PGA Tour Brunch | The Open Preview
PGA Tour Brunch Preview of the '26 Open | Royal Birkdale
ROYAL BIRKDALE - The Open Championship is the 30th event of the FedEx Cup Regular Season, with only four weeks remaining until the start of the Fed Ex Cup Playoffs.
This is the final major championship of the 2026 season (Rory McIlroy/Masters Tournament, Aaron Rai/PGA Championship, Wyndham Clark/U.S. Open).
The 2026 Open Championship returns to Royal Birkdale for the 11th time (1954, 1961, 1965, 1971, 1976, 1983, 1991, 1998, 2008, 2017, 2026), the second-most of any other course to host with the most being St. Andrews.
An American has won four of the last five Open Championships: Scottie Scheffler (2025), Xander Schauffele (2024), Brian Harman (2023), Collin Morikawa (2021).
The field includes:
30 of the Top 30 in the FedExCup standings
50 of the Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking
The 10 past FedEx Cup champions: Henrik Stenson (2013), Billy Horschel (2014), Jordan Spieth (2015), Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019, 2022), Justin Thomas (2017), Justin Rose (2018), Patrick Cantlay (2021), Viktor Hovland (2023), Scottie Scheffler (2024), Tommy Fleetwood (2025)
All eight Signature Event winners this season are in the field
The last 12 winners of The Open Championship won the event for the first time, starting with Phil Mickelson in 2013, marking the longest streak of first-time winners at The Open with the previous high from 1994-2004.
The 154th Open | Notes
Tom Kim seeks to become the first player since Rory McIlroy to win on TOUR and win a major the following week (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, 2014 PGA Championship)
Adam Scott is scheduled to make his 101st consecutive major championship appearance, dating to the 2001 Open Championship. Only Jack Nicklaus (146) has played in more than 100 straight majors
Rickie Fowler is making his 15th start at the Open Championship (best: T2/2014) and has 13 Top-10 finishes in major starts, the most Top-10 finishes without a win in majors since 2010
The Open | Tournament Overview
COURSE: Royal Birkdale, Southport
YARDAGE/PAR: 7,223/70
ARCHITECT: George Lowe
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Scottie Scheffler
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PRIZE Money (Purse/Winner’s Share): $17,750,000 / TBD
FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 750
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @TheOpen
PGA TOUR SITE: (The Open)
The Open | The Basics
The Field: (Link)
Updates:
Sunday, July 12
Qualified are:
Johnny Keefer
Michael Thorbjornsen
Victor Perez
Monday, July 13
Joe Dean (Last Chance Qualifier)
Louis Oosthuizen WD / Aldrich Potgieter IN
Tee Times: (link)
Tournament Tee Times start Thursday-early AM at 1:35am (EDT)/6:35am (local) and continue through 11:21 (EDT)/4:21pm (local).
Weather: The forecast is for partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 60s (F). Humidity a factor at 76-87%. Today’s winds at 2-3 mph.
PGATourBrunch will post by 11:59pm (EDT) Thursday (tomorrow night).
How to Watch | The 154th Open
Thursday, July 16, 2026 (All Times Eastern Daylight - which apparently is here to stay)
1:30am - 4:00am - NBC Sports Net and Peacock Streaming
2:00am - conclusion of play - The Open Radio on Sirius/XM 92
4:00am - 3:30pm - USA Network
3:30 - 5:00pm - Golf Channel
The Open | Odds
(Odds Courtesy of Fan Duel)
Scottie Scheffler +700
Rory McIlroy +850
Tommy Fleetwood +1500
Matt Fitzpatrick +1500
Jon Rahm +2200
Xander Schauffele +2700
Wyndham Clark +3000
Chris Gotterup +3000
Collin Morikawa +3000
Viktor Hovland +3000
Cameron Young +3300
Ludvig Åberg +3300
Justin Rose +3300
Robert MacIntyre +3300
Tyrrell Hatton +3500
Si Woo Kim +4000
Shane Lowry +4500
Russell Henley +4500
Patrick Reed +4500
Tom Kim +4500
Min Woo Lee +5000
Justin Thomas +5000
Sam Burns +5000
Patrick Cantlay +5500
Bryson DeChambeau +6000
Aaron Rai +6500
Alex Fitzpatrick +7000
Joaquin Niemann +7000
JJ Spaun +7000
Brooks Koepka +8000
Jordan Spieth +8000
Harris English +8000
Ben Griffin +8000
Rickie Fowler +10000
Maverick McNealy +10000
Brian Harman +10000
Corey Conners +10000
Adam Scott +10000
Nicolai Højgaard +10000
Kurt Kitayama +10000
Ryan Gerard +10000
Keegan Bradley +10000
Kristoffer Reitan +10000
Alex Noren +10000
Hideki Matsuyama +10000
Matt Wallace +12500
Akshay Bhatia +12500
Victor Perez +12500
Sepp Straka +15000
Bud Cauley +15000
Eugenio Chacarra +15000
Cameron Smith +15000
Nick Taylor +15000
Jason Day +15000
J.T. Poston +15000
David Puig +17500
Jacob Bridgeman +17500
Alex Smalley +17500
Jake Knapp +17500
Marco Penge +17500
Jordan Smith +17500
Tom McKibbin +17500
Max Homa +17500
Ryan Fox +17500
Michael Kim +17500
Casey Jarvis +17500
