It looks as if solely yesterday that the very best golfers within the recreation had been battling for a inexperienced jacket on the Masters Match, the season’s first main.
With mid-July right here, nonetheless, the stage is about for the ultimate main, the British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Membership in Hoylake, England, which begins on Thursday.
It will likely be fascinating to see if Wyndham Clark, who was a shock winner in the US Open in June, can again it up on the British Open — and whether or not the world No. 1, Scottie Scheffler, whose title all the time appears to be on the leaderboard, will make sufficient putts to win his second main after taking the Masters final 12 months.
Listed here are 5 different gamers to look at this week.
Brooks Koepka
Nobody has been extra spectacular within the majors this 12 months than Koepka. He tied for second on the Masters and received the P.G.A. Championship.
At 33, Koepka, with 5 main titles, remains to be within the prime of his profession. With yet another main, he’d be a part of such greats as Lee Trevino, Nick Faldo and Phil Mickelson with six. Koepka mentioned his objective was to achieve double figures in majors, and it’s not out of the query.
“I feel typically majors are the simplest to win,” he as soon as mentioned. “Half the individuals shoot themselves out of it, and mentally I do know I can beat most of them.”
Koepka, who signed with the Saudi-financed LIV Golf tour in 2022, is wholesome once more. As knee and hip accidents took their toll within the final couple of years, his recreation suffered as did his confidence.
Rory McIlroy
With the arrival of every main championship, there’s the identical query for McIlroy, 34: Will he win his fifth title? He has been caught on 4 since he captured the 2014 P.G.A. Championship.
He virtually got here via at the US Open this 12 months however didn’t make a birdie on No. 8, the susceptible par 5, and bogeyed No. 14, one other par 5, to complete second by a stroke.
McIlroy, who birdied the final two holes to win final week’s Genesis Scottish Open, nonetheless has time. Mickelson and Ben Hogan didn’t decide up their first main till they had been of their early 30s. However, McIlroy, ranked No. 2, can’t maintain letting these alternatives slip away. There are solely so many.
He has one massive factor going for him this week. It was on the identical course in 2014 that he captured his lone British Open, profitable by two over Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler.
Justin Rose
Time, nonetheless, is beginning to develop into an element for Rose, who will flip 43 on the finish of the month, in his pursuit of a second main. His first was the 2013 U.S. Open. Since 2000, solely Tiger Woods and Mickelson have received majors after their forty third birthday.
Rose, of England, has proven this 12 months he nonetheless has loads of recreation. In February, he received the AT&T Pebble Seaside Professional-Am due to a 65 and 66 in his closing two rounds. He tied for sixth on the Gamers Championship, tied for ninth on the P.G.A. Championship and got here in eighth on the RBC Canadian Open.
It’s exhausting to consider, however 1 / 4 century has handed since, as a 17-year-old newbie, Rose holed out on the 72nd gap from 50 yards away to tie for fourth within the 1998 British Open. “It was one thing,” he mentioned, “that was manner past something I might have ever imagined or skilled.”
Cameron Smith
Hoping to defend his title is Smith of Australia, who hit a final-round 64 final 12 months to win by a stroke over Cameron Younger. McIlroy completed third, two pictures again. Smith, who made eight birdies, didn’t appear to overlook a putt within the closing spherical. Most memorable was the save he made on No. 17, the Highway Gap, knocking in a 10-footer after an beautiful third shot that he navigated across the bunker.
“I knew if I might get it someplace in there,” mentioned Smith, ranked No. 7, “that I’d be capable of give it a fairly good run.”
Smith, 29, who received a latest LIV Tour occasion in London, tied for thirty fourth on the Masters, however tied for ninth on the P.G.A. and got here in fourth on the U.S. Open, closing with a three-under 67. Except his putter cools off, he needs to be within the hunt.
Collin Morikawa
Nonetheless solely 26, Morikawa, a two-time main champion, may need discovered one thing to show his season round. Morikawa, ranked No. 19, closed with a 64 just a few weeks in the past on the Rocket Mortgage Basic, dropping in a playoff to Fowler. It was his first prime 10 end because the Masters, most stunning for a participant of his means.
His first main got here within the 2020 P.G.A. Championship. Morikawa, who shot a final-round 64, made a memorable eagle on No. 16 after reaching the inexperienced along with his tee shot. In 2021, he received the British Open by two pictures over Jordan Spieth.
Morikawa hasn’t received since, nonetheless, and it’s attending to him.
“I imply irritating, irritating’s a phrase I can use,” he mentioned in June.
“It’s been some time, however that doesn’t imply I don’t know ” win, he mentioned. “It’s nonetheless there.”