The final men's golf major of 2026 has arrived.

The Open Championship begins Thursday at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, where the winner will have his name etched on the prestigious Claret Jug as the Champion Golfer of the Year. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is back to defend his title against a field loaded with the biggest names in golf, including Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Bryson DeChambeau and Jordan Spieth, who won The Open last time Royal Birkdale hosted.

Follow along with Golfweek below for live leaderboard updates, highlights, breaking news and more from Thursday's first round of the 2026 Open Championship.

The Open 2026 live leaderboard

Keep tabs on every score posted at Royal Birkdale with The Open Championship 2026 live leaderboard.

The Open 2026 tee times

Click here to see every tee time for the first round of the 2026 Open Championship. The first group is set to go off at 1:35 a.m. ET. Here's a look at Thursday's featured groups (all times ET):

• 4:58 a.m. - Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton
• 5:09 a.m. - Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood
• 9:53 a.m. - Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai
• 10:15 a.m. - Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick

The Open 2026 TV, streaming schedule

If you're on the West Coast, stay up late to catch the start of the tournament. Elsewhere, set your alarm clock. Here's a look at Thursday's TV and streaming schedule for The Open:

• NBC Sports Network/Peacock, 1:30-4 a.m. ET
• USA Network, 4 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET

Watch The Open on Peacock

Watch USA Network on Fubo

The Open 2026 odds

Here's a look at the pre-tournament betting favorites for the Open Championship. See the full list of odds at BetMGM.

• Scottie Scheffler (+750)
• Rory McIlroy (+900)
• Tommy Fleetwood (+1600)
• Matt Fitzpatrick (+1600)
• Jon Rahm (+2200)
• Viktor Hovland (+2500)
• Chris Gotterup (+2800)
• Xander Schauffele (+2800)

Odds accurate as of 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, July 15.

The Open 2026 expert picks

See who the Golfweek staff is picking to win the 2026 Open Championship and hoist the Claret Jug on Sunday.

The Open 2026 prize money, purse

The winner of the 2026 Open Championship will receive $3.2 million, or 18 percent of the total purse, which is $17.75 million. It's the largest prize fund in the history of The Open, but remains the smallest of the four men's majors. See the full payout breakdown.

The Open weather forecast

Thursday's forecast calls for clear skies with a high temperature in the low 80s and a northeast wind at 10-15 mph. It's expected to be warm and sunny all week at Royal Birkdale, which is quite rare for an Open Championship.

The Open 2026 field

The full field list has 156 golfers, with three coming in from the final Open qualifying series event (the Genesis Scottish Open) and the very last one getting in after winning Monday's Last-Chance Qualifier, the first-ever 12-for-1 knockout round of 18 holes. Of course, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 2 Rory McIlroy and the rest of the game's top players are set to tee it up this week. There will also be 11 LIV golfers at Royal Birkdale.

The Open future sites

Unlike the USGA and the PGA of America, who have championship sites planned out for a few decades, the R&A has announced only the next two after this year:

• 2027 - St. Andrews, Old Course (Scotland)
• 2028 - Royal Lytham & St. Annes (England)

The Open past winners

Here are the last 10 winners of The Open, including Jordan Spieth in 2017, which is the last time the event was held at Royal Birkdale.

• Scottie Scheffler (2025)
• Xander Schauffele (2024)
• Brian Harman (2023)
• Cameron Smith (2022)
• Collin Morikawa (2021)
• Shane Lowry (2019)
• Francesco Molinari (2018)
• Jordan Spieth (2017)
• Henrik Stenson (2016)
• Zach Johnson (2015)

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: The Open 2026 leaderboard, Thursday tee times, live updates from Royal Birkdale

What channel is the British Open on today? TV coverage, live streams for 2026 Open Championship Round 1 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The 154th Open Championship returns to the historic Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, which hosts golf's oldest major for the 11th time.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler headlines the elite 156-player field at the challenging 7,223-yard, par-70 links course following his victory last year at Royal Portrush.

Highlighting the early groupings, Scheffler will tee off alongside Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton, while 2017 Birkdale champion Jordan Spieth plays with local favorite Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm.

Two-time major winner Rory McIlroy also enters as a top contender, grouped with defending PGA champion Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick. USA Network and NBCSN will handle early television coverage starting at 1:30 a.m. ET on Thursday and Friday, with NBC broadcasting the final weekend rounds.

Here's everything you need to know about watching the 2026 British Open, including the schedule, channels, live streams and more.

What channel is the British Open on today?

• Dates: Thursday, July 16-  Sunday, July 19
• TV channels: NBC | USA Network | NBCSN
• Live streams: DIRECTV | Peacock | NBCSports.com

Coverage of the 2026 British Open will air live on NBC, USA Network, and NBCSN, featuring comprehensive commentary and coverage throughout the tournament rounds. Mike Tirico will host with play-by-play broadcasters Dan Hicks, Terry Gannon and Steve Sands. Kevin Kisner, Brad Faxon, Paul McGinley and Curt Byrum serve as analysts, with Jim "Bones" Mackay, Smylie Kaufman and John Wood reporting from the course.

The USA Network and NBCSN will carry portions of the primary broadcast, while NBC will broadcast main network coverage during the weekend rounds.

The primary television broadcast sections will be available to stream live via DIRECTV, while certain early morning tournament slots for the opening rounds will also be available on Peacock. Fans can also stream digital coverage online at NBCSports.com and via the NBC Sports app.

With DIRECTV, you can enjoy a risk-free 5-day free trial to stream live sports, news, and entertainment. Catch NBC, USA Network, and over 200 channels of premium programming without long-term cable commitments. (Participating plans only. Taxes and fees may apply.)

British Open TV schedule 2026

The 2026 British Open will be held at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.

Play begins on Thursday, July 16, and the tournament concludes on Sunday, July 19.

British Open tee times 2026

Below are the first two rounds of tee times for the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, listed in ET.

Round 1 — Thursday, July 16

Round 2 — Friday, July 17

List of British Open winners by year

Here's a look at the winners of the Open Championship in each of the previous ten tournaments.

Related Links

• Latest golf news and rumors
• Golf tournament leaderboard
• How to bet on golf

The ESPYs draws the best athletes from around the world each year. Sports personalities from different professional leagues like the NBA, NFL, MLB, along with top golf and tennis players, among many others, attend it annually. College golfer Kai Trump was in attendance on Wednesday at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City.

She wore a strapless, gold glitter gown. It features a form-fitting silhouette with a high slit on the side. The 19-year-old accessorized minimally with a gold necklace and a thin bracelet. She completed her look by keeping her blonde hair styled down in loose waves and was tanned.

MORE: Kai Trump impresses golf fans with debut LPGA Tour tee shot

Her red carpet moment was posted on X by the New York Post. Trump’s appearance received mixed fan reactions, with some liking her look, while others poked fun at it.

“She is beautiful and a great golfer!” one fan commented.

“She must go to the same tanning salon as grandpa,” a reaction read.

“Gorgeous!!!” one user said.

“She’s a cutie,” posted another.

“Princess @kaitrump,” another fan wrote.

“IDK she’s so so beautiful,” one comment read.

Kai Trump’s golf journey

Trump started playing golf at a young age and turned into a competitive player. She played for The Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens and joined several tournaments. The New York native won the 2022 Women’s Club Championship and the 2024 Ladies Club Championship at Trump International Palm Beach.

She committed to the Miami Hurricanes in November and will be part of the program’s golf team. Her love for the game has grown her popularity further, amassing a huge following on YouTube and her social media accounts.

ROGGEN, Colo. – What’s it like to play an event with The Forecaddie Collective? For 44 members of the collective at Rodeo Dunes this week, it meant great golf on one of the best new courses to open in years, then even more great golf for a dozen hardy players who went back out for a bonus 18. 

Rodeo Dunes was designed by the dream team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, and it hasn’t officially opened yet. No worries for The Forecaddie Collective, which had exclusive access for the day. Even on a summer day when temperatures broke 100 near Denver, a rustic course this strong keeps players swinging among the amazing sand dunes.

Want to join The Forecaddie Collective for the next event? We’ll tee it up at Streamsong’s new Bone Valley course, designed by David McLay Kidd, on Sept. 19 in Florida. And just like Rodeo Dunes, Bone Valley isn’t even fully open yet. The Forecaddie Collective members also will have the opportunity to play more rounds at Streamsong before or after Bone Valley. 

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Join The Forecaddie Collective for free this year, then just pay for the events you want to play. Registration is open to all. We hope to see you at Streamsong (register here). Until then, enjoy these photos of The Forecaddie Collective’s day at Rodeo Dunes. 

Jason Lusk is Golfweek's travel and golf course architecture editor, as well as the magazine's creative director. He has written for and designed Golfweek for more than two decades.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: What's it like to play Rodeo Dunes with the Forecaddie Collective?

World No. 1 Nelly Korda is nominated for two awards at Wednesday night's ESPY Awards, including best athlete in women's sports. Korda is nominated alongside hockey player Hilary Knight, skier Mikaela Shiffrin and the WNBA's A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces.

Korda, who won the first two majors of the season, including the U.S. Women's Open at Riviera, is also nominated for "Best Golfer." She's joined in that category by No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 2 Rory McIlroy.

The 2026 ESPYs will air on July 15 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC from the David H. Koch Theater at the Lincoln Center in New York City.

The last time an LPGA player won an ESPY was in 2022, when Korda won for Best Female Golfer. While no LPGA players will be in attendance tonight, a number of LPGA stars have made appearances in the past.

Kai Trump, granddaughter of President Donald Trump and an aspiring LPGA player who will compete at the University of Miami this fall, will be in New York for the show.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Nelly Korda nominated for 2 ESPYs, including best female athlete

There's a massive mural covering one side of the Southport & Birkdale Sports Club, depicting Tommy Fleetwood in his Ryder Cup uniform striking a celebratory pose.

Fleetwood would like to visit but has yet to get the chance to see the mural in person, given the busy schedule this week. The English star is back in his hometown of Southport to compete for his first major title as the Open Championship tees off Thursday at Royal Birkdale Golf Club.

"I think for anybody that was lucky enough to grow up in the town of Southport, it's such a golfing town, and The Open at Birkdale holds such a special place in the area," Fleetwood said.

He's not only trying to shake the label of one of the best active golfers without a major, he's vying to become the first Englishman to win The Open since Nick Faldo in 1992. But Fleetwood shrugs off any concerns about pressure.

"It's an absolute dream to play here in my hometown in front of people that are all here to support me. There are only positives, really," he said.

"I think what you do have to deal with is how much you want it and your own expectations, but I think at the same time, I'm no different to any other person in terms of every single person that is playing in The Open dreams of winning in The Open and wants to win it."

The top 74 players in the world rankings are all on the scene as part of the 156-man field as the brisk men's major season comes to a close. To recap the previous three months: Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, England's Aaron Rai and Wyndham Clark captured the Masters, PGA Championship and U.S. Open, respectively. McIlroy will try to win two majors in the same season for the first time since 2014, the same year he lifted his only Claret Jug.

How they'll find Royal Birkdale is another story. Unseasonably hot weather in the United Kingdom has led to baked-out fairways and potentially a firm test of golf more akin to a U.S. Open.

"I think it's a double-edged sword," McIlroy said. "I think all this dry weather and sun and a little bit of wind is obviously great for the course in one way, but when I was here a couple weeks ago, the rough was a lot more penal than it's going to be this week. It's definitely burnt out a lot."

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion, having capped off a two-major year with a four-shot victory at Royal Portrush. Yet not only is Scheffler on the brink of going 0-for-4 at the majors this year, he also arrives in rare form — and not in a good way.

When Scheffler missed the cut at the Scottish Open last week, it was his first time not playing the weekend since August 2022, ending a 78-event streak.

He used the time off to his advantage.

