The oldest golf tournament in the world also happens to be a major championship, and the British Open will turn 154 this year.
The Open Championship 2026 begins on Thursday from Royal Birkdale Golf Club in England, with Scottie Scheffler the defending champion.
The venue of Royal Birkdale is one of the many storylines surrounding The Open, and it’s a good place to start when looking at the biggest talking points of the last major of the year.
The Course
This is the 11th time that Royal Birkdale will host The Open, and winning scores have been at opposite ends of the spectrum in recent editions.
The 2017 Open Championship was the last at this course and saw Jordan Spieth prevail at 12-under-par. However, in its penultimate time hosting, which was 2008, Padraig Harrington won at 3-over-par. That shows the variance of this course, which underwent renovations in 2024 that included the narrowing of fairways.
Just 41 of this year’s 156-man field played in the 2017 edition of the major, so most of the players competing at Royal Birkdale for the first time only adds to the excitement.
The Field
Fourteen past British Open champions are competing this week, from recent winners like Scheffler, Cameron Smith, and Xander Schauffele to winners of yesteryear such as David Duval, Stewart Cink, and Harrington. There is a heavy international presence, and as a result, several non-British regulars didn’t make the cut and qualify. That includes the likes of Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, and Sergio Garcia.
Even with that, all of the top-ranked players will be teeing off on Thursday, in addition to nine amateur golfers in the field. There are also several English-born golfers playing who may have a bit of home-course advantage, starting with Tommy Fleetwood, who grew up just a few miles from Royal Birkdale.
The Local Favorites
Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, Aaron Rai, and Justin Rose are among those natives of England looking to bring the Open Championship back home. Not since Nick Faldo in 1992 has an English golfer won the British Open, but you have to go back to Tony Jacklin in 1969 to find the last time an English player won this tournament when it was held in England.
With Rai winning the 2026 PGA Championship, if another Englishman prevails this weekend, then this would be the first time ever that two English golfers won majors in the same year.
The Favorites
Unsurprisingly, Scheffler is the outright favorite to become the first since Harrington (2007–08) to win this event in back-to-back years.
Rory McIlroy, who won The Open 2014, placed fourth when Royal Birkdale last hosted in 2017, ranks second on the PGA Tour in strokes gained (+1.73) this season, and is viewed as the second-favorite behind Scheffler.
Others who’ve been rising in recent weeks include Chris Gotterup, who leads the tour with three wins this season, 2026 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, and even Tom Kim. The South Korean has quite the resume: he won the Scottish Open last week, was runner-up at the 2023 British Open, and finished third in his last major at the U.S. Open.
Last Chance for Redemption
In 2024, Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Open, was runner-up at the PGA Championship, and finished sixth at the Masters. In 2025, DeChambeau had three top-10 finishes at majors, including a second place at the Masters.
In 2026, DeChambeau has looked nothing like he was in the previous two years, as he’s missed the cut in all three major tournaments. With another poor showing at The Open by failing to see the weekend, he could become just the fourth golfer to miss all four major cuts within two years of winning a major event.
History isn’t on DeChambeau’s side, considering his lack of success at this tournament. It’s the only major in which he doesn’t have a top-5 finish; he has more missed cuts (three) across his eight starts than he has top 25s (two).
A Baker’s Dozen?
Each of the last 12 Open Championships have been won by a first-time winner at the major. Not since Ernie Els in 2012—who won his inaugural British Open in 2002—has a prior Open champion prevailed. This 12-tournament run is the second-longest streak of first-time winners at any major in history, trailing only 19 straight new PGA champions from 1952–70.
One person who would love for this streak to end is Spieth, who won at Royal Birkdale in 2017. However, the three-time major winner is a shell of his past self, as it’s been 15 major starts since his last top-5 finish. Having past course success should bring him confidence, but confidence can only carry one’s play so far as Spieth placed 40th at this tournament a year ago.
Who’s Not Here?
For all of the talk about who could win and who’s in the field, it’s noteworthy to mention who is not at Royal Birkdale this week. Two names stand out in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Woods has not competed at an event since the 2024 British Open due to injuries, surgeries, an arrest, and treatment, and this will be the eighth straight missed major for the 15-time champion.
As for Mickelson, he’s dealing with his own personal problems, including a family health situation and allegations of misconduct. Mickelson missed each of the year’s first three majors, meaning he will go an entire calendar year without teeing off at a major tournament. This marks the first time since 1989 that Mickelson isn’t featured in a single major event, which was before the likes of Scheffler, DeChambeau, Spieth, and Fitzpatrick were even born.
