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He 152nd Open Championship kicks off at Royal Troon on Thursday, and it’s hard to pick a winner of a tournament that lives up to its name.
But that hasn’t stopped our writers from trying, as well as offering a dark horse to watch and a player they think he’ll battle with.
Rory McIlroy knows he needs a win or else his major championship drought will stretch to a decade, with his Painful collapse at the US Open in Pinehurst Fresh in memory.
Bryson DeChambeau He was the winner of that week and is one of the most likely American contenders alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa.
Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton are England’s two best options, but last week… Bob MacIntyre, winner of the Scottish Open will attract a lot of support from his home crowd. Tiger Woods is preparing for the match and will once again be a source of fascination. Here are our editors’ predictions.
Winner
James Corrigan: Bryson DeChambeau
He now has the maturity to accept the vagaries of golf and to hold back when necessary. That said, it’s not out of his reach for him to try and hit the first three greens.
Neil Squires: Scottie Scheffler
There’s a reason he’s world number one. His run of success this year is extraordinary and there’s no reason he can’t continue that at Troon. Unless he gets arrested again.
Tom Cary: Ludwig Aberg
He came very close to winning a major in his rookie year when he finished second at the Masters in April. He also got off to a fast start at the U.S. Open. Imagine him winning his first Open.
Daniel Zeqiri: Collin Morikawa
Royal Troon rewards straight shots and the 2020 Open winner has found 72.03 per cent of the fairways on the PGA Tour this season, the second-best percentage of all players. He has recently shown rock-solid form after a top-five finish at the Scottish Open and has finished T3, T4 and T14 in the first three majors of the year.
Kate Rowan: Xander Schauffele
My heart says Rory McIlroy and I hope to be proven wrong, but my head says Schauffele. The Californian will be buoyed by finally winning his major title at the US PGA at Valhalla. The 30-year-old has a wonderful ability to hit the ball low and this obviously suits links golf.
Frankie Christou: Collin Morikawa
The two-time major winner is back to his best this year after giving up trying to pull the ball out and going back to his dart-like fade with his irons. He’s swapped his 5-wood for a yet-to-be-released 3-iron and will add a 60-degree Hi-Toe wedge to his bag to fine-tune his links game as much as possible.
Dark horse
JC: Bob MacIntyre
He’s obviously had a lot of fun since his dream win at the Scottish Open on Sunday. Beware the hungover golfer. His Renaissance glory will have him playing without restraint.
EN: Tyrrell Hatton
The Englishman already deserved a decent Open and is in good form after finishing third at last week’s Valderrama LIV event. The venue favours him – he achieved his best Open result, a fifth place, the last time the championship was held at Troon in 2016.
TC: Russell Henley
A true unknown, he has missed five of nine cuts at the Open and has never finished higher than 20th. But who saw Ben Curtis coming? Or Todd Hamilton? Or Brian Harman, for that matter? Henley is playing decent golf and has made the cut at all three majors this season, with his best finish being a T-7 at the U.S. Open.
DZ: Cameron Young
Another American who is an excellent driver, though better known for his power, Young has finished second and T8 in two Open starts, on very different courses at St Andrews and Hoylake. Young comes into the Open on the back of two top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour, so his current form is also encouraging.
KR: Justin Rose
Part of what makes the Open so special is that someone with a pedigree like Rose’s can come from outside the ranks. The 2013 US Open winner and 2016 Olympic gold medallist, who was forced to qualify for this year’s tournament via Open qualifying at the Cinque Ports, has nerves of steel and also the hunger of not having won the Claret Jug.
FC: Sahith Theegala
The drive is a weakness, but being able to hit long irons off the tee allows the young American to close the gap on the field and rely on his incredible shot-shaping skills. He missed the cut at Hoylake last year, but his T4 at The Renaissance Club last week shows he has figured out how to play links courses.
Disappointing week for…
JC: Tiger Woods
The late-early draw has worked against him and he has a battered body that needs a lot of conditioning between rounds, so he is much more likely to miss the cut than finish in the top 30.
EN: Tiger Woods
While the Ayrshire Links is a manageable course for Woods, it’s asking too much of the three-time Open champion to compete considering how little he plays competitive golf these days.