"I played 18 (holes at Birkdale) on Sunday," Scheffler said. "Played nine holes (Monday and Tuesday), so getting used to the golf course. Yeah, you never want to have a weekend off, but going into a tournament when you're defending, there's always a bit more stuff to do. So it wasn't the worst thing in the world, albeit it was quite frustrating."

Scheffler had yet to turn pro when the par-70, 7,223-yard Birkdale last hosted The Open in 2017. Jordan Spieth collected his third major championship that week, joining a star-studded list of Open winners at Birkdale that includes Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson and Irishman Padraig Harrington.

"It's going to play quite different than the last time we were here," Spieth said. "We've had an opposite wind, too, the last couple days. … Holes that are close to being drivable become mid to long irons, and just with the wind switch, the difference into and down are so dramatic over here that picking a strategy is going to be key, and it's going to be quite different than the last time I was here."

Fifteen members of LIV Golf qualified for The Open, led by the league's biggest remaining stars, Jon Rahm of Spain and Bryson DeChambeau. While Rahm hunts for his first major win since 2023 after tying for second at the PGA Championship, just making the cut would be a great start for DeChambeau.

The two-time U.S Open winner missed the cut at the first three majors this year. DeChambeau, once nicknamed "The Scientist," is going for broke at Birkdale by debuting a full set of irons he built with a 3D printer.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Local favorite Tommy Fleetwood among top contenders at British Open

Tommy Fleetwood is living the dream this week back home in Southport, the seaside town where one of the greatest English golfers of his generation grew up.

The exact nature of that dream remains open to interpretation, but Fleetwood has been soaking in the sunkissed links and the delightfully respectful applause with each swish of his club throughout his preparation. A record 300,000 spectators are expected at this week’s Open Championship, many of whom will flock to his star-studded group for rounds one and two, which includes Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth.

But it seems that his legion of fans have a slightly different dream for Fleetwood, one specifically attached to an outcome alone, with his hands holding the Claret Jug aloft on Sunday to tick off one final, meteoric box in a career packed with accolades: a major championship.

“It’s obviously very, very special,” Fleetwood remarked on the opportunity to play at Royal Birkdale in The Open. “I think for anybody that was lucky enough to grow up in the town of Southport, it’s such a golfing town.

“It’s a dream just to be competing in an Open here, so I feel very, very lucky. I’m just excited for the opportunity to play in front of everybody. It’s very rare to have an opportunity to play a tournament, let alone The Open, in the town where you grew up in front of fans that were all there to support you. So I’m very excited.”

Despite learning the game at Formby Hall, Fleetwood was eight years old when he started to dream of playing in The Open and the hallowed turf of Royal Birkdale. So much so that he joined his dad, sneaking onto the property “once or twice”. The access to the fifth hole provided a shot of adrenaline for as long as it lasted, like a fox carefully navigating its way up the lawn of a back garden it is not supposed to be in. Now he is the third favourite to win this week, behind only Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, with attention firmly fixed on his every step.

This Sunday, 19 July, could be Fleetwood’s time, too, with the symmetry of the World Cup final allowing many to yearn for the world No 9 to secure a maiden major merely an hour before England step onto the pitch in New Jersey.

In the only major championship outside of the United States, it is unusual for McIlroy not to be the most popular player, yet the feverish desire to see Fleetwood win may take over in the next few days. A splash of blue, an indelible mark on Fleetwood’s career from his formidable time with Europe in the Ryder Cup, covers the back of Southport and Birkdale Sports Club in a mural painted by Liverpool artist Paul Curtis.

Second in the 2018 US Open and again at The Open a year later at Portrush, behind an inspired Shane Lowry, mark Fleetwood’s best major championship finishes. Yet there is not a shade of yellow on his major record grid, the colour that famously depicts a top 10 major finish, since a tie for third at the Masters in 2024. The rollercoaster ride on the PGA Tour and, finally, a victory on American soil in last year’s Tour Championship provided a cathartic experience for himself and his fans.

But that home support can also be misleading. The familiarity is helpful, sure, bringing comfort and additional strategy not afforded to some from across the pond sampling the links for the first time, though two new holes this week at the 5th and the devilish par-three 15th provide a new wrinkle to even the most experienced players.

McIlroy’s missed cut at Royal Portrush in 2019 offers a cautionary tale; the seismic energy that transcends across the property can work in both ways, particularly when momentum gathers pace in the wrong direction.

“It’s a great environment but tough in a way that you just feel the extra expectation on your shoulders, and you feel like you’re trying to play well for everyone else and not for yourself,” McIlroy said of the advantage of playing a major championship at a home course.

”I think there’s already enough pressure on anyone in this field to play well for themselves, so to add that extra layer on top of that is always pretty difficult.

“Yeah, like Tommy coming back here, for example, he grew up five minutes away, but I feel like Tommy’s more level-headed than I am, and he won’t fall into that trap like I did in 2019. It always seems like it takes me one good round to get it right.”

This is also where Fleetwood’s maturity enters the conversation, even beyond major championship disappointment. There was the agony of that final putt at the Travelers Championship last year and, even further back, how he absorbed a haymaker from Nick Taylor’s eagle in a playoff and the bedlam that surrounded the green as a home favourite won the 2023 Canadian Open.

Fleetwood has dealt with heartbreak and maybe, upon reflection, the dream is merely the moments themselves, rather than the outcome. Undoubtedly, Fleetwood failing to win a major would be a disappointment, particularly for a player of his exceptional talent. But after the deep thoughts of Scheffler last year, sometimes the journey brings as much satisfaction as the result.

“Whatever happens in my career, I’ll be able to look back and say that I gave it everything and I had an amazing time doing it,” Fleetwood concluded ahead of this year’s Open. “I would definitely much prefer to have a major or two or three on my resumé by the time my career is over. Whether that happens or not is sometimes out of your control, but I think making sure you have a great time chasing it is the ultimate thing.

“Dreams do come true, we watch it all the time. But you’ll never find out if yours will unless you chase it. Mine might come true, it might not.”

When Mark Darbon, the chief executive of the R&A, sat down with reporters Wednesday at Royal Birkdale ahead of the 154th Open Championship, he confirmed something we learned ahead of last month’s U.S. Open: Golf’s governing bodies are considering the idea of using Model Local Rules (MLR) to curb distance at the highest levels of the sport.

That idea should sound familiar, because we’ve heard it before.

The United States Golf Association and the R&A first proposed the idea as a solution to the governing bodies stated distance problem in March, 2023, before abandoning it in favor of the universal golf-ball rollback announced in December of that year.

Now, after conversations with the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and players themselves, the pendulum appears to be swinging back.

“There’s clearly been a bit of change in the position of the PGA Tour and its players, an openness to look at some model local rules,” Darbon said Wednesday.

For golfers who have spent the last three years trying to keep track of robot testing protocols, launch conditions and endless debates about virtues and shortcomings of bifurcation, this latest twist may feel like yet another plot twist in a movie that feels like it’s running too long already. But, it could ultimately reshape professional golf far more than the rollback plan currently scheduled to begin in 2030.

First, it helps to understand what a Model Local Rule actually is.

Model Local Rules have been around for generations, and tournament organizers use them to address everything from preferred lies to out-of-bounds stakes and temporary conditions. In 2022, the USGA and R&A introduced an MLR that allowed tournaments to cap driver length at 46 inches and it was quickly adopted by the PGA Tour and LPGA.

The concept the governing bodies explored and formally proposed in 2023 was much more ambitious. Instead of changing equipment rules for everyone, tournament organizers could require elite players to use equipment tested under different, distance-reducing standards.

At the time, the focus was primarily on golf balls. The governing bodies proposed testing balls at higher swing speeds at more optimized launch conditions, creating a “competition ball” that would fly shorter in the hands of the fastest players. The testing standards for other balls would not change, so equipment used by recreational golfers would be unchanged.

There were also discussions about club regulations. The USGA and R&A researched whether Model Local Rules could be used to reduce the spring-like effect of drivers by lowering Characteristic Time, or CT, and whether driver heads should have lower limits on moment of inertia (MOI), making off-center hits less forgiving.

Then something changed.

In December, 2023, the USGA and R&A abandoned the idea and announced a universal rollback that would alter the Overall Distance Standard (ODS) for golf balls beginning in 2028 for elite players and 2030 for recreational golfers. The governing bodies said they had heard overwhelming support for one set of equipment rules across the game.

But last month, Mike Whan, the CEO of the USGA, revealed on the day before the start of the U.S. Open that the decision to abandon the Model Local Rule solution was driven by something else, too.

“Three years ago, we were told pretty point-blank that MLRs would not be implemented that are distance-related at the PGA Tour level,” Whan said. “Given that, we had a crossroads. Do we keep going down that path if they’re not going to be implemented? That’s a paper exercise then. So, we moved on from some of those.”

In other words, the governing bodies did not necessarily stop believing Model Local Rules could be a good solution to reducing distance at the elite level. They stopped believing anyone would use them.

Now, it appears the resistance to MLRs is changing.

Whan said recent meetings with PGA Tour leadership, DP World Tour officials and members of the PGA Tour Player Advisory Council revealed three things: everyone agrees distance continues to increase at the elite level; there are concerns that the current rollback plan will not do enough to slow that trend; and there is now a “collective willingness” to reconsider ideas that had been shelved.

On Wednesday, Darbon said, “There's been a lot of, I'd say, really transparent and collaborative dialogue with other stakeholders, the tours and more recently with a number of players themselves. It's of no surprise to anyone that not everyone is aligned behind the decision that was made in December 2023, and having heard the feedback from the industry, I think it would be remiss of us not to take some time to explore some of the other alternatives that may exist, particularly given that there's clearly been a bit of change in the position of the PGA Tour and its players, an openness to look at some model local rules.”

What would distance-reducing equipment look like?

If the USGA and the R&A created Model Local Rules that, if adopted, would make players use distance-reducing equipment, what might that world look like?

PGA Tour and DP World Tour players would use a shorter-flying ball, while the rest of us continued teeing up Pro V1s, Chrome Softs, TP5s, Tour B's and Z-Stars and other balls that conform to today’s standards.

Equipment trucks would carry competition-ball inventories. Tour reps would spend weeks, probably months, helping players dial in launch windows, spin rates and yardages with the new gear.

The effects would ripple through the professional game. Distances would change and invariably some long hitters might lose more ground than others.

There would also be less need to create longer courses, championship venues would require less water and fewer chemicals to maintain and some layouts would regain some of their original strategic intent.

For recreational golfers, the biggest attraction is obvious: nothing would change.

Your driver would stay legal. Your golf balls would stay legal. The 18-handicapper who struggles to clear a pond wouldn’t suddenly be hitting the ball 5 or 7 yards shorter.

Of course, none of this would come without complications.

Manufacturers would almost certainly resist MLRs and the idea of building a second category of products that many consumers would never buy or use. Designing, testing and producing competition golf balls with different specifications would add cost and complexity to an industry that already spends tens of millions of dollars each year on research and development.

There is also the question of where the line would be drawn.

Would Model Local Rules apply only to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour? The Korn Ferry Tour would likely be included, but what about the PGA Tour Champions and college golfers? And then there is the LPGA.

Someone will have to decide where the cutoff lies.

The debate would inevitably return to the word golf has been arguing about for years: bifurcation.

Critics would argue that forcing professionals to use different equipment than recreational players amounts to bifurcation, regardless of semantics. Back in 2023, however, Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s chief governance officer, disagreed.

“Our view is a single set of playing rules and a single set of equipment rules is one of the great things about the game,” Pagel said at the time. “Model Local Rules have existed forever, and we have Model Local Rules around equipment. This would just be another example of that. We don’t view it as bifurcation.”

Golf’s governing bodies spent years insisting they had moved beyond Model Local Rules. This week at Royal Birkdale, and last month at Shinnecock Hills, they effectively admitted they may be headed right back toward them.

