatrick
A three-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, Fitzpatrick seems more than capable of ending England's long drought in The Open. Fitzpatrick had struggled in the tournament until breaking through with a tie for fourth at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland last year. He was first on tour in strokes gained: around the green (.592), second in approach (.766) and eighth in driving accuracy (.689) heading into last week, which seems like a good recipe to win at Royal Birkdale.
4. Wyndham Clark
No golfer in the world has played as well as 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 might not be a fan favorite, but there's no denying his talent. He ranks ninth on tour in strokes gained: around the green (.401) and 25th in putting (.391). Clark seemed to figure out links golf when he tied for fourth in last year's Open Championship. Will he find enough fairways at Royal Birkdale to contend again?
5. Chris Gotterup
Just when it seemed that Gotterup's breakthrough season was slowing down, he picked up his third victory of 2026 in the John Deere Classic and contended again in the Scottish Open. He has a good history on links courses, winning the Scottish Open and finishing third in The Open last year. Royal Birkdale's thick rough figures to neutralize Gotterup's length off the tee, but he's a solid iron player and putts well. He'll have to hit more fairways; he ranked 129th in driving accuracy (54.4%) heading into last week.
6. Cameron Young
Young has cooled off considerably since winning The Players and Cadillac Championship and tying for third in the Masters. He finished in a tie for 43rd or worse in his past three starts. But Young has played as well as anyone this season, which is why he has climbed to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He seems poised to capture his first major and has played well in The Open, finishing second at St. Andrews in Scotland in 2022 and tying for eighth in 2023 at Royal Liverpool.
7. Tommy Fleetwood
The locals have anticipated Fleetwood's return to his native Southport for months. There's a mural of him on the walls of the Southport & Birkdale Sports Club and another painting on the lawn of a Liverpool shopping center. Fleetwood's game has been heating up in his quest for his first major championship. The reigning FedEx Cup champion hasn't picked up a victory this season but has played consistently well. He ranks third on tour in strokes gained (.377) and around the green (.520).
8. Ludvig Åberg
Åberg hasn't won on tour since the 2025 Genesis Invitational, so he's long overdue to get it done. He had plenty of chances to win the past two seasons and has six top 10s and 10 top 25s in 15 starts in 2026. He'll be making his third start in The Open and tied for 23rd last year. His iron play remains stellar and he's accurate enough off the tee to keep himself out of trouble. Can Åberg close out a tournament if he gets himself in contention again?
9. Xander Schauffele
Top 10s in majors have become Schauffele's forwarding address -- he has 19 top 10s and 29 top 25s in 37 career starts in the big four. Since winning the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland, Schauffele hasn't been in contention to win another one, but he finished in the top 12 in six of his past seven starts. His form hasn't been great lately; he tied for 51st in the Travelers Championship and missed the cut in the Scottish Open.
10. Tyrrell Hatton
The fiery English golfer comes into the week in great form after winning in Spain in the LIV Golf League and tying for seventh in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Hatton has a great track record on links courses; he is a three-time winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour. He has just two top 10s in 13 starts in The Open but seems ready to turn things around in his national open.
11. Collin Morikawa
Morikawa has battled through a back injury the past few months but has still played surprisingly well. He carded a 9-under 61 in the final round of the Travelers Championship and finished third, narrowly missing a playoff. The 2021 Champion Golfer of the Year at Royal St. George's, Morikawa leads the tour in approach (.842) and is seventh in driving accuracy (69.4%). But he'll have to get more out of his short game this week to win a second Claret Jug.
12. Jon Rahm
Rahm seems to be playing in golf's transfer portal with the uncertainty of LIV Golf's future and when, or if, he'll be allowed to return to the PGA Tour. He missed the cut in the U.S. Open but finished in the top 10 in three of his past six starts in the majors. He has played well in The Open, finishing in the top 11 in four of his past six starts. Rahm would become only the second Spanish golfer to hoist a Claret Jug, joining his idol, Seve Ballesteros, who won it three times (1979, '84 and '88).
13. Viktor Hovland
After missing the cut in the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, Hovland took down Scheffler in a Monday playoff at the Travelers Championship to pick up his eighth PGA Tour victory. His results in The Open have been a mixed bag -- he tied for fourth in 2022 but missed the cut and tied for 63rd in his past two starts. Hovland figures to get plenty of grief from the locals after England took down his native Norway 2-1 in a World Cup quarterfinal Saturday.