TC: Rory McIlroy
I’m usually rooting for him to end his 10-year drought, so I’ll be rooting for him to miss the cut this time around and see if that lifts the curse.
DZ: Tommy Fleetwood
He ticks all the boxes to be a potential Open winner, but never seems to take the step forward that is required when an opportunity presents itself. When his name appears on the front page of a major tournament leaderboard, all too often a bogey or two ensue and the cycle repeats itself. Short putting is always a concern.
KR: John Rahm
Rahm’s decline could be very difficult to follow. Hopefully, the Spaniard will take inspiration from his country’s football team and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz to help reverse this trend.
FC: Scottie Scheffler
The fact that other players can putt from 30 metres off the green on some holes negates the world number one’s golf prowess. As we saw at Pinehurst last month, he struggles on fast fairways and greens and I expect the same to be true here.
I would love to see…
JC: Rory McIlroy wins
In 2011, he bounced back from that 80 in the final round of the Masters to win the U.S. Open. If he does the same this week and avoids going an entire decade without a major, it will be a joyous scene.
NS: Michael Hendry arrives at the weekend
The New Zealander is in remission from leukaemia and underwent chemotherapy 12 months ago when he was due to play for Royal Liverpool. He is playing this year on all medical exemptions.
TC: Tommy Fleetwood wins
He is a very good player. There has to be a big win. On the other hand, we said the same about Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Colin Montgomerie, etc. Although it would not have the same impact as it did at Hoylake 12 months ago, a Fleetwood win would be very welcome in the stands.
DZ: Ludvig Aberg follows in Henrik Stenson’s footsteps
Golf is in dire need of superstars, and the astonishing consistency of the 24-year-old Aberg means he is well on his way to becoming one. Fellow Swede Henrik Stenson won at Troon in 2016, but it would be a tall order to win in his first Open appearance with all the fanfare surrounding the tournament. He is no ordinary debutant, however, having finished second in his first start at Augusta National in April.
KR: Bob MacIntyre wins
There seems to be something of a curse on Scottish Open winners lifting the Claret Jug the following week, but what a magical atmosphere it would be to see a Scot triumph on home soil.
FC: Joe Dean does it right
Apart from Tommy Fleetwood, Dean is the next Englishman I expect to do well. The 29-year-old was a Morrisons delivery driver and struggled to pay his travel bills on Tour before winning £170,000 by finishing second at the Kenya Open in February. Every Open has a feel-good story and I expect this year to be Joe Dean.
An unlikely story
JC: Stenson vs Mickelson
For whatever reason (and, let’s be honest, it’s LIV), the R&A has done nothing to commemorate the incredible duel at the last Open at Troon. It would be delightful if the pair were back on top.
NS: Hole in one at The Postage Stamp
Gene Sarazen, then 71, made it on his plus-four at the 1973 Open, but the shortest hole on the list is more likely to be a scorecard destroyer.
TC: Hatton buys a house in Troon
Tyrrell Hatton shoots two rounds of 80 and misses the cut by a mile, but decides to buy the house for sale between the 2nd and 16th holes at Troon because he’s having such a good time and wants to stay the weekend.
DZ: The postage stamp complains
Someone, probably an American and probably a LIV player, will commit sacrilege by saying that The Postage Stamp is unfair. Naturally, a large number of others will follow, probably involving their ball coming to rest squarely against the face of a relined bunker. Alas!
KR: Bryson DeChambeau gives driving tips to royalty
For Princess Anne, who visited the Open at St Andrews two years ago, attending Royal Troon is far from an impossibility, having returned to public duties last week following a minor head injury. The story that would go viral would be that of Her Highness receiving driving tips from DeChambeau, with the two-time US Open winner documenting it all on his YouTube channel. His stated wish is to involve Joe Biden and Donald Trump in one of his videos, so why not the royals?
FC: The Tiger returns
It’s unlikely given a tough finish at the Masters and missed cuts at Pinehurst and Valhalla. Royal Troon is relatively flat, so he should be able to prove to the world that he can still compete with the world’s best.