The irony is hard to miss. After years of studies, debates and announcements, the sport may find itself standing once again at the same fork in the road it faced in 2023.

Only now, the PGA Tour appears it might be willing to take a path alongside the game’s governing bodies.

David Dusek is a senior writer at Golfweek covering golf equipment.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: R&A echoes the USGA, says distance solutions are being re-examined

Jul. 15—The defending champions had their backs against the wall heading into Tuesday's final round of a tightly contested 58th annual Tribune Cup women's golf tournament at Clarkston's Red Wolf Golf Club.

Nevertheless, the six representatives of Lewiston Golf and Country Club remained undaunted.

"We had them where we wanted them: overconfident," LGCC team captain Marcy Spilker said of her rivals from Clarkston's Quail Ridge Golf Course.

Trailing by three points through the first two installments of the three-part match-play event, the LGCC team overcame both mildly adverse weather and the slight starting deficit as it surged to a cumulative total of 63 points. Quail Ridge finished with 58 points, while Red Wolf was third at 41.

Red Wolf captain Helen Henry handled hosting duties and made the final results announcement over a champagne toast during a genial post-tournament luncheon in the clubhouse.

"It doesn't matter what team you're from — we're all best of friends," Henry said. "That's what matters: we have fun."

Still in it

Teeing off in the morning, participants navigated the course in groups of three featuring one representative of each team. Under the match-play format of the Tribune Cup, players earned points by outperforming their opponents on a majority of holes, rather than necessarily completing the overall course in fewer strokes.

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"I love match play," LGCC's Kim Eimers said. "You can have a bad hole and still be in it."

Light rain in the morning and persistent winds created difficulties and sometimes carried balls astray, but many felt the weather was overall more pleasant to play in than the pounding sun and intense heat under blue skies which often characterizes the Tribune Cup.

LGCC players competed in pink checkered polo shirts, while Quail Ridge sported white-and-green dotted tops. Red Wolf followed no specific uniform or dress code, choosing instead to be "rebellious," as some attendees put it.

Quail Ridge and Lewiston Golf and Country Club had each taken a turn to host one round of the Tribune Cup over the last two months, accruing scores of 44 and 41 respectively while Red Wolf sat at 23. On Tuesday, LGCC put up 22 points in its push to the overall victory, Red Wolf scored 18 and Clarkston added 14.

Propel-ing to victory

Spilker supplied each of her teammates with a bottle of Propel sports drink for electrolytes, which they credited for their winning stamina. Eimers led the champions on the course with a perfect score of six points, attributing her success to strong long game play.

"I hit the ball well," said Eimers, a veteran who has played the Tribune Cup for decades since starting out as a member of then-participant Grangeville Golf and Country Club. "I didn't putt really well, but I hit the ball well. It put me in position to be able to be up there and miss a few putts and still be okay."

Spilker put up another 4 1/2 points. Lewis-Clark State women's golf alum Carlee Rhodes — who could sometimes be seen wearing a red LC windbreaker to "represent," as she put it — contributed four points, as did Tammy Baldus.

Julie Fisher, a former Lewiston girls basketball coach and the mother of Lewis-Clark State men's hoops signee Royce Fisher, was the rookie on LGCC's team this year.

"Go in, you dirty dog," Fisher exclaimed early on as a putt lost momentum on a slight uphill ridge, ultimately curving to the left of Hole 8.

In spite of any frustrations, she would prove that her competitive drive extends across sports, adding another 3 1/2 points on the day.

For Quail Ridge, Colleen Schilling had a perfect six of her own — calling it her "claim to fame" — while Wendy Rimmelspacher scored five. Kim Thiel, Shanna Caba and Sheila Wooley led Red Wolf with 4 1/2 points apiece.

All players queried on the matter expressed their intent to return and add further chapters to the friendly rivalry.

"Next year's threepeat," Spilker declared.

Tuesday's scores — Lewiston Golf and Country Club 22; Red Wolf 18; Quail Ridge 14.

Cumulative scores — Lewiston Golf and Country Club 63; Quail Ridge 58; Red Wolf 41.

Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.

The first two days of the U.S. Girls' Junior have featured plenty of low scores, but no one went deeper than 16-year-old Clairey Lin.

The Canadian won medalist honors at Old Chatham in Durham, North Carolina, finishing at 13-under 131 following two rounds of stroke play. Her total score was one shot off the championship record and tied four others for the second-lowest stroke-play score in championship history. Taylor Karle shot 130 in 2005 at BanBury Golf Club in Eagle, Idaho.

Lin will head into match play, which begins Wednesday, as the No. 1 seed.

"I love everything about this tournament," Lin said. "I think the USGA does an amazing job with every tournament that they run, and this one is just no different. I love coming here every year and to play as well as I did these first two days, it's a huge honor. It's been great."

More: U.S. Girls' Junior scoring

Lin opened in 66 before going one better Tuesday, signing for 7-under 65 to win medalist honors by one shot over China's Yujie Liu. Amelia Harris, who had a historic 28 on the back nine Monday, shot 75 on Tuesday and will be the fifth seed come match play.

Last year, Canadian Aphrodite Deng won the U.S. Girls' Junior. Lin is hoping to follow in her countrywoman's footsteps.

“I did speak with her (Aphrodite) a little bit. She's an amazing player," Lin said. "I'm lucky to be on the same team as her, and the opportunities that I get to practice with her and see her play are super inspiring.”

The bracket will be officially set Wednesday morning following a 6-for-2 playoff. The cut came at 3-over 147, the lowest score since the championship went to 36-hole qualifying.

Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Clairey Lin claims medalist honors at U.S. Girls' Junior, match play begins Wednesday

SOUTHPORT, England – Matt Kuchar was five holes away from immortality. 

Five holes away at the 2017 British Open here at Royal Birkdale from having his name permanently inscribed on the Claret Jug, golf’s oldest trophy, and a spot in the British Open field until he turns 60. Instead, he got steamrolled by Jordan Spieth and one of the great final-round flourishes in major championship history and failed to qualify for the 154^th Open this week. From nearly being the Champion Golfer of the Year to not in the field since 2021 and never really sniffing the title again.

“It felt like it was in my hands and all of a sudden Jordan Spieth put on a show and claimed it for himself,” Kuchar tells Golfweek in a recent phone interview. “Listen, I got beat but it’s tough when at some point you feel like you got that close. I think that makes it even tougher.”

More: Golfweek's Father of the Year is Matt Kuchar, who found 'magic' in emotional golf victory

Birkdale was the site of Kuchar’s first British Open in 1998 as the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, where he missed the cut as he did in 2008 but in 2017 he shot 65 out of the gate to make his presence felt in the battle for the Claret Jug.

“That week I remember I was frustrated that I was hitting big fades and couldn’t turn the ball over for the life of me from right to left. I kept trying to hit a draw because there are so many crosswinds that I thought it would be helpful to be able to, in a left-to-right wind to be able to hold one against the wind,” Kuchar explained. “Sometimes when you can predict the outcome, golf gets a little easier.”

He shot 71 in the second round and a 66 on Saturday, which included a double bogey on No. 16 when he drove into a fairway bunker, had to punch out and then three-putted after his approach. He trailed Spieth by three strokes heading into the final round with a golden opportunity to win his first major. Wife Sybi didn’t want to miss being there, so she and sons Cameron and Carson hopped on an overnight flight from Colorado.

Spieth already was spraying the ball all over the course and leaking oil with three 3-putts on the front nine before his tee shot at the par-4 13th sailed 75 yards right of the fairway. Kuchar’s caddie, John Wood, wasn’t sure they’d even find the ball in the thick grass, but they did and Spieth’s only option was to take an unplayable. Then he smartly asked if the practice range was considered in bounds. He was allowed to take sight-of-line relief on a clean lie.

More: Our Open Championship hub: Video, stories and more

“When I saw that he was gonna be able to drop it on the fairway and get it up near the green with his short game I thought there was a chance. I still thought most likely he was going to make six but certainly did not think it was out of the realm of possibility for him to make five,” Wood recalled.

Spieth hit a 3-iron back into play, pitched to 10 feet and holed the putt for one of the great bogeys of all time. “I felt like I stole one,” he said.

Still, Kuchar held a one-shot lead despite burning the edge with his birdie putt. Trailing for the first time all week, Spieth, 23 at the time, stuffed his tee shot 2 feet from the hole at the par-3 14^th to kick start a birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie stretch and win by three shots over Kuchar.  

“It was quite the turnaround from hitting a big foul ball to all of a sudden playing spectacular golf from there in,” Kuchar said. “It was a great run and there was definitely a point where I felt like Holy Cow, it’s my time. I’m going to claim a major. Jordan Spieth put it in another gear and played incredible. Nothing I can do except tip my cap to the guy who beat me. I’m a big fan of Jordan Spieth. He was on such amazing form for a long stretch there, especially with the putter, and what he did those last six holes with the putter was pretty remarkable.”  

Wood said that being so close to completing the dream of winning a major is something Kuchar probably never fully got over but the way Spieth grabbed the title with both fists softens the pain.

“Matt played the next four holes in 2 under. You got a one-shot lead, you play the next four holes in 2 under you'd think you'd have the lead still, but you know, we didn't. It was just a case of we got blitzed,” he said. “The fact that Kuch played well. You know, it made it easier. It wasn't like we gave it away. Kuch played well, and Jordan did Jordan things at the end to take it away. That made it probably a little bit easier that you know, it wasn’t given away. We did almost everything we could. But yeah, I'm fine with it. I don't think about it every night.” 

Said Kuchar: “I did everything I wanted to do and that’s the deal, you go out and play the course and don’t worry about your opponent and add them up at the end of the week and Jordan was the low man that week.”

Kuchar didn’t realize his wife and boys were there until he was walking off the green. That's when the emotions of the day boiled over for Kuchar, who was photographed with his son, Carson, crying on his shoulder and Cameron and Sybil consoling him. It was a heartbreaking defeat that made him one of golf's forever nearly men at the majors.

“I think my kids initially were mad at Jordan,” Kuchar recalled. “It was something like a month or more later and we were at a friend’s property riding ATVs, and Jordan took my oldest son Cameron on this ride and so Cameron quickly forgave him and befriended him.

“As a dad, you want to be Superman to your kids and when you’re not it’s tough. You want to be their hero. When you’re not, it’s emotional but Superman is not always Superman.”

The man in the cape was just 23 and racked up his third major title, the fastest to do so since Jack Nicklaus in 1963. 

Kuchar would go on to win two more of his nine career PGA Tour titles but never again would get so close to tasting major championship victory. At 48, it’s unlikely he will get another chance at an Open at Royal Birkdale and it’s been five years since he’s competed in the championship; it’s not beyond reason to think he never will again.

“To this day it's a disappointment, sure,” Wood said. “You look back and think that we had a good chance, a really good chance.”

Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek, covering the PGA Tour.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Matt Kuchar nearly won the British Open in 2017 (and a place in history) until Jordan Spieth went nuts

Open Championship TV, Live Stream Schedule 2026: How to Watch Every Round of Golf Tournament originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Royal Birkdale Golf Club will host the 154th edition of the Open Championship this weekend.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler will attempt to win the Claret Jug for the second straight year. The field will be filled with challengers looking to dethrone Scheffler, though, including Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young.

Which golfer will win the final major of the year?

Here is everything you need to know about the Open Championship, including TV and streaming options for the tournament.

How to watch Open Championship 2026: TV channel, live stream

• TV channel: USA Network, NBC
• Live stream:DIRECTV, Peacock

The Open Championship will air on USA Network and NBC. The tournament will also be available to stream on DIRECTV and Peacock.

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Open Championship TV schedule 2026

The 2026 Open Championship will be held at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England. The tournament will begin on Thursday, July 16, and it will conclude on Sunday, July 19.

List of Open Championship winners by year

Here are the winners of the last 10 tournaments:

Rory McIlroy has shared his thoughts on the current major championship schedule and admitted that he would not mind it being extended ahead of the Open Championship this week at Royal Birkendale.

