From: David Cannon (Getty Images)
Storylines seem to always be a headline for an Open Championship week, and this year once again does not disappoint in giving them to us. Will Rory win his 5th major and first since 2014? Will Rickie Fowler finally win his first major of his career? Or will we see a LIV player take the claret jug home? Cam Smith is returning as the defending champion after spending his past year with the claret jug. Smith shocked the world last year after announcing that he will be joining the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league only weeks after winning The Open. The tournament is taking place at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, located in the small town of Hoylake, which is located along the western coast of Liverpool. This course is no stranger to hosting major championships, with this year being the 13th time the course has held The Open Championship.
However, the course is better known for its rich history in hosting the British Amateur Championship of which was started right at Royal Liverpool back in 1885. Royal Liverpool is another true links course which gives an entirely different challenge to golfer. Like the Renaissance Club for the Scottish Open, Royal Liverpool will have much firmer fairways and greens which will make it much more difficult to hold. But perhaps the biggest difference in links and other courses is the wind.
Links courses are all along coastlines which make it a perfect location for massive gusts of wind to take control of the ball. A perfect example of this is the brand new 17th hole at Royal Liverpool. This hole is a short par 3 only measuring at 137 yards. However, this hole is aimed directly at the ocean which will require players to take an extra club or two to try and play their shot through the wind. This wind is going to require players to keep the ball low on many of the holes, which will give us the opportunity to rarely see driver being played and more irons off the tee.
The field for this week is the same as practically any other major championship with nearly every single big name. However, this year we will not be seeing Tiger Woods. Some of the notable names are players such as; Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, and even John Daly. Rory won the Open Championship last time it was held at Royal Liverpool, which in my opinion shows how well he will be able to play the course since there have only been a few small changes since then. Rory is also coming off of an amazing win last week at the Scottish Open which was played on a very similar course.
My pick this week is going to Rory McIlroy. As high as his odds are, I see him having everything coming his way in the perfect time for him to capture that 5th major. Another player I like this week (I do not like him in any other form) is Phil Mickelson. Phil has one of the best short games of all time. He also definitely knows how to win on big stages with Phil already having 5 majors and now looking for his 6th.
My final pick for this week is going to be the one and only Max Homa. Max has played relatively poor for how he has been expected to play this year but he has remained in the mix for many of the tournaments he plays in. Many people have been calling it a bad year for him, however, he is currently in 4th place across the PGA Tour in top 3 finishes and also has one of the lowest putts per hole across the world. Overall, I like all 3 of these players this week, but I simply don’t see Rory losing.