2026-07-7 The British Open – Majors Challenge

The Open Championship

Your weekly guide to fantasy golf on the PGA TOUR

⛳ This week on the PGA TOUR

Tournament: The Open Championship
Date: July 16–19, 2026
Venue: Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Merseyside, England
Purse: $17,000,000+ (winner $3.1 million+)
FedEx Cup Points: 750 to the winner
Cut Rule: 36-hole cut to the top 70 players and ties
Course Details: This week’s championship returns to one of England’s great links on the northwest coast, a par-70 test stretching to roughly 7,223 yards from the championship tees. The layout in its modern form dates to a 1932 redesign by architect Fred G. Hawtree and five-time Open champion J.H. Taylor, whose signature move was routing the holes through the valleys between the towering dunes rather than over them. That single philosophy is why a course framed by 20-to-40-foot sandhills plays as one of the fairest championship venues in the world — the drama is all around you, but the fairways give you a fighting chance. It’s a natural version of stadium golf, with dunes that double as grandstands for the galleries. Expect a classic two-loop-of-nine routing and one of the most brutal opening stretches in golf; the first three holes are widely considered among the toughest starts anywhere. Firm, undulating fairways and revetted pot bunkers reward precision and the ability to flight the ball low, and the greens tend to play trickier than they look — subtly crowned surfaces that repel anything less than a committed strike.
New in 2026: There’s plenty. Ahead of this Open, the club commissioned its most significant overhaul in decades, with Tom Mackenzie of Mackenzie & Ebert reworking portions of every hole beginning in 2024. The headline change is a brand-new par-3 15th — a genuine brute that can stretch to around 240 yards — which replaced the old par-3 14th (now converted to a short-game practice area). The par-4 5th has been transformed into a drivable hole at roughly 321 yards after a large dune was removed to open up the green, though a pond lurking right punishes the greedy. The par-3 7th was shortened to about 151 yards to add variety among the one-shotters, and bunkers across the property were rebuilt and relocated — many recapturing their rougher, natural 1934 look. In short, players who last competed here in 2017 are walking onto a course that’s been substantially redrawn.
Weather: Southport is in the grip of a UK heatwave this week, with mostly sunny skies and unseasonably warm temperatures — highs around 82°F Thursday before cooling into the low 70s over the weekend — plus moderate winds of 8–14 mph and gusts near 20 mph. The bigger story for fantasy purposes is the ground: with minimal rain in the forecast, the links is playing firm and fast, so expect big roll-out, plenty of run-out into trouble, and a premium on flighting the ball and controlling spin.

Golf’s oldest championship — first played back in 1860 and still the only major contested outside the United States — returns this week for its 154th edition, and it lands at a venue with serious pedigree: this is the 11th time the historic Southport links has hosted The Open, more than any course on the rota except St Andrews. It’s also the final major of the 2026 PGA TOUR season, which gives the week an extra layer of stakes as the game’s best chase one last piece of major hardware before the FedEx Cup Playoffs. And the field has answered the call. Defending champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler headlines, bidding to become the first back-to-back Open winner since Padraig Harrington in 2008, alongside two-time Masters champion Rory McIlroy — who hasn’t lifted the Claret Jug since 2014 — plus Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, 2024 Open champ Xander Schauffele, and recent U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark. But the storyline that’ll own the galleries is a local one: Southport’s own Tommy Fleetwood, the world No. 9 and reigning FedEx Cup champion, is chasing his first major title on the very links he snuck onto as a kid — and no Englishman has won The Open since Nick Faldo in 1992. Add in a nostalgic return for Jordan Spieth, who won the last Open played here in 2017, fellow Englishmen Aaron Rai (this year’s PGA champion) and Matt Fitzpatrick, and a firm, fast, heatwave-baked golf course, and you’ve got the ingredients for a classic.