The Northern Irishman is one of only seven golfers to ever win a career grand slam of the PGA Championship, the US Open, The Open and The Masters. He has won the PGA and The Masters twice for good measure, putting him alongside Nick Faldo as the most successful European golfers ever.

The current major schedule lasts four months, having been compressed seven yeas ago when the PGA Championship was brough forward from August to May. McIlroy has enjoyed success in both of these eras, but his most abundantly successful period was from 2011-2014 when he won four majors, and this has perhaps swayed his judgement on requesting the championships are more spread out and also a benefit for engagement in the sport.

“I'd like to see the major season spread out ⁠a little bit longer,” McIlroy proposed. “The Masters is ​always ⁠going to have the build-up, but I think then PGA into US Open, US Open into here, it just seems ⁠like it's very, very quick.

“From a player perspective, if you get on a bit of a run, it's nice to be playing well and go from one straight into the next but for the sport as a whole and for, I guess, the general interest in the game, obviously I can see the positives in the major season being stretched out a little bit longer.”

Whilst on the hunt for his seventh major ahead of this Open Championship, McIlroy has also been confronted with his own mortality, the sum of his success and what he believes that leaves behind as a legacy. McIlroy gave a stark response when asked by a reporter, saying that the pursuit of records is no way to live as an athlete and that legacy is only meaningful to those who get to see it.

“I don’t really care, McIlroy responded. “I would like to think that the people that love and care about me think a certain way of me, but I’ll be long gone. I’ll be dead.

“I don’t think I’ll be seeing what people say about me. I’ll be six feet under. I don’t think I’ll be a ghost. I think it would be a pretty unfulfilling pursuit if you’re just chasing records and results. You have to enjoy the journey to get there. I’ve learned that the hard way at times by chasing results and records too much.”

PA contributed to this report

SOUTHPORT, England — The Open Championship is not getting caught up in the ongoing prize money arms race in golf, and will continue to offer the lowest purse among the four majors by a wide margin.

This week’s tournament at Royal Birkdale Golf Club will pay out $17.75 million in prize money, up less than 5% from the $17 million purse at the 2025 Open Championship.

Sunday’s winner will take home the Claret Jug and receive $3.2 million—$100,000 more than the $3.1 million Scottie Scheffler won at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

The $750,000 year-over-year increase in the total Open Championship purse comes after the other three majors this year raised their purses by at least $1 million.

• The Masters: $22.5 million (up from $21 million)
• U.S. Open: $22.5 million (up from $21.5 million)
• PGA Championship: $20.5 million (up from $19 million)
• Open Championship: $17.75 million (up from $17 million)

Mark Darbon, CEO of the R&A, which runs The Open, previously expressed some concern about the fast growth of prize money in professional golf since the launch of LIV Golf in 2022.

LIV this year has paid out $32.3 million in prize money at each event. The PGA Tour’s eight signature events have $20 million purses, and its flagship event, the Players Championship, paid out $25 million.

The PGA Championship, operated by the PGA of America (a separate organization from the PGA Tour), in May became the third major to cross the $20 million mark in prize money. However, it appears the Open won’t be joining that club any time soon.

The U.S. Open, run by the USGA, in June matched the Masters at $22.5 million after Augusta National in April briefly surpassed the U.S. Open to claim the richest major championship title all by itself.

Pay Day

The top 70 players and ties after two rounds of the Open will make the 36-hole cut; solo 70th place would pay out $40,700. 

Players who miss the cut still get a payout. The leading 10 golfers in that group will receive $12,900, the next 20 $10,750, and the remainder $9,100.

The 10 amateur golfers in the field at Royal Birkdale will not be allowed to accept prize money.

The post Open Championship Stays Out of Prize Money Race With $17.75M Purse appeared first on Front Office Sports.

World number one Scottie Scheffler has discussed the golf course at Royal Birkdale ahead of the 154th Open Championship.

Royal Birkdale is hosting The Open for the 10th time and the first since Jordan Spieth’s three-shot victory in 2017.

It is a classic links course, and the recent hot weather in England will make it even more challenging for the world’s best players.

Scheffler has shared his first impression of the course after playing a practice round before the tournament begins on Thursday.

What Scottie Scheffler said after playing practice round at Royal Birkdale

Scottie Scheffler immediately praised the “really good” golf course at Royal Birkdale before highlighting something that caught his attention.

Birkdale underwent extensive renovation ahead of The Open, with significant changes to five holes (5th, 7th, 14th, 15th, and 16th).

Scheffler believes those holes look as though they belong to a different course, as it is “pretty obvious” that they have been renovated.

“First impressions were really good,” he said. “The one thing I found interesting is that it’s so obvious which holes had been redone. They look like they’re not even on the same golf course.

“You look at 14, 15, 16, those green complexes and the amount of slope that they have off of them are pretty severe and quite challenging. The 5th hole is kind of like that, and the 7th hole as well.

“It was pretty obvious, ‘Oh, these are the holes that got redone because they look like they’re on a different golf course.’ Those are the things that stood out to me the most.”

Golf fans will be pleased to read that the course will be “challenging”, even for the likes of Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.

Scottie Scheffler explains why Royal Birkdale’s firm fairways change everything

Royal Birkdale is a difficult golf course at any time of year, but the hot and dry English summer has made it even trickier.

The fairways are extremely hard and fast, making it difficult for players to keep the ball out of the rough or bunkers.

With the wind blowing in different directions, depending on the hole, Scottie Scheffler and co. will have their work cut out this week.

Scheffler explained: “The ball’s just going to run for forever, pretty much. Here’s how I would say it: The fairways this week are really tight, so if you get a lot of crosswinds, they can be difficult to hold just because they’re so fast and they’re so firm.

“So there’s a lot of thinking off the tee on whether or not you want to just hit driver up there somewhere and kind of play from the rough most likely, or do you want to start hitting some irons, getting it in some fairways and hitting some longer shots into the greens?

“On each hole there’s a good bit of strategy; there’s a decent amount of thinking. If it wasn’t as firm as it is now, there wouldn’t be as much decision-making, but I think the firmness creates a whole lot more challenges.”

The good news for Scheffler is that he has already proven his ability to handle these conditions, winning last year’s Open at Royal Portrush.

Read more:

SOUTHPORT, England — First, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler bowed out of the Genesis Scottish Open on Friday, missing his first cut in 78 starts and nearly four years. Then world No. 2 Rory McIlroy muttered on Sunday, "Oh my God, I'm so bad at golf," after a particularly poor shot at the 16^th hole. There may be hope for the rest of the 156-man field to pick off a major this week at the 154^th British Open after all. How is McIlroy feeling about his game after a couple of days to work on his game? 

“Depends what hour of the day you get me, I think,” he said. “It's funny, I felt really good the first two days in Scotland and then felt like my game just sort of deteriorated as the week went on. Even though I shot a good score on Sunday, it didn't feel very good.”

McIlroy, 37, rallied to finish T-7 last week, his fourth top-10 finish in 10 starts this season but he was a non-factor last month at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. The 2014 British Open champion at Royal Liverpool has eight top-10 finishes in 16 career starts at the championship and finished T-4 the last time it was contested at Royal Birkdale in 2017. Having repeated as Masters champion in April, McIlroy is looking to nab his seventh career major and join a select group to amass that total that includes the likes of Bobby Jones, Sam Snead and most recently Arnold Palmer. That would also break a tie with Nick Faldo for most majors in the modern era among Europeans and tie him with Harry Vardon. 

“I've done a good bit of work the past couple days, again, getting the TrackMan out, seeing what my numbers are, and just trying to match up the feels of my swing with what I'm seeing,” McIlroy said of his recent prep after playing 30 holes on Sunday. “I felt a little bit tired yesterday, so I didn't make it on the course, but that allowed me a bit more time to hit some balls and dig into the swing a little bit. Felt good on the range. Felt good out on the course today. Definitely trending in the right direction.”

McIlroy certainly aims to go down as the greatest European-born player but to hear him tell it, he’s not wasting time contemplating his legacy in the game.

“I think it would be a pretty unfulfilling pursuit if you're just chasing records and chasing results. You have to enjoy the process. You have to enjoy the journey to get there. I've learned that the hard way at times by chasing results and chasing records too much,” he said. “You start to focus on your craft and your practice and doing the things you need to do to try to become a better golfer, and then if you do that, the results and the winning almost take care of themselves, or at least you put yourself in position enough to at least step through the door a few times.”

He added: “If all you're thinking about is winning and results, you're playing the wrong game.”

Asked what his main motivation will be when he steps on the first tee on Thursday at the 154^th Open, McIlroy said, “Seeing how good I can be. Seeing if the work I've put in and the practice that I've put in can stand up to the most intense pressure that we are under, which is major championships.”

Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek, covering the PGA Tour.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Is Rory McIlroy feeling better about his game? 'Depends what hour of the day you get me!'

A routine trip to the mailbox turned into a special memory recently for Aaron Rai.

He became the first Englishman in more than a century to win the PGA Championship, when he played the final 10 holes in 6 under at Aronimink to claim his first major title. This week, he returns to England to take on the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in Southport, one of numerous Brits who will be fan favorites throughout the week.

Last week, a story went viral about Rai leaving a hand-written note for DP World Tour pro Pablo Larrazabal, who has struggled in 2026 but is a nine-time winner. After speaking on the range Monday at the Genesis Scottish Open, Rai had his brother print out pictures of Larrazabal holding trophies and placed them at his locker with a note of encouragement.

"We've played quite a bit together in the past," Rai said. "It was the first that I'd heard he'd been struggling a little bit during the season, so it felt like just the right thing to do. So that's where it came from really."

Where did Rai get the inspiration? Perhaps it came from the player with more majors than anyone else in the game.

Rai revealed Jack Nicklaus wrote him a hand-written letter and mailed it after the PGA, and that it was a surprise to grab his mail and see a letter from the Golden Bear amongst the litter.

"For someone like that to take the time to write to me after the PGA, it definitely shows the class of what Jack is about," Rai said.

Nicklaus is notorious for writing letters, as was Arnold Palmer and others. Jack also penned a note to J.J. Spaun after his victory in the U.S. Open at Oakmont in 2025.

Rai called it surreal being on the receiving end of one of Nicklaus' letters. Safe to say that one is going to be displayed next to the Wanamaker Trophy for a while.

Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Aaron Rai reveals Jack Nicklaus mailed him a letter after PGA Championship win

Shane Lowry always seems at home at The Open Championship.

He won the Claret Jug in 2019, his sole major championship win, and Lowry is a fan favourite whenever he steps on the UK links courses.

Lowry is entering this year’s Open hoping to recapture some of his past form. It’s been a difficult season for the Irishman ever since he threw away his three-shot lead on the final three holes of the Cognizant Classic.

He hasn’t finished in the top 20 since then, so he needs every edge he can get at Royal Birkdale if he wants to get in the mix. And according to Sir Nick Faldo, he already has an advantage over most of the field before he even hits a ball.

Shane Lowry has big advantage at The Open thanks to his group

Lowry has been grouped with two major champions for his first two rounds of The Open. Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka and this year’s PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai will tee off with Lowry at Birkdale.

These are two players who keep their heads down and stay on an even keel, which Faldo thinks will help all three of them.

Speaking on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast, three-time Open winner Faldo said, “Well, he’s actually got a very nice draw. He’s got the nicest draw up with all those names you’ve been giving out. I think there are a lot of opposites in those draws. That’s a nice one.

“You’ve got three guys who are going to get on with it. Shane’s pretty lively, isn’t he? Brooks is head down, blinkers on. Aaron’s a head-down, blinkers-on guy. So, that’s actually a nice little group to be in, that one that I fancy all three of those guys because of the group.”

Faldo went on to say that when he was playing in majors, he wanted a group that would leave him alone with his thoughts.

