LOGO Blog#345TOp “THE OPEN” #154 Preview

LOGO Blog#345TOp “THE OPEN” #154 Preview

Google Royal Birkdale logo Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport England

July 16-19, 2026 Par 70 Purse $17.75M

HISTORY

Royal Birkdale is considered the finest of all courses in England. Established July 30, 1889.

In 1951 it was granted Royal Status, and in 1954 it hosted its first OPEN won by Peter Thompson, who also won in 1965. This will be their 11th OPEN and they are ranked #6 behind; #1 St Andrews (30), who will be the host next year.

#2 Preswick (24), last and final one in 1925. Preswick was the site of the first 21 Opens before St Andrews hosted their 1st in 1873, but this compact course lacks the required space for grandstands, spectator villages and modern infrastructure needed for major championships.

#3 Muirfield (16) From 1892 to 2013#142 won by Phil Mickelson by 4 strokes over H. Stenson.

#4 Royal St George (15) 1894 to 2021#149 won by C. Morikawa by 2 strokes over J Spieth.

#5 Royal Liverpool (13) 1897-2023#151 won by Brian Harmon by 6 strokes over 4 players.

Last years winner was Scottie Scheffler who took the lead after RD1 and never gave it up winning by 4 strokes. H English was 2nd, Gotterup 3rd, M Fitzpatrick 4th and Rory 7th.

FAVORITES These 18 have the best chance to win, however I eliminated *10.

I feel the winner will come from the remaining 7 and My pick is M Fitzpatrick

1 Scottie Scheffler 7/1 Last week his 1st cut in 79 events, so who knows what will happen.

2 Rory McIlroy 7.5/1 Had 1 bad round last week (4 bogies RDs).

*3 Tommy Fleetwood 15/1 OWGR & FedX #9, Six top 10’s in 2026.

4 Matt Fitzpatrick 15/1 OWGR #3, FedX# 2, 3 wins 8 top 10’s 2026.

*5 Jon Rahm 22/1 LIV season player of the year, but except for #2 at PGA missed cut, #36&37.

*6 Xander Schauffele 27/1 OWGR #14, FedX #16, 0 wins 5 top 10’s.

7 Viktor Hovland 30/1 OWGR #12, FedX #20, 1 win 3 top 10’s.

7 Chris Gotterup 30/1 OWGR# 6, FedX# 5, 3 wins, 5 top 10’s.

*9 Wyndham Clark 33/1 OWGR# 8 FedX# 4, wins 2, top 10’s 4.

*9 Colin Morikawa 33/1 OWGR# 7, FedX# 6 wins 1, top 10’s 6.

*9 Ludvig Aberg 33/1OWGR# 20, FedX# 8, wins 0, top 10’s 6.

*9 Justin Rose 33/1 OWGR# 10, FedX# 21, wins 1, top 10’s 3.

9 Robert MacIntyre 33/1 OWGR#15, FedX# 27, top 10’S 5.

14 Tyrell Hatton 35/1 OWGR#22, FedX# 0 LIV, top 10’s 2.

*15 Si Woo Kim 40/1 OWGR# 21, FedX# 7, wins 0, top 10’s 9.

*16 Shane Lowry 45/1 Won at Royal Portrush in 2019 by 6 strokes over Tommy Fleetwood.

17 Min Woo Lee 50/1 Best bet, last week’s only bogie on #8 and Kim’s great RD4 or he wins.

COMENTARRY

#1 In my opinion THE OPEN is without a doubt the best tournament.

The oldest and has the most tradition as a world wide event.

#2 is The Masters World class event with strong traditions kept alive by Augusta CC.

#3 The Memorial. Having lived in Westerville OH about 15 miles from Dublin I had the good fortune to attend the 2nd event and several more. Its was Jack’s gift to his home town and with the tradition of honoring a golf contributor every year is another Class A event

#4 US Open Our National Championship, love seeing the great courses the pick each year.

#5 The Players Very important to the PGA Pro’s and par 3 #17 best in golf.

#6 The PGA Championship An opportunity for club pros like Michael Block in 2015, to excel.

#7 Pebble Beach Without a doubt the most picturesque courses on the tour.

#8 Phoenix Open Large and sometime rowdy crowed, #16 make it a nice once a year event.

#9 The Farmers at Torrey Pines in La Jolla CA overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

#10 Arnold Palmer A tribute to the golfer who made the PGA tour a great sporting attraction.