The final major of the men’s golf season has arrived. From July 16-19, 2026, the 154th Open Championship returns to Royal Birkdale in Southport, England — and the storylines are stacked higher than the dunes that frame this fearsome links. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler arrives as defending champion and betting favourite, yet a red-hot Rory McIlroy and a field bursting with past champions mean the Claret Jug is anything but a foregone conclusion.
What’s Happening at Royal Birkdale
Royal Birkdale hosts The Open for the 11th time, its first since Jordan Spieth’s dramatic victory in 2017. Widely regarded as one of the fairest and most complete links on the rota, Birkdale rewards precise ball-striking and punishes the wayward, with its flat-bottomed fairways winding between towering sandhills. If you want a refresher on why seaside golf plays so differently from the parkland courses most of us know, our guide to what a links golf course actually is breaks down the firm turf, revetted bunkers and wind that define championship weeks like this one.
The 156-player field features more than a dozen former Open champions, including McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and Scheffler. The R&A finalised the last spots through a global qualifying series — we covered the new last-chance route to Royal Birkdale when the exemption categories were announced.
Why This Open Matters
2026 has already delivered a wide-open major season. Rory McIlroy opened the year by winning a second consecutive Masters, Aaron Rai claimed the PGA Championship at Aronimink, and Wyndham Clark ran away with the U.S. Open in a wire-to-wire performance at Shinnecock Hills. Three different winners in the first three majors set up Birkdale as the year’s decisive test — the last chance for a player to stamp themselves as the season’s dominant force.
It also matters because of who is not peaking at the right time. Scheffler stunned the golf world at the run-up event, the Genesis Scottish Open, where he missed the cut for the first time in nearly four years, ending a remarkable 78-cut streak — the longest since Tiger Woods. Whether that is a blip or a crack in the armour will be one of the week’s defining questions. For the full run-up picture, see our Genesis Scottish Open preview and field breakdown.
The Favourites and the Odds
Despite the missed cut, bookmakers still install Scheffler as the man to beat at roughly +550, a reflection of his ball-striking dominance and his 2025 Open triumph. McIlroy sits next at +850, buoyed by his Masters win and a strong showing in Scotland. Behind the big two:
- Tommy Fleetwood (+1400) — a Southport native who grew up minutes from Birkdale and knows every bounce of this links.
- Jon Rahm (+1900) — still chasing a third major and a proven bad-weather competitor.
- Matt Fitzpatrick (+2000) — an Englishman whose precision suits tight links golf.
- Xander Schauffele (+2000) — a former champion who thrives on the game’s biggest stages.
Odds move quickly in Open week, especially once the weather forecast firms up, so treat these as a snapshot rather than gospel.
Storylines to Watch
Can Scheffler defend? No player has repeated as Open champion since Padraig Harrington in 2007-08. A shaky Scottish Open makes the task look harder, but Scheffler’s worst weeks are still most players’ best.
Is this McIlroy’s moment? A second Masters green jacket and a near-miss in Scotland suggest his game is razor-sharp. A Birkdale Claret Jug would cap one of the finest seasons of his career.
The home hope. Fleetwood carrying the hopes of a Southport crowd desperate for a local hero is the kind of narrative that can lift a player — or crush him under the pressure.
The weather. As always, the wind is the great equaliser. If the forecast turns nasty, scoring will balloon and experience in a crosswind will matter more than raw distance.
What This Means For Your Game
Watching links golf is one of the best free lessons available, because it forces the world’s best to play the shots most amateurs ignore. Instead of high, spinning wedges, you’ll see the pros bounce the ball onto greens and let the firm turf do the work. That ground game is repeatable for club golfers too — our tutorial on how to hit a bump and run shows you the exact technique to keep the ball under the wind and running toward the flag.
The other lesson Birkdale teaches is patience on the greens. Fast, undulating links surfaces reward good speed control and confident aim over aggressive line-hunting. If your putting gets loose under pressure, spend a session on the fundamentals with our guide to aiming a putter and starting putts on line before your next round.
Key Takeaways
- The 154th Open Championship runs July 16-19, 2026 at Royal Birkdale, its first Open since Jordan Spieth won there in 2017.
- Scottie Scheffler defends as roughly a +550 favourite despite a shock missed cut at the Scottish Open that ended a 78-event streak.
- Rory McIlroy (+850) arrives in the form of his life after a second straight Masters and a strong week in Scotland.
- Home favourite Tommy Fleetwood, plus Rahm, Fitzpatrick and Schauffele, headline the chasing pack.
- Firm turf and wind will decide the week — and the ground game on show is a masterclass any amateur can borrow.
Play begins Thursday, July 16. Expect firm fairways, fickle winds, and — if Birkdale’s history is any guide — a champion who earns every shot of the Claret Jug.