He said, “I wanted quiet. I was I was I was cruel. I didn’t say a word. No, I said, if you want to chat, come for tea Monday after with the Claret Jug.

“Tell you how bad it was. Muirfield 92, got to 18 and took the scorecard out. Hadn’t put one score down. Not one for whoever I was playing with. I can’t remember his name, and he was not happy with that. He was not.”

It might be a good group for Lowry, but he better hope they keep his score, otherwise the Irishman won’t be happy either!

Scottie Scheffler must overcome his Open Championship group

If Lowry has been put at an advantage with his group, then Scottie Scheffler must overcome his playing partners during his first two days of this major. He’s been paired with Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton.

DeChambeau has been in poor form of late, missing the cut at his last three major championships. Ideally, you want to be playing with someone who is maintaining a good pace, but if DeChambeau endures similar struggles, it will be hard for Scheffler to find a rhythm.

You saw that on Sunday at The Masters. Scheffler was paired with Haotong Li, who had an abysmal final round at Augusta National. He shot an 80 on Sunday, meaning Scheffler struggled to get into the flow of his round. He still made a charge, but Li didn’t make it easy.

If DeChambeau continued his major form, then Scheffler would have a right to be frustrated with The Open for grouping him with the LIV star.

SOUTHPORT, England – Jordan Spieth returned to Royal Birkdale on Sunday, site of his last major championship victory in 2017, and the par-3 hole where he stiffed a 6-iron and the green where he holed a 60-foot eagle putt are nowhere to be found after changes to the course.

“Maybe the best shot and the best putt I've ever hit don't exist anymore,” he said on Monday during his pre-championship press conference. “Hope to create some more great memories here.”

Nine years ago en route to winning his third career major championship, Spieth made one of the great bogeys in major championship history at the par-4 13^th hole after fanning his tee shot off to the right and hitting a spectator in the head. He took an unplayable and then nearly half an hour to determine sight-of-line relief that allowed him to drop on the driving range, hit a 3-iron back into play and salvage a remarkable bogey with an up and down. 

“It's come up probably more than any other hole I've ever played,” Spieth said. “I remember getting the most out of it and making a bogey there and feeling like I stole a shot back somehow.”

Spieth, who has loved links golf since his first trip to England at age 14, played a practice round at Birkdale on Sunday and nine holes on Monday. What was it like to stand on that tee again? “Some stuff really hit the fan last time I was standing on this tee from here on in,” he answered. “It was the start of a crazy six-hole stretch, but I was like driver, 2-iron the last two days. It's a completely different hole. You're trying to hit it down the left side instead of the right.”

After Spieth made a miraculous bogey at 13, he rifled his tee shot at the par-3 14^th to 3 feet to regain a share of the lead. 

“I stepped up and hit just a dead-straight rocket that almost went in and kind of took back control of the championship,” he recalled. “That was probably the best shot – it was a hold 6-iron, just a little wind off the right, just starting to rain a little, and I just lined up right at the pin.” 

Having regained momentum, he applied a knockout punch at the par-5 15^th, which is now the 14^th hole on the course. When he drained the long-range bomb for eagle, he pointed to his caddie, Michael Greller, and said, “Go get that.” In the gym that week, Spieth happened to see the re-airing of old Open Championships playing on a TV and it may have had something to do with his memorable reaction to sinking the putt. 

“Back in the ‘70s these guys never got their balls out of the hole. They’d make a putt, their caddies would pull the pin out just in time for it to go in, and then they would pick it out of the hole,” Spieth recalled in an interview earlier this year with Golf magazine. “So that was in my head, my subconscious. Also, the [next] tee was, like, 50 feet in the other way. I would have been going out of my way to go get [the ball]. That’s how ‘Go get that’ happened…It was a throwback move.”

It has become part of the golf vernacular as well as a meme and Spieth said both he and his friends back home in Dallas aren’t shy about using the line he made famous.

“I think I used it once this year, which ironically I came in 50th in the tournament, so it didn't really mean as much,” he said. “I made an eagle putt on 7 of Quail Hollow (at the Truist Championship), and it took me from 48th to 44th at the time probably. It's not quite the same meaning, but it was just kind of funny.” 

Since that victory nine years ago at Birkdale, Spieth has only won two more PGA Tour events and none since the RBC Heritage four years. He hasn’t notched a top-10 finish in more than a year. His game hasn't matched up to the form that allowed him to join Jack Nicklaus as the only player to win three majors before the age of 24. But Spieth remains convinced that there is another stretch of winning form ahead for him. Asked if his game peaked early, he replied, "No, I'll never believe that until I'm at a point in my career where my health or whatever would be that because, I mean, if you give up on reaching your ceiling then I don't see a point in playing anymore.

As Spieth pointed out, he’s just 32 years old and Phil Mickelson hadn’t won his first major at that age yet but would go on to claim six. Spieth refuses to hit the panic button even as the golf world anxiously waits for him to rediscover his major mojo again. 

“Knowing me, when the lid pops off the hole, I feel like I can go on a run about as hot as anybody can run,” he said. “So I'm just waiting for that opportunity.”

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Despite winless patch, Jordan Spieth still believes his best is yet to come

Jul. 13—SIOUX FALLS — It took 55 holes but Brookings' Parker Edens held off Pukwana's Dakota Munger for the South Dakota Golf Association's men's amateur championship title at Elmwood Golf Course.

Edens and Munger tied at 10-under-par 206 in regulation on Sunday, before Edens won a sudden death playoff on the first hole with a birdie to best Munger at Hole No. 18.

Edens, who is the golf coach at South Dakota State, also receives an exemption into the U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club outside Philadelphia later this summer. Both Edens and Munger will be exempt into final qualifying for the 2027 U.S. Amateur Championship.

Munger was a sophomore at Dakota Wesleyan University in 2025-26, where he was a second-team all-Great Plains Athletic Conference finisher for the season.

Edens shot 67-68-71 over three days, while Munger shot 69-67-70, with Edens leading by one shot going to Sunday's final round. Harrisburg's Eli Anema posted a final round 68 to finish in third, two shots back with a gross score of 208. Tom Carlson, of Sioux Falls, and Watertown's Jake Olson, tied for fourth place with gross scores of 209. Olson and past champion Kevin Gillick, of Sioux Falls, were both two shots back entering Sunday's final round.

Other Mitchell-area men's notables included Presho's Chris Long, who won the SDGA men's Mid-Amateur championship earlier this summer, finishing 16th (71-71-72—214) and Mitchell's Asher Dannenbring, who is the current points leader in the SDGA Sanford International Series boys standings, finishing tied for 26th (69-75-74—218).

In the women's championship, Rapid City's Kaitlin Strain cruised to a three-shot victory after a final round of 71. Strain shot 1-over for the 54 holes, shooting 76-70-71—217 to cap her weekend. Aberdeen's Olivia Braun finished runner-up, with a three-day score of 220 (72-76-72). Pierre's Natalie Young, Dakota Dunes' Katie Betsworth and Watertown's Brynn Roehrich each shot gross scores of 225 to tie for third place.

The top Mitchell-area finisher was Allison Meyerink, as the DWU standout golfer finished in 10th place (76-74-82—232). Fellow Mitchell golfer Maddie Childs was 15th (78-81-85—244) and Anna Eliason finished in 18th place (87-88-79—254).

Many of the same golfers will be in action from July 30-Aug. 2 at the SDGA Match Play Championship at Moccasin Creek Golf Course in Aberdeen.

Jordan Spieth has admitted that it has been unusual to return to Royal Birkdale and see some of the changes from when he won The Open Championship in Southport back in 2017.

Few would have ever imagined that Spieth would head back to Birkdale still awaiting his fourth major victory. But unfortunately, the last few years have not been particularly kind to the Texan on the course.

It is more than four years since his most recent PGA Tour victory of any kind.

Perhaps more worryingly, Jordan Spieth has not finished a major inside the top 10 since The Masters in 2023.

Jordan Spieth reflects on the changes to Royal Birkdale ahead of The Open Championship

He will hope that returning to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs will inspire Spieth to roll back the years over the coming days.

However, Birkdale has changed quite substantially since Spieth lifted the Claret Jug nine years ago. Several holes have been changed since the previous Open at the venue, with the par three 14th one of the holes that has disappeared.

That was the site of potentially the greatest shot of Spieth’s career back in 2017. And he admitted that it is somewhat surreal to return to find the hole gone.

“Yeah, definitely, especially playing the closing holes yesterday and today, walking up the 18th and remembering what it was like to walk up that 18th hole nine years ago, putt to the pins that I putted to,” he said.

“Obviously some of those holes coming in have changed. That was maybe the best shot and the best putt I’ve ever hit don’t exist anymore, which is a little unusual.

“Hope to create some more great memories here. It’s a fantastic track. Maybe the hardest Open venue, most difficult Open venue; obviously weather dependent. It’s certainly shown that in previous Opens with scoring.

“Dried up this week. It’s going to play quite different than the last time we were here. We’ve had an opposite wind too, the last couple of days. So we’ll see what happens with the wind direction because that’s everything out here, right?

“Holes that are close to being drivable become mid to long irons, and just with the wind switch, the difference into and down are so dramatic over here that picking a strategy is going to be key, and it’s going to be quite different than the last time I was here.

“Nevertheless, I have great memories, and just reliving some of the shots, especially in the closing stretch.”

Why Jordan Spieth does not mind not getting to play the old Royal Birkdale

It is difficult to make the case that Spieth would have taken any momentum into this week from being the previous Champion Golfer of the Year at Royal Birkdale.

He has been unable to register a top 10 on the PGA Tour this season. So it would be a fantastic achievement if he could put himself in contention over the coming days.

It is probably fair to say that it would have been helpful had Spieth had those positive memories, particularly on the back nine, that he could use to help him this time around.

But he did explain that there is one upside to the scale of the renovation as he reflected on the changes to the 15th hole.

“In some regard, it’s kind of nice because last time, it was like a walk-off. I go back and try to do it again and I don’t hit as good of a shot, then it’s not as cool,” he said.

“Yeah, it was interesting to see because the hole is still there. The tee boxes are still there. Now the patrons are using it, but it almost looks like they still use it, I don’t know, like you could play 19 holes here, it seems. It kind of flows nicely.”

Spieth will hope that the new layout is as good to him as the previous one. But it would certainly be a huge surprise if he was able to win a fourth major this week.

Rory McIlroy faces a long wait to get his Open underway with the Masters winner slotted for a late first round tee time at Royal Birkdale.

McIlroy will tee off at 3.15pm BST on Thursday as part of a strong group with Matt Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffele – though the trio will enjoy an earlier start on Friday.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler, meanwhile, will join LIV Golf pair Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton as he looks to bounce back from a first missed cut in years at the Scottish Open. They are off on Thursday at 9.58am and at 3.04pm on Friday.

Other standout groups include local lad Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth, and Shane Lowry, Brooks Koepka and Aaron Rai – winner of the PGA Championship earlier this year.

Here are the full tee times for rounds one and two on the Southport coastline.