Past Champions:

2025 — Scottie Scheffler (−17)
2024 — Xander Schauffele (−9)
2023 — Brian Harman, (−13)
2022 — Cameron Smith (−20)
2021 — Collin Morikawa (−15)

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🏌️ Players to Watch (and a Few to Fade)

Links golf is a different animal, and Royal Birkdale is one of its truest tests — a par-70 threaded through 40-foot dunes where the wind decides how a hole plays and a single loose swing can turn a routine par into a double. This isn’t a bomber’s paradise; it rewards the patient, precise ball-striker who can flight the ball low, control spin, and grind out pars while everyone else leaks shots. Add in the forecast — a UK heatwave has the course running firm and fast, with big roll-out and plenty of run-off into trouble — and position off the tee plus a hot putter will matter far more than raw length. There’s real weight to the week, too: it’s the final major of the 2026 season, the last chance at a Claret Jug before the FedEx Cup Playoffs, and the galleries will be roaring for a first English champion since 1992. The good news for lineup-builders is that several of the world’s best arrive in genuine form, and a handful own real history on this specific stretch of Merseyside.

Here are the names worth building around, plus a few familiar faces whose warning signs are worth respecting before you spend up on them.

The Headliners

Scottie Scheffler — The defending champion, world No. 1, and the obvious anchor. He’s chasing back-to-back Claret Jugs (no one’s done it since Harrington in 2008) and his elite iron play travels to any course. One small asterisk: he arrives off a rare missed cut, his first in nearly four years, so he’s not quite the automatic he’s been all season — but you’re still fading him at your own risk.
Rory McIlroy — The 2026 Masters champ has narrowed his whole season around the majors, and Birkdale suits him: he finished T-4 here in 2017 and comes in off a T-7 at the Scottish Open. His lone Open title is now a dozen years old (2014), which only adds motivation on a links he clearly likes.
Matt Fitzpatrick — Quietly having the best season of his career with three TOUR wins and a spot at world No. 3. The Englishman’s precision game is an ideal fit for a positional golf course, and he’ll have home crowds behind him.
Xander Schauffele — The 2024 Open champion knows how to win this event and rarely beats himself in a major. A classic set-and-forget play in a links test.

The Hometown Story

Tommy Fleetwood — The emotional centerpiece of the week. The Southport native, world No. 9 and reigning FedEx Cup champion, is chasing his first major on the course he snuck onto as a kid — and no Englishman has won The Open since Nick Faldo in 1992. Beyond the narrative, the form is real: he hasn’t finished worse than 14th in his last five worldwide starts. A legitimate contender, not just a sentimental one.

Champion Pedigree

Jordan Spieth — Won the last Open played here in 2017, so the course clearly agrees with him. The caveat is form: he’s been openly frustrated with his results and hasn’t contended consistently, so he’s more of a nostalgic dart than a core pick.
Collin Morikawa — The 2021 Open champion is one of the purest ball-strikers in the game, and if Birkdale plays as the accuracy-and-approach test many expect, he’s very live. Consistency has been his 2026 issue, but the ceiling is a third major.

Potential Fades:

Bryson DeChambeau — A huge name and a fun watch, but links golf has never been his comfort zone and his major season has been underwhelming. Birkdale is flatter than most rota courses, which helps, but you’re betting on a bounce-back rather than form.
Brooks Koepka — The five-time major winner still carries name recognition, but a recent hand injury forced a withdrawal from the Canadian Open and he’s missed the cut in his last two starts (U.S. Open and Scottish). Hard to trust right now.
Jon Rahm — This one stings to list, because the talent is undeniable and the underlying stats remain strong. But he’s been a non-factor in the majors that matter to his legacy this year, and until he shows up on a Sunday leaderboard again, he’s a risky place to spend big.
Justin Thomas — A two-time major champion and former world No. 1, so he’ll be a popular name — but The Open has always been his weakest major, and the numbers are stark: making his 10th Open start this week, Thomas has never recorded a single top-10 finish in the event, and links golf simply doesn’t flatter his game. The 2026 form adds to the caution — he’s managed just one top-five all season while working back from offseason back surgery, and he limped to a T-50 at last week’s Scottish Open with a three-over final round. Elite talent, wrong week to trust it.