14. Justin Rose
It was more than a quarter-century ago when the 17-year-old Rose finished fourth as the low amateur in the 1998 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Now 45 years old, Rose is still searching for his first Claret Jug. He's a two-time runner-up in The Open and is playing some of the best golf of his career in the majors. He tied for third in the Masters, 10th in the PGA Championship and 11th in the U.S. Open. There's little doubt who the galleries will be cheering for this week.
15. Aaron Rai
Rai figures to get a hero's welcome when he returns home to his native England as a major champion this week. He grew up in Wolverhampton, which is less than 95 miles from Royal Birkdale. The surprising winner of the PGA Championship in May, Rai followed that up with a tie for 11th in the U.S. Open. Few golfers are more accurate off the tee; he ranks second in driving accuracy (72.4%). Rai missed the cut in the Scottish Open after winning that tournament in 2020.
16. Russell Henley
No one on tour hits drives more accurately than Henley, who ranks No. 1 in driving accuracy (73.4%). His iron play hasn't been as good as it was in the past, but he's still capable of hitting plenty of greens this week. Henley had back-to-back top-10 finishes in The Open, finishing solo fifth in 2024 and tying for 10th last year.
17. Robert MacIntyre
MacIntyre has bounced back from a rough post-Masters stretch with back-to-back top 10s. He tied for 10th in the Travelers and was in contention to win Sunday in the Scottish Open. MacIntyre finished in the top 10 in three of his past six starts in The Open. He would become the first Scottish golfer to win a Claret Jug since Paul Lawrie in 1999.
18. J.J. Spaun
Spaun missed the cut in each of the first three majors, but he has played pretty well in the non-major events. He won the Valero Texas Open for a second time and has four top 10s and eight top 25s. Spaun tied for 23rd in his Open Championship debut last year. He's one of the best irons players on tour and finds fairways off the tee, which will be paramount at Royal Birkdale.
19. Sam Burns
Burns is playing some of the best golf of his career when it matters most, tying for seventh in the Masters and 26th in the PGA Championship and finishing solo second in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock. His history in The Open isn't great -- his best finish is a tie for 31st in 2024 -- but his performance at Shinnecock, another difficult links-style course, should give him confidence.
20. Tom Kim
After struggling with his putting stroke and confidence in 2025, Kim has finally figured things out again. After tying for sixth in the Myrtle Beach Classic and 15th in the RBC Canadian Open, Kim finished third in the U.S. Open and then won the Scottish Open, his first victory in nearly three years. Don't forget he tied for second in the 2023 Open Championship before things fell apart.
21. Patrick Reed
It isn't long before Reed can return to the PGA Tour on Aug. 25, and the former Masters champion has been playing as much as he can until then. After missing the cut in the U.S. Open, he tied for 45th in the Italian Open and didn't make the weekend in the BMW International Open. He tied for 13th in the Scottish Open. Reed's last top-25 finish in The Open was solo 10th in 2019.
22. Brooks Koepka
Koepka's inconsistent putter has held him back since his return to the PGA Tour in February. But the five-time major champion had played pretty well until he withdrew from the Canadian Open because of a hand injury and missed the cut in the U.S. Open and Scottish Open. He tied for sixth in the 2017 Open Championship.
23. Harris English
English, the runner-up in last year's PGA Championship and Open Championship, has labored through a so-so season in 2026. He had one top 10 and nine top 25s in 17 starts. English's iron play has been the culprit; he ranks 118th in approach (-.210). If English can find more greens in regulation, he could be a sleeper. He's sixth in putting (.581) and hits more fairways than most.
24. Corey Conners
Conners emerged from a mediocre stretch of golf by tying for 23rd in the U.S. Open and seventh in the Travelers Championship. He finished in the top 25 in three of the past five Open Championships, including a tie for 10th last year. His iron play ranks among the best golfers in the world, but his short game, particularly his putting, is what gets him in trouble.
25. Nicolai Højgaard
Højgaard, a three-time winner on the DP World Tour, finished in the top 25 in two of the past three Open Championships. He tied for 23rd in 2023 and for 14th last year. Though he hasn't yet won on the PGA Tour, he has put himself in contention this season with a tie for third in the WM Phoenix Open and runner-up finishes in the Texas Children's Open and Truist Championship. One concern: He ranks 139th in driving accuracy (52.5%), which might not work at Royal Birkdale.