Round one: Thursday, 16 July (all times BST)

06:35 Matthew Baldwin (Eng), Thomas Detry (Bel), James Nicholas (US)

06:46 Michael Kim (US), David Hillier (NZ), Andy Sullivan (Eng)

​06:57 Ryan Fox (NZ), Andrew Novak (US), Matthew Jordan (Eng)

07:08 Henrik Stenson (Swe), Max Homa (US), Joe Dean (Eng)

07:19 Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Rickie Fowler (US), Alex Fitzpatrick (Eng)

07:30 David Duval (US), Martin Couvra (Fra), Matthew Southgate (Eng)

07:41 Sungjae Im (Kor), Daniel Brown (Eng), Fifa Laopakdee (Tha)*

07:52 Gary Woodland (US), Jake Knapp (US), Jordan Smith (Eng)

08:03 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Tom McKibbin (NI), Lev Grinberg (Fra)*

08:14 Hennie du Plessis (SA), Jose Luis Ballester (Spa), Dan Bradbury (Eng)

08:25 Angel Ayora (Spa), Victor Perez (Fra), Mateo Pulcini (Arg)*

08:36 Stewart Cink (US), Scott Vincent (Zim), Joakim Lagergren (Swe)

08:47 Michael Thorbjornsen (Den), Kota Kaneko (Jpn), Travis Smyth (Aus)

09:03 Alex Smalley (US), Sam Stevens (US), Ryo Hisastune (Jpn)

09:14 Akshay Bhatia (US), Harris English (US), Rasmus Hojgaard (Den)

09:25 Ben Griffin (US), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Min Woo Lee (Aus)

09:36 Russell Henley (US), Justin Rose (Eng), Viktor Hovland (Nor)

09:47 Justin Thomas (US), Alex Noren (Swe), Jason Day (Aus)

09:58 Scottie Scheffler (US), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Bryson Dechambeau (US)

10:09 Jordan Spieth (US), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Jon Rahm (Spa)

10:20 Brian Harman (US), Si Woo Kim (Kor), Nick Taylor (Can)

10:31 Ryan Gerard (US), Maverick McNealy (US), David Puig (Spa)

10:42 Kazuma Kobori (NZ), Tom Sloman (Eng), David Howard (Ire)*

10:53 Antoine Rozner (Fra), Ren Yonezawa (Jpn), Caleb Surratt (US)

11:04 MJ Daffue (SA), Frederic Lacroix (Fra), Jack McDonald (Sco)

11:15: Jeongwoo Ham (Kor), Ryutaro Nagamo (Jpn), Alejandro De Castro Piera (Spa)*

11:41 John Parry (Eng), Eric Cole (US), Tiger Christensen (Ger)

11:52 Eugenio Chacarra (Spa), Matt Wallace (Eng), Max Greyserman (US)

12:03 Michael Brennan (US), Sahith Theegala (US), Laurie Canter (Eng)

12:14 Cameron Smith (Aus), Keith Mitchell (US), Stuart Grehan (Ire)*

12:25 Sepp Straka (Aut), Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Kurt Kitayama (US)

12:36 Sami Valimaki (Fin), Shaun Norris (SA), Jackson Suber (US)

12:47 Darren Clarke (NI), Adrien Saddier (Fra), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut)

12:58 Keegan Bradley (US), Corey Conners (Can), Casey Jarvis (SA)

13:09 Matt McCarty (US), Harry Hall (Eng), Haotong Li (Chn)

13:20 Padraig Harrington (Ire), Marco Penge (Eng), Michael Hollick (SA)

13:31 Tom Kim (Kor), Billy Horschel (US), Mason Howell (US)*

13:42 Johnny Keefer (US), Pierceson Coody (US), Keita Nakajima (Jpn)

13:53 Louis Oosthuizen (SA), Jesper Svensson (Swe), Jack Buchanan (SA)

14:09 Bud Cauley (US), Jayden Schaper (SA), Lucas Herbert (Aus)

14:20 Kristoffer Reitan (Den), Patrick Reed (US), JT Poston (US)

14:31 Chris Gotterup (US), Sam Burns (US), Adam Scott (Aus)

14:42 Collin Morikawa (US), JJ Spaun (US), Nicolai Hojgaard (Den)

14:53 Shane Lowry (Ire), Aaron Rai (Eng), Brooks Koepka (US)

15:04 Cameron Young (US), Wyndham Clark (US), Ludvig Aberg (Swe)

15:15 Rory McIlroy (NI), Xander Schauffele (US), Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng)

15:26 Jacob Bridgeman (US), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den), Tim Wiedmeyer (Ger)*

15:37 Patrick Cantlay (US), Daniel Berger (US), Nico Echevarria (Col)

15:48 Peter Uihlein (US), Alistair Docherty (US), Francesco Laporta (Ita)

15:59 Cameron John (Aus), Austen Truslow (US), Sam Bairstow (Eng)

16:10 Naoyuki Kataoka (Jpn), Marcus Plunkett (US), Baard Bjoernevik (Den)

16:21 Kazuki Higa (Jpn), Jiho Yang (Kor), Nevill Ruiter (Ned)*

* denotes amateur

Round two: Friday, 17 July (all times BST)

06:35 John Parry (Eng), Eric Cole (US), Tiger Christensen (Ger)

06:46 Eugenio Chacarra (Spa), Matt Wallace (Eng), Max Greyserman (US)

06:57 Michael Brennan (US), Sahith Theegala (US), Laurie Canter (Eng)

07:08 Cameron Smith (Aus), Keith Mitchell (US), Stuart Grehan (Ire)*

07:19 Sepp Straka (Aut), Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Kurt Kitayama (US)

07:30 Sami Valimaki (Fin), Shaun Norris (SA), Jackson Suber (US)

07:41 Darren Clarke (NI), Adrien Saddier (Fra), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut)

07:52 Keegan Bradley (US), Corey Conners (Can), Casey Jarvis (SA)

08:03 Matt McCarty (US), Harry Hall (Eng), Haotong Li (Chn)

08:14 Padraig Harrington (Ire), Marco Penge (Eng), Michael Hollick (SA)

08:25 Tom Kim (Kor), Billy Horschel (US), Mason Howell (US)*

08:36 Johnny Keefer (US), Pierceson Coody (US), Keita Nakajima (Jpn)

08:47 Louis Oosthuizen (SA), Jesper Svensson (Swe), Jack Buchanan (SA)

09:03 Bud Cauley (US), Jayden Schaper (SA), Lucas Herbert (Aus)

09:14 Kristoffer Reitan (Den), Patrick Reed (US), JT Poston (US)

09:25 Chris Gotterup (US), Sam Burns (US), Adam Scott (Aus)

09:36 Collin Morikawa (US), JJ Spaun (US), Nicolai Hojgaard (Den)

09:47 Shane Lowry (Ire), Aaron Rai (Eng), Brooks Koepka (US)

09:58 Cameron Young (US), Wyndham Clark (US), Ludvig Aberg (Swe)

10:09 Rory McIlroy (NI), Xander Schauffele (US), Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng)

10:20 Jacob Bridgeman (US), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den), Tim Wiedmeyer (Ger)*

10:31 Patrick Cantlay (US), Daniel Berger (US), Nico Echevarria (Col)

10:42 Peter Uihlein (US), Alistair Docherty (US), Francesco Laporta (Ita)

10:53 Cameron John (Aus), Austen Truslow (US), Sam Bairstow (Eng)

11:04 Naoyuki Kataoka (Jpn), Marcus Plunkett (US), Baard Bjoernevik (Den)

11:15 Kazuki Higa (Jpn), Jiho Yang (Kor), Nevill Ruiter (Ned)*

11:41 Matthew Baldwin (Eng), Thomas Detry (Bel), James Nicholas (US)

11:52 Michael Kim (US), David Hillier (NZ), Andy Sullivan (Eng)

​12:03 Ryan Fox (NZ), Andrew Novak (US), Matthew Jordan (Eng)

12:14 Henrik Stenson (Swe), Max Homa (US), Joe Dean (Eng)

12:25 Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Rickie Fowler (US), Alex Fitzpatrick (Eng)

12:36 David Duval (US), Martin Couvra (Fra), Matthew Southgate (Eng)

12:47 Sungjae Im (Kor), Daniel Brown (Eng), Fifa Laopakdee (Tha)*

12:58 Gary Woodland (US), Jake Knapp (US), Jordan Smith (Eng)

13:09 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Tom McKibbin (NI), Lev Grinberg (Fra)*

13:20 Hennie du Plessis (SA), Jose Luis Ballester (Spa), Dan Bradbury (Eng)

13:31 Angel Ayora (Spa), Victor Perez (Fra), Mateo Pulcini (Arg)*

13:42 Stewart Cink (US), Scott Vincent (Zim), Joakim Lagergren (Swe)

13:53 Michael Thorbjornsen (Den), Kota Kaneko (Jpn), Travis Smyth (Aus)

14:09 Alex Smalley (US), Sam Stevens (US), Ryo Hisastune (Jpn)

14:20 Akshay Bhatia (US), Harris English (US), Rasmus Hojgaard (Den)

14:31 Ben Griffin (US), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Min Woo Lee (Aus)

14:42 Russell Henley (US), Justin Rose (Eng), Viktor Hovland (Nor)

14:53 Justin Thomas (US), Alex Noren (Swe), Jason Day (Aus)

15:04 Scottie Scheffler (US), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Bryson Dechambeau (US)

15:15 Jordan Spieth (US), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Jon Rahm (Spa)

15:26 Brian Harman (US), Si Woo Kim (Kor), Nick Taylor (Can)

15:37 Ryan Gerard (US), Maverick McNealy (US), David Puig (Spa)

15:48 Kazuma Kobori (NZ), Tom Sloman (Eng), David Howard (Ire)*

15:59 Antoine Rozner (Fra), Ren Yonezawa (Jpn), Caleb Surratt (US)

16:10 MJ Daffue (SA), Frederic Lacroix (Fra), Jack McDonald (Sco)

16:21 Jeongwoo Ham (Kor), Ryutaro Nagamo (Jpn), Alejandro De Castro Piera (Spa)*

* denotes amateur

It's time for the final men's major championship of the year.

The 2026 Open Championship gets underway Thursday at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, but there's plenty of action beginning Monday for fans wanting to follow along with what's going on in the United Kingdom.

For fans of coffee golf, this week is for you. There's plenty of action every morning on Golf Channel, whether it's Live From early in the week or actual action on USA Sports beginning Thursday. The Open will have coverage for more than 12 hours every day, and we've compiled everything here so you know where and how to watch all of the action as players battle to hoist the Claret Jug.

Here's how to follow all of the action at the 2026 Open Championship:

All times ET

Monday, July 13

• 9 a.m.-2 p.m.: Live From The Open

Tuesday, July 14

• 8 a.m.-1 p.m.: Live From The Open

Wednesday, July 15

• 8 a.m.-1 p.m.: Live From The Open

Thursday, July 16

• 1:30-4 a.m.: Open Championship, Round 1 (Peacock)
• 4 a.m.-3:30 p.m.: Open Championship, Round 1 (USA Sports/GC mobile)
• 3:30-5:30 p.m.: Live From The Open

Friday, July 17

• 1:30-4 a.m.: Open Championship, Round 2 (Peacock)
• 4 a.m.-3:30 p.m.: Open Championship, Round 2 (USA Sports/GC mobile)
• 3:30-5:30 p.m.: Live From The Open

Saturday, July 18

• 5-7 a.m.: Open Championship, Round 3 (USA Sports/GC mobile)
• 7 a.m.-3 p.m.: Open Championship, Round 3 (NBC/Peacock)
• 3-5 p.m.: Live From The Open

Sunday, July 19

• 4-7 a.m.: Open Championship, final round (USA Sports/GC mobile)
• 7 a.m.-2 p.m.: Open Championship, final round (NBC/Peacock)
• 2-4 p.m.: Live From The Open

Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: How to watch the 2026 Open Championship: TV, streaming, dates, channel information

Three down, one to go. We have seen three men's golf majors come and go already here in 2026, and there are 22 golfers who made the cut in all three. Incidentally, that's the same number who made the cut in 2025.

The three majors have produced three different winners, and now there's one last chance for Rory McIlroy, Aaron Rai or Wyndham Clark to do what Scottie Scheffler did a year ago: win two majors in one season.

Of the three major winners so far, McIlroy and Rai made the cut in all three majors played, with Clark missing the cut at the PGA.

These are the 22 players who made all three major cuts in 2026 listed alphabetically.

Golfers to make all 3 major cuts listed by average finish

For these calculations, a tie for fourth, for example, was considered the same as a solo fourth-place finish. Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele came closest to posting top 10s in all three with Rose going 3-10-11 and Schauffele going 9-7-11. Scottie Scheffler is the only one with two top 5s in three of the majors.