🧐 Did You Know?

The winner doesn’t actually keep the Claret Jug. Since 1928, the original trophy has lived permanently on display at St Andrews. Each champion gets to hold it for just one year, then must hand it back during the week of their title defense — receiving a full-size replica to keep for good. Even quirkier: the on-site engraver etches the winner’s name into the silver within minutes of the final putt (about eight seconds per letter), and he refuses to start until the R&A physically hands him a slip with the confirmed name — a lesson learned in 1999 after Jean van de Velde’s infamous 18th-hole collapse.

The Open has a first-timer streak going that’s unlike anything in golf. Every Open champion since 2013 has won the Claret Jug for the very first time — the longest run of first-time major-less-turned-major winners in the tournament’s history. In other words, this event has a knack for minting brand-new champions, which is worth remembering before you write off a longshot.

Royal Birkdale once produced the best Open finish by an Asian player in nearly half a century — twice over. When Haotong Li closed with a stunning 63 to grab solo third here in 2017, it was the best result for an Asian golfer at The Open since Lu Liang-Huan (“Mr. Lu”) finished runner-up in 1971 — also at Royal Birkdale. The same links, the same distinction, 46 years apart.

Royal Birkdale’s clubhouse was designed to look like an ocean liner. Unlike the stately Victorian clubhouses found at other Open venues, Birkdale’s stark white, Art Deco structure was built in the “Streamline Moderne” style by local architect George Tonge, who won a 1930s design competition with a building deliberately modeled after a ship at sea — all clean horizontal lines meant to evoke, in his words, the perfect balance of a liner. Nearly a century later, it still looks like someone parked the upper deck of a steamship in the dunes, and it remains one of golf’s most photographed backdrops.

Seve Ballesteros announced himself to the golf world at Royal Birkdale — without winning. In 1976, a 19-year-old, largely unknown Spaniard trailed Johnny Miller heading to the 72nd hole, then threaded an audacious running chip through an impossibly narrow gap between two greenside bunkers to save par and secure a tie for second alongside Jack Nicklaus. He didn’t lift the Claret Jug that week, but the shot became the stuff of legend and launched one of the most beloved careers in the game’s history — proof that Birkdale has a habit of producing unforgettable theater.

🤔 Fantasy Strategy

Birkdale is a positional golf course, and the historical data backs that up: at recent Opens, strokes-gained putting and approach play have correlated far more strongly with contending than raw driving distance — this is a week to prioritize precision ball-strikers and hot putters over bombers. With the course running firm and fast in the heatwave, the ability to flight the ball low, control spin into firm greens, and scramble for par when the wind kicks up will separate the field, and avoiding the big number matters more than making a flurry of birdies. Two other angles worth leaning on: form from last week’s Scottish Open is often a useful tell, since it gives players fresh links reps in similar conditions, and The Open has a well-documented habit of rewarding longshots and minting first-time champions — which makes this a great event to get differentiated with a sleeper or two rather than loading up only on the obvious names.

Sleepers to Consider:

Haotong Li — The most Birkdale-specific dart you can throw. Li shot a closing 63 to finish solo third here in 2017, and he backed it up with a T-4 at last year’s Open at Portrush, so this is clearly a stage and a style of golf that suits him. He rarely matches ownership of the marquee names, which makes his upside all the more valuable this week.
Harris English — Quietly one of the best links values in the field. English finished runner-up at the 2025 Open — the only player within four shots of Scheffler — yet he still flies under the radar. His steady, low-mistake game is exactly the profile that travels to a firm, positional test like this one.
Robert MacIntyre — A genuine links horse who grew up playing this style of golf in Scotland. He was inside the top 10 at last year’s Open and thrives in wind and weather that frustrates others. If conditions get nasty, his experience and shot-shaping become a real edge.
Min Woo Lee — Comes in red-hot after a runner-up finish at last week’s Scottish Open, so the links form and the confidence are both there. He has the shot-making creativity and firepower to go low in a good wave, and he’s the kind of exciting, streaky player who can put up a number when the course gives anything back.
Corey Conners — One of the most accurate ball-strikers on TOUR, which is precisely the skill this positional course demands. Conners doesn’t get the hype of the bigger names, but his ability to hit fairways and control his irons keeps him out of the trouble that wrecks other players’ cards at Birkdale — a sneaky-safe floor with real top-20 upside.

Longshots:

Joe Dean — The ultimate underdog dart. The 32-year-old Englishman only got into the field on Monday, winning the inaugural Last-Chance Qualifier by a single shot with a clutch eagle — with his fiancée Emily on the bag, three days before the two of them are due to get married. Just a couple of years ago Dean was delivering groceries for a supermarket during COVID and grinding on mini-tours; now he’s a DP World Tour pro in form (two top-10s in his last three starts) teeing it up in a major two hours from where he grew up. Here’s the fantasy kicker: he’s made the cut in both of his previous Open appearances, including his debut on this very course in 2017. A pure boom-or-bust flier, but the story writes itself if he catches a wave.

Marco Penge — A compelling comeback play making his Open Championship debut. The big-hitting Englishman was the breakout star of 2025, winning three DP World Tour titles and finishing runner-up in the Race to Dubai to only Rory McIlroy, earning both a PGA Tour card and Seve Ballesteros Award honors. Then a viral infection at last November’s Tour Championship in Dubai spiraled into months of ear, neck, and nervous-system problems that cost him half a season and forced a U.S. Open withdrawal. He’s fought his way back to health and form — a T9 at the BMW International Open, plus a T2 at last year’s Scottish Open showing his links game travels. He’s long and straight off the tee with strong long-iron play, exactly the profile that can flourish at Birkdale if the wind blows, and the world ranking slide from his layoff means he’ll come at a longshot’s price.

⭐️ Pro Tip: In firm, fast links conditions, prioritize precise iron players and strong putters over long hitters — at Birkdale, keeping the ball in position and avoiding the big number wins far more fantasy points than chasing distance.

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❎ One-and-Done Corner

The Open Championship purse has not been officially announced, but last year’s total purse was $17,000,000, with $3,100,000 going to the winner. That likely means it will be behind the FedEx Playoff events, but it’s also the last big-purse event with a cut, where there can be more meaningful separation between a win and a poor performance. You are going to want to employ a top option, subject only to also playing the ownership game depending on your place in the standings.

➔ View Strokes Gained: Approach rankings on PGA TOUR
➔ View Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee rankings on PGA TOUR

This week we’re back to prioritizing strokes gained: approach — we end up saying that a lot, but last week was a different kind of test, and Birkdale brings us right back to it. For your one-and-done pick, target a proven links performer with an elite, repeatable ball-striking profile rather than a bomber — history here rewards players who can flight the ball low, control their trajectory in the wind, and hit greens in regulation, not those who rely on overpowering the course. Strokes gained: approach is the category that matters most, because on a firm, fast, positional layout where the fairways sit in the valleys between the dunes, the ability to attack pins and hold greens with precise, spin-controlled iron shots is what separates contenders from the pack — and it’s historically correlated far more strongly with winning at Birkdale than driving distance. A strong putter is the tiebreaker, since firm links greens and awkward pace can quietly wreck an otherwise clean card. In practical terms, that points you toward a disciplined, accuracy-first name in form and comfortable in the wind — ideally someone with a track record of contending in majors or recent links reps — rather than a high-variance power player who could just as easily leak shots into the dunes as go low. Save your very best bombers for a course that actually rewards them; this week, precision is the edge.

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The Open Championship

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