Max Greyserman +17500
Angel Ayora +17500
Harry Hall +17500
Keith Mitchell +17500
Gary Woodland +17500
Johnny Keefer +17500
Michael Thorbjornsen +17500
Sungjae Im +22500
John Parry +22500
Haotong Li +22500
Sahith Theegala +22500
Rasmus Højgaard +22500
Andrew Novak +22500
Ryo Hisatsune +22500
Eric Cole +22500
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +22500
Aldrich Potgieter +22500
Sami Valimaki +25000
Jayden Schaper +25000
Daniel Hillier +25000
Lucas Herbert +25000
Thomas Detry +25000
Michael Brennan +25000
Matt McCarty +25000
Pierceson Coody +35000
Billy Horschel +35000
Sam Stevens +35000
Jackson Suber +35000
Laurie Canter +35000
Daniel Berger +35000
Bernd Wiesberger +35000
Nico Echavarria +35000
Matthew Jordan +35000
Stewart Cink +35000
Hennie du Plessis +50000
Jesper Svensson +50000
Scott Vincent +50000
Keita Nakajima +50000
Daniel Brown +50000
Andy Sullivan +50000
Francesco Molinari +50000
Jose Luis Ballester +50000
Shaun Norris +75000
Kazuma Kobori +75000
Adrien Saddier +75000
Francesco Laporta +75000
Antoine Rozner +75000
Joe Dean +75000
Peter Uihlein +100000
Alejandro De Castro Piera +100000
Kota Kaneko +100000
Nevill Ruiter +100000
Matthew Southgate +100000
Baard Bjoernevik Skogen +100000
Travis Smyth +100000
Dan Bradbury +100000
Naoyuki Kataoka +100000
MJ Daffue +100000
Marcus Plunkett +100000
Cameron John +100000
Tiger Christensen +100000
Ryutaro Nagano +100000
Jeong Woo Ham +100000
Lev Grinberg +100000
Martin Couvra +100000
Jack Buchanan +100000
Joakim Lagergren +100000
Frederic Lacroix +100000
Stuart Grehan +100000
Matthew Baldwin +100000
Kazuki Higa +100000
Sam Bairstow +100000
Darren Clarke +100000
Fifa Laopakdee +100000
David Duval +100000
Padraig Harrington +100000
Mason Howell +100000
Ren Yonezawa +100000
Jiho Yang +100000
James Nicholas +100000
Michael Hollick +100000
David Howard +100000
Mateo Pulcini +100000
Henrik Stenson +100000
Tim Wiedemeyer +100000
Jack McDonald +100000
Caleb Surratt +100000
Alistair Docherty +100000
Austen Truslow +100000
Tom Sloman +100000
How to Watch | Corales Puntacana
Thursday, July 16, 2026 - (All Times Eastern Daylight)
12:30pm - 3:30pm - Puntacana Championship, Round 1 (Golf Channel)
The Open | What They’re Saying
What’s Up with Scottie? (PGATourCom)
Official Site (TheOpen)
The Open (CBS Sports)
The Open - Ranking the Top 26 in the Field (CBS Sports)
Open Radio (TheOpen)
Sports Gambling and Industry News
Expert Picks for The Open (PGATourCom)
Sleeper Picks at The Open (PGATourCom)
Scottie & Rory at The Open (ESPN)
Can England’s golfer end a 30+ year drought? (CBS Sports)
Information on the Puntacana Championship
The 2026 Corales Puntacana Championship marks the ninth playing of the PGA TOUR’s first and only tournament in the Dominican Republic. The Corales Puntacana Championship has been co-sanctioned by the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour since 2022 as part of the Strategic Alliance between both Tours. The winner will receive 300 FedExCup points and a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR, if not already exempt.
The Corales Puntacana Championship is the 31st event of the FedEx Cup Regular Season, with only four weeks remaining until the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Among the notable players in the field on the Top 70 bubble include Stephan Jaeger (No. 73), Taylor Pendrith (No. 76) and Brandt Snedeker (No. 78).
*For Information on the tournament, please visit HERE
Updates:
Saturday, July 11
Zac Blair WD - Henrik Norlander IN
Nick Watney WD (as unrestricted exemption)
Chandler Phillips WD - Charley Hoffman IN (on his own number)
Lee Hodges WD - Martin Laird IN
Henrik Norlander WD - Jonathan Byrd IN
Erik van Rooyen WD - Robert Streb IN
Sunday, July 12
Brian Campbell WD - James Hahn IN
JJ Guerra, Kyle Stanley, Sean O’Hair, Nick Thompson (receive unrestricted exemptions)
Adrien Dumont de Chassart WD - Harry Higgs IN (on his own number)
Martin Laird WD - Taylor Montgomery IN
Neal Shipley WD - Cameron Champ IN
Monday, July 13
Matti Schmid WD - Will Gordon IN
James Hahn WD - Austin Cook IN
Mark Hubbard WD - Chez Reavie IN
Emiliano Grillo WD - William McGirt IN
Tuesday, July 14
Taylor Montgomery WD - Adam Long IN
Patton Kizzire WD - Jason Dufner IN
Puntacana | What They’re Saying
Tournament Overview (PGATourCom)
Power Rankings at The Corales Puntacana (PGATourCom)
On This Day in Golf History
July 15, 1961 - Arnold Palmer won The Open Championship for the first time, shooting a (69) and (72) over the final day’s 36-holes to beat Day Rees of Wales by one shot at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. - Courtesy of Randy Walker, Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
Parting Putt
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