Todd Kelly is an assistant managing editor at Golfweek.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: 22 golfers made the cut in the first three majors of 2026. Who has the best average finish?

It is officially Open Championship week and time for the 154th edition of golf’s oldest major, which is being held at Royal Birkdale for the 11th time.

But first, American pros headed over early for some links prep and went about getting on some of the U.K.’s many gems. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler had some extra time on his hands after missing the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open and took in North Berwick Golf Club, one of several great courses in East Lothian, and with son Bennett in tow. 

A family golf trip to Scotland.

Amazing photo of Scottie Scheffler and his son Bennett playing North Berwick in the sun last week. pic.twitter.com/612XM4F3xo

— Jamie Kennedy (@jamierkennedy) July 12, 2026

Over in England, Akshay Bhatia and Rickie Fowler explored one of the neighboring Southport courses, where Tommy Fleetwood cut his teeth in the game at West Lancs Golf Club. Very cool of them to bring junior member George Crompton along for the ride. Imagine he won't soon forget that experience.

Great to host @RickieFowler and @akshaybhatia_1 here @WestLancsGC yesterday. Fantastic opportunity for one of our junior members, George Crompton, whom they invited to play.

Best wishes to both players @RandA@theopen@royalbirkdale next week and thank you for visiting us pic.twitter.com/EBtlLOKfnc

— West Lancs Golf Club (@WestLancsGC) July 12, 2026

Jordan Spieth, the 2017 British Open champion here at Royal Birkdale the last time it hosted the Open, was out and about getting familiar with links golf and took in a round at Formby Golf Club. "Always a privilege to see one of the game's great champions enjoying our links," the club posted on its social media accounts.

A pleasure to welcome @JordanSpieth to Formby ahead of his return to Royal Birkdale for The Open.

Always a privilege to see one of the game’s great champions enjoying our links.

We wish Jordan the very best for the week ahead. pic.twitter.com/hCxWTJZTky

— Formby Golf Club (@FormbyGolfClub) July 12, 2026

But the pros weren't the only ones squeezing in some golf while overseas. Jamie Kennedy of Golf Digest had the shot of his life, a hole-in-one at the par-4 18th at North Berwick and the bartender happened to be taking a time-lapse of the sunset at the time.

Amazingly the barman in the clubhouse was taking a timelapse of the sunset.

And captured the moment I found the ball in the hole!

Thanks Chris. pic.twitter.com/iOcnAk8Hpu

— Jamie Kennedy (@jamierkennedy) July 7, 2026

Even your intrepid reporter was able to make some birdies on his way over with a pit stop near London at Walton Heath (Old) and has a tee time at Hillside, where Arnold Palmer qualified for the 1961 Open, to look forward to before we get down to serious business on Thursday. With apologies to Jim Nantz and the Masters, playing links golf as prep for the Open is the real tradition unlike any other during major season.

Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek, covering the PGA Tour.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Rickie, Jordan & Scottie among pros prepping for British Open at historic UK courses

Concerns have been raised about Rory McIlroy after he admitted struggling with the wind direction over the weekend at the Scottish Open.

McIlroy played well enough for most of the week at The Renaissance Club to win the event at a canter. However, his shortened Saturday round put too much of a dent in his chances.

The Northern Irishman was three over par for the eight holes he managed to play on Saturday. Remarkably, he matched the first, second, and final round scores of eventual winner Tom Kim.

Concerns raised about Rory McIlroy after his third round at the Scottish Open

It did appear that McIlroy’s game was not quite as sharp as it would have been had he been playing a full PGA Tour schedule in 2026. There were a handful of sloppy mistakes, particularly on Saturday, that seemed to come from nowhere.

But it seems that the problem was not actually a new one. McIlroy spoke of his need to practice in a right to left wind ahead of The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale after his final round on Sunday.

And speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Rex Hoggard suggested that he is somewhat baffled that one particular wind direction seems to cause McIlroy so many issues.

“He always goes back to the right to left wind on the range. He’s talked about this a couple of times over the course of this season. I think it came up at The Players Championship, and this has been something he’s talked about. And every player has a tendency, and I understand that,” he said.

“For him to be cruising like he was, he got off to an almost flawless start, and to completely unravel on the first nine of that third round, he was four over par through nine holes, didn’t come close to making a birdie, it was just an ugly nine holes.

“He seemed to right the ship a little bit coming down the stretch, but it is concerning when you have a player that’s so talented, that’s accomplished so much in his career, and something as simple as the wind’s not coming from the right direction on the range, I always find that interesting because it’s not something you would hear from a Tiger Woods or I’ll even point to another player of that calibre, Ernie Els, it’s not something you even think about.

“So I’m curious if Rory’s mindset is less about blaming it on something that’s wrong with his swing and just blaming it on the circumstances.”

Rory McIlroy in a strong position heading into The Open Championship

While McIlroy has always built his year around what is going to help him most when the majors arrive, there is a sense in 2026 that the four biggest events of the year have become an even greater priority.

The Scottish Open was only his seventh start on the PGA Tour this year outside of the majors. And the focus would have largely been on what was going to boost his chances of lifting the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale in the coming days.

The needless errors in North Berwick may worry some. However, speaking on the same podcast, Ryan Lavner insisted that, despite his struggles with the wind, he has seen enough to be optimistic about McIlroy’s chances at the final major of the year.

“This is a months long issue that he has now had. I remember him saying it at The Players Championship, he said it at Augusta at The Masters. I remember him talking about it at the Truist Championship. He talked about it again at Shinnecock for the US Open. And now here he is, even across the pond, talking about when he has the into right to left wind, which, again, as a right-hander, is nightmare fuel because you either hang back and flip it, or if you’re me, you hang back and hit it off the planet,” he said.

“Rory’s tendency, he said, is to keep aiming more and more left, and all of a sudden his face is shut and he starts pulling it left, particularly with his irons. I thought it was actually a pretty encouraging week for Rory off the tee. And keep in mind, Rory doesn’t even have enough rounds to qualify for PGA Tour statistics, but it has not been a great driving year by his very lofty standards.

“He obviously won The Masters in spite of continually missing the fairway, especially on the par fives. He led the field in strokes gained off the tee at The Renaissance Club. It’s going to be important to put the ball in play off the tee at Birkdale because of the bunker positioning. And we talked about the rough that awaits some of the errant tee shots, so I thought that part was promising, but he certainly needs to clean up the iron play. That was the reason he eventually finished five shots back of Tom Kim.

“With three days of prep that he can now get on site, he’s already taken a reconnaissance trip to Birkdale a couple of weeks ago, was interrupted in that practice round by Nick Faldo, I think Rory is actually in pretty good shape.”

McIlroy has finished inside the top 10 in three of his last four starts at The Open. Many will be expecting him to at least extend that run in Southport.

Tom Kim Wins Genesis Scottish Open for Fourth PGA Tour Victory

Tom Kim captured the biggest victory of his PGA Tour career Sunday, winning the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland.

With weather delays forcing part of the field to complete the third round Sunday morning, players faced a busy final day before Kim emerged atop the leaderboard.

The 24-year-old fired a bogey-free, 6-under 64 in the final round to finish at 17-under for the tournament, securing his fourth PGA Tour victory. Kim made just one bogey over the weekend as he continued his return to top form.

After finishing 108th in the FedEx Cup standings last season, Kim has enjoyed a strong resurgence in 2026 and now sits 32nd in the standings heading into next week’s final major championship.

Min Woo Lee finished alone in second place at 15-under. Keita Nakajima, Johnny Keefer, Matt Fitzpatrick and Robert MacIntyre tied for third at 13-under.

Open Championship Qualifiers

Three spots in next week’s Open Championship were available to the highest finishers not already exempt into the field.

Johnny Keefer, Michael Thorbjornsen and Victor Perez secured those final qualifying spots. The Open Championship will mark the first career appearance for both Keefer and Thorbjornsen.

One final place in the field remains available and will be decided Monday through a last-chance qualifying event at Royal Birkdale, the site of next week’s Open Championship. The 18-hole qualifier features 12 players, including Aldrich Potgieter, Matti Schmid and Wesley Bryan, all competing for the tournament’s final berth.

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SOUTHPORT, England — The final major championship of the men’s golf season arrives as several major questions surround the future of the PGA Tour and rival LIV Golf.

Royal Birkdale Golf Club is hosting the 154th edition of the Open Championship, which begins Thursday, marking the 11th time the sport’s oldest tournament has been played at the course. Jordan Spieth won his third major and first and only Claret Jug the last time The Open was at Royal Birkdale, in 2017.

Victor Perez became the 15th LIV player to qualify for The Open on Sunday thanks to his T9 finish at the Genesis Scottish Open—a co-sanctioned event on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour—which allowed seven LIV players to tee up alongside PGA Tour players in a rare non-major setting.

But this week at Birkdale will mark the final time this year that both LIV’s and the PGA Tour’s top stars will face off against each other. Meanwhile, exactly what the pro golf landscape will look like in 2027 is still up in the air.

LIV’s Unsettled Future

After The Open, LIV next week is set to return from its unintended 47-day summer break, which was a result of the league cancelling its June event in New Orleans. 

LIV has four events remaining on its 2026 schedule, and it continues to search for new investors with the Saudi PIF ending its funding after this season. 

Bryson DeChambeau’s LIV contract expires at the end of the season, but the league’s most popular star has indicated he wants to help LIV survive at all costs. DeChambeau has missed the cut in all the majors so far this year; he had previously never missed more than two major cuts in a single season. Despite his struggles, DeChambeau remains the most recent LIV player to win a major—at the 2024 U.S. Open.

Jon Rahm has multiple years remaining on his LIV contract, but has not been as publicly committed to helping LIV survive as DeChambeau. 

LIV previously announced some dates for its 2027 events, but the league’s schedule for next year is far from set until new funding is secured. 

Last week, LIV notified employees it would be filing a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice, which is a legal requirement in the U.S. that requires businesses with over 100 employees to give at least a 60-day notice of potential mass layoffs.

PGA Tour’s New Era Not Fully Set

The PGA Tour will play six more events after the year’s final major—three regular-season tournaments and three FedEx Cup Playoff events.

The full 2027 PGA Tour schedule is expected to be officially unveiled in late August at the Tour Championship, although many tournament dates have already been confirmed by individual event organizers.

But it will be the 2028 PGA Tour season that brings major change as a new two-series model is set to be implemented in just over 18 months. 

While high-level details of that new structure were announced by PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp last month, many final details have not yet been determined and will still be discussed and negotiated among members and stakeholders throughout this year.

The post Golf’s Final Major of 2026 Arrives With Plenty of LIV-PGA Tour Questions appeared first on Front Office Sports.

The Genesis Scottish Open once again features one of the biggest prize funds on the PGA Tour schedule, with a $9 million purse up for grabs.

As the final tune-up before The Open Championship, the event has attracted a world-class field competing not only for the title at The Renaissance Club, but also for a payday that could significantly impact the FedEx Cup standings and season earnings.

The tournament winner will take home $1.575 million, while every player who makes the cut earns a share of the purse. Payouts may be adjusted in the event of ties, according to the PGA Tour’s standard distribution policy.

Genesis Scottish Open Purse Breakdown

Here is a look at the complete payouts for the 2026 Genesis Scottish Open:

What’s Next on the PGA Tour?

Next week, many of the world’s top players will head to Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, for The Open Championship (July 16-19). The winner of the Claret Jug will earn 750 FedExCup points and a winner’s share that exceeded $3.1 million last year, when Scottie Scheffler captured the title.

Players who don’t qualify for The Open will have another opportunity to compete the same week at the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic, which features a $4 million purse and 300 FedExCup points.

The Tour then returns to the United States for the 3M Open (July 23-26) at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota. The tournament offers an $8.8 million purse and 500 FedExCup points, making it a key stop for players looking to strengthen their playoff position. Last year’s champion, Kurt Kitayama, earned $1.512 million for his victory.

July wraps up with the Rocket Classic (July 30-Aug. 2) at Detroit Golf Club. With a $10 million purse and another 500 FedExCup points on the line, the event represents one of the final opportunities for players to improve their standing before the FedExCup Playoffs begin.

Aldrich Potgieter is the defending champion after taking home $1.728 million for his victory last season.

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This article was originally published on HEAVY

The post Genesis Scottish Open Purse 2026: How Much Does the Winner Make appeared first on HEAVY.

Scottie Scheffler is very close friends with Tom Kim away from the golf course.

Scheffler and Kim both live in the Dallas area and often play golf together during their off-weeks.

However, their careers have been on completely different trajectories over the past three years.

Before his win at the Genesis Scottish Open on Sunday, Tom Kim‘s last victory came back in October 2023, while Scottie Scheffler has won 20 times since February 2022, including four major championships.

Kim has been in the golfing doldrums for far too long now, with 17 missed cuts to his name since the start of the 2024 season.

However, the 24-year-old’s problems seem to be well and truly in his rearview mirror now.

The prediction that Scottie Scheffler made about Tom Kim in May

Scheffler has always had complete faith in Kim’s ability to bounce back from his struggles.

When speaking to the media ahead of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson back in May, the current world number one responded when asked to share his opinion on Kim’s struggles at the time.

“I think, when you look at golf, it’s such a difficult sport. I believe it’s the hardest game in the world. So there’s always ebbs and flows to how you feel,“ the world number one said.

“Tom’s a young guy still. I think people forget, I think he’s 23 years old. When you look at where I was at 23 years old, I definitely wasn’t a multiple-time TOUR winner.

“Tom is a guy that has a ton of talent, but I think life on the PGA TOUR can be challenging at times, especially when you start thinking about your results and your ranking starts to drop a little bit.

“It’s just challenging. Whenever I see Tom, I try to give him my best. If he ever has a question for me, I always try to give him a good answer.

“He’s a guy that I care a lot about and wish nothing but the best, but like I said, it’s a hard game, and you kind of just go through the ebbs and flows and the ups and downs.

“I think a lot of times, when you look from the outside, outside looking in, it’s easy just to look at his scores, but a lot of people, we’re humans, we all have a lot going on.

“Tom’s a guy that I think is living really well right now, even though his scores might not show it. Every time I see him, he seems to be in good spirits, which is great.

“That’s been his strength from the beginning is his attitude and the way he approaches things. I’m sure he’ll be back competing for trophies very soon again.“

What a fantastic prediction that was from Scheffler. Kim has certainly been competing for trophies recently and he finally got over the line in Scotland on Sunday, deservedly so.

Tom Kim is back to his best

The challenge now for Kim will be to maintain the fine form that he has shown over the past few weeks.

He clearly has the game needed to compete at the very highest level.

With his confidence now sky high once again, Tom Kim will have the belief that he can compete with the best golfers in the world consistently, Scottie Scheffler included.

It’s also worth remembering that Kim is still only 24.

Golfers learn more through adversity than they do success.

And who knows, his recent struggles may end up serving him really well for the remainder of his career.

The Genesis Scottish Open was the final event in the Open Championship qualifying series, the last chance for three golfers to gain entry into the final major of 2026.

The field will be 156 on Thursday at Royal Birkdale, which is hosting the Open for an 11th time. The top three finishers at the Scottish Open who were not already exempt for the Open would earn spots, and they didn't even need to win to do so.

The three? Johnny Keefer, Michael Thorbjornsen and Victor Perez. Here's how they did it:

• Keefer tied for third at 13 under (68-68-64-67)
• Thorbjornsen tied for seventh at 12 under (66-68-65-69)
• Perez tied for ninth at 11 under (69-64-70-66)

These will be the first British Open appearances for Keefer and Thorbjornsen.

Todd Kelly is an assistant managing editor at Golfweek.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Johnny Keefer, Michael Thorbjornsen, Victor Perez qualify for Open Championship

In between the end of the 2026 Genesis Scottish Open on Sunday and the start of the 2026 Open Championship on Thursday is the first-ever Last-Chance Qualifier.

The R&A has spiced things up a tad this year with this one-of-a-kind, 12-man qualifier for the 156th and final spot in the Open.

On Saturday, the draw was announced, with the R&A announcing that Marcus Helligkilde withdrew, opening a spot for Frazer Jones, who becomes the third amateur in this qualifier.

The Last-Chance Qualifier will be 18 holes at Royal Birkdale, hosting the Open for an 11th time.

2026 Last-Chance Qualifier tee times

The event starts at 8:30 a.m. local time in England, which is 2:30 a.m. ET. Live scores will be updated at TheOpen.com.

Todd Kelly is an assistant managing editor at Golfweek.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: 2026 Last-Chance Qualifier tee times for golfers aiming for final spot in Open Championship

Lydia Ko gave her caddie an A+ this week. That's notable given that she had her husband, Jun Chung, on the bag for the first time at the Amundi Evian Championship.

"Would it be an A+ for other players? I'm not really sure," she said. "But obviously he can say some things that only a husband can say, and maybe not Paul for me on a week to week."

Ko set a goal of 6 under for the final round and did one better, matching the day's best of 64 on Sunday to finish in a share of seventh at 13 under, six shots back of winner Haeran Ryu. It marked her best finish on tour since March and followed a T-15 at the KPMG Women's PGA.

Lydia Ko's husband is on the bag this week and it's going about exactly as you'd expect 🤣

(he's a DIVA 💅) pic.twitter.com/FLeyLa8VS2

— LPGA (@LPGA) July 8, 2026

Watching Chung caddie, she said, made her appreciate more what her regular looper, Paul Cormack, does on a weekly basis.

When asked about Chung's best advice this week, Ko said it was more like an ultimatum.

"He was like, 'Oh, I'm not going to caddie for a wuss,' so I think that made me be a little bit more kind of aggressive," she said.

"And then he really didn't have any bad advice. I told him to like keep up and shut up. That was kind of like my advice at the start of the week. I actually relied on him in like green reading as well, which has kind of been the thing that I struggled with on these greens the past few years."

Keep up and shut up, of course, being the golden rule for call caddies.

At the start of the week, the subject of money came up and Chung reminded his wife that he was taking vacation days to work for her. She made $242,409 in the fourth major of the season.

"You should be honored to caddie for a Hall of Famer," Ko deadpanned.

Needless to say, they had a good time in France.

Beth Ann Nichols is a senior writer for Golfweek covering the LPGA and all things women's golf.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Lydia Ko on husband's Evian ultimatum: 'I'm not going to caddie for a wuss'

No one has been more successful at The Open Championship over the last 40 years than Sir Nick Faldo, with the Englishman lifting the Claret Jug three times during his career.

Faldo won half of his six major titles on British soil. He won his first major championship at Muirfield in 1987, famously making 18 pars in the final round.

Muirfield would also prove to be the site of his third Open Championship triumph in 1992. Faldo clinched victory at St Andrews two years earlier.

So there are not many better players for amateurs to learn from when it comes to some of the skills required to play links golf.

Sir Nick Faldo shares how to hit a knockdown iron shot

There will be plenty of golfers who attempt a knockdown shot over the coming days at Royal Birkdale.

The knockdown shot is designed to send the ball on a lower trajectory in the hope of preventing it being impacted by the wind.

And speaking in a video on his own YouTube channel as he tackled Birkdale himself, Faldo explained what amateurs should be attempting to do if they want to produce a punchy shot.

“Seventh hole, par three, a lot of changes. The old tee is way over there, 100 yards, completely different direction. It was flat before. Now they’ve decided to come up the hill, the green is completely brand new. They’ve lifted the green. And obviously all these roll-offs, and look at the size of it. And of course, being up here on top of the hill, really exposed. This is going to be fun,” he said.

“So I am now going to demonstrate how you play a little knockdown shot. It’s 140 adjusted to 135, so that would be a nine iron for me. So you grab an eight, one club more.

“You’re going to put your right thumb in your right ear [at the top of the backswing], keep the right knee really solid. Soft arms, almost feel like you break them, Harry Vardon, collect the ball, and do the same going through. Right thumb into your left ear.”

It should be noted that Faldo hit a sublime shot to just short of the pin. So he has definitely not lost his incredible touch.

The current weather forecast for the opening two rounds of The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale

A lot will be said about the draw for the opening two rounds in Southport this coming week.

The draw can have a big say in deciding who wins the Claret Jug on Sunday. Wyndham Clark certainly benefitted at Shinnecock Hills from kicking off his US Open late on Thursday.

But perhaps that will not be as much of a factor at Royal Birkdale. Of course, the United Kingdom is currently experiencing another heatwave.

As shown by the Met Office, the weather for Thursday is set to be fairly consistent, though it will be considerably cooler for those in the morning wave.

The winds, meanwhile, are set to be no stronger than 10 miles per hour.

And Friday is set to be a similar story. So it appears that Birkdale is going to provide about as fair a test as links golf can.

The fourth LPGA major of the year carries with it another record purse.

The Amundi Evian Championship in France will conclude Sunday, with the winner taking home $1.4 million from the $9.1 million purse. Of the 66 players who made the cut, only 62 will receive a payday, as four amateurs were among those to play the weekend at Evian-les-Bains.

Here's the breakdown of how much money each LPGA player earned at the 2026 Amundi Evian Championship, where there was a purse of $9.1 million. (Table will be updated once play is concluded Sunday.)

Amundi Evian Championship 2026 prize money payouts

Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: 2026 Amundi Evian Championship prize money payouts for each LPGA player in France

Sir Nick Faldo crossed paths with Rory McIlroy at Royal Birkdale two weeks ago as the Northern Irishman made a pre-Open Championship scouting mission to the Southport links.

McIlroy has been preparing for major championships in a completely different fashion this year.

The 37-year-old has been playing numerous practice rounds at the major venues well ahead of time.

Rory McIlroy won The Masters in April having played at Augusta National various times in the build-up to the first major championship of the year.

He has taken the same approach at Aronimink and Shinnecock Hills, and he has already paid a visit to Royal Birkdale ahead of the Open Championship.

And Sir Nick Faldo was filming some content for his social media accounts at the same time that McIlroy was at Birkdale.

What Rory McIlroy said about Nick Faldo after Royal Birkdale trip

McIlroy suggested that his Birkdale scouting mission was supposed to be a secret one before Faldo let the cat out of the bag

“Birkdale was definitely just a scouting trip for The Open for sure,“ he said.

“I would have liked to not have it known that I was there, but Faldo couldn’t put his phone away, so — (laughing.)

“I love Nick. In fairness, he’s great. I had a good time with him. He walked a few holes with me.“

It is worth noting that McIlroy made the comments in a very light-hearted manner.

However, Faldo couldn’t resist a swipe back at the Northern Irishman, albeit in a jovial way.

Nick Faldo responds to Rory McIlroy’s comments about Royal Birkdale trip

Faldo spoke exclusively to Today’s Golfer and responded when asked what he made of McIlroy’s comments about him letting the cat out of the bag, so to speak.

“He should have just said to me, ‘Oi, I’m here secretly. Can you put this out later?’ Of course I would have done that,” the Englishman said.

“But he didn’t, so that’s why I put it out – because everybody wants to know everything. I mean there’s no way he can have a secret visit anywhere.

“A member will see him and go, ‘I say, I just saw… was that Rory McIlroy?!’”

Nick Faldo makes a great point there! Rory McIlroy cannot go anywhere in public without it being widespread news within hours.

The Northern Irishman will be fully aware of that as well. His pre-Open scouting mission would have been widely reported on regardless of whether Faldo uploaded the footage to his social media channels or not.