Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Scottish Open (Rory McIlroy)
THIS WEEK: The 151st Open, Hoylake, Wirral, England, July 20-23
Course: Royal Liverpool (Par 71, 7,383 yards)
Purse: $16.5M (Winner: $3M)
Defending Champion: Cameron Smith
FedEx Cup leader: Jon Rahm
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 1:30-4 a.m./3-4 p.m. (Peacock), 4 a.m.-3 p.m. (USA); Saturday, 5-7 a.m. (USA), 7 a.m.-3 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 4-7 a.m. (USA), 7 a.m.-2 p.m. (NBC)
Twitter: @TheOpen
NOTES: This is the 13th time Royal Liverpool has played host to The Open, with McIlroy winning the most recent one in 2014. In all, 42 players in this week’s field also played in the ’14 Open. Other top-10 finishers that year included Rickie Fowler (T2), Adam Scott (T5), Charl Schwartzel (T7) and Shane Lowry (T9). The first Open held at Royal Liverpool was won by Harold Hilton in 1897. … The last player to win multiple majors in the same year was Jordan Spieth in 2015. Rahm (Masters), Koepka (PGA) and Wyndham Clark (U.S. Open) claimed the first three majors of 2023. Clark can also become the first player since Spieth to win consecutive majors (Masters, U.S. Open). … The last Englishman to win The Open on home soil was Tony Jacklin 54 years ago. … World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay, No. 5 Viktor Hovland, No. 6 Xander Schauffele and No. 8 Max Homa have combined for 25 PGA Tour titles but have yet to win a major. … Justin Thomas is currently 75th in the FedEx Cup standings with only three weeks remaining until the playoffs. Only the top 70 players will qualify for the first leg. Thomas has finished in the top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings each of the past six seasons. … Rahm has the longest active streak of cuts made at majors (16), while Scott has the longest active streak of starts in majors (88).
BEST BETS: McIlroy (+700 at BetMGM) has 19 top-10s in majors since his most recent major title at the 2014 PGA Championship, the most of any player during that span. His win last week was McIlroy’s sixth consecutive top-10 finish. … Scottie Scheffler (+750) has finished T12 or bettering 18 consecutive starts, including a win at The Players. He’s the only player in the field with top-10s in each of the year’s first three majors. … Rahm (+1200) has four wins this season, including the Masters, and can become the first player to win five times in a season since Justin Thomas in 2016-17. … Cameron Smith (+1600) is the defending champion and finished fourth at the U.S. Open last month before winning the most recent LIV Golf event in London. … Brooks Koepka (+2000) finished second at the Masters before winning the PGA for the third time. He tied for 17th at the U.S. Open. … Fowler (+2200) broke a four-year winless streak two events ago and tied for second at the ’14 Open at Royal Liverpool. He has 13 career top-10s but no wins in majors.
THIS WEEK: Barracuda Championship, July 20-23
Course: Tahoe Mountain Club, Old Greenwood (Par 71, 7,480 yards)
Purse: $3.8M (Winner: $684,000)
Defending Champion: Chez Reavie
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Sunday, 5-8 p.m. ET (All times Golf Channel)
Twitter: @PGATour
NOTES: The event will use the Modified Stableford scoring system, which allocates points based on the number of strokes taken on each hole. Albatross is worth +8, an Eagle +5, a Birdie +2 and a Par is worth no points. A Bogey is -1 points while a double bogey or worse is -3. … Six of the past seven winners of the event were also first-time winners on the PGA Tour.
NEXT WEEK: 3M Open, Blaine, Minn., July 27-30
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Dana Open (Linn Grant)
THIS WEEK: Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, Midland, Mich., July 19-22
Course: Midland Country Club (Par 70, 6,277 yards)
Purse: $2.7M (Winner: 656,230; $328,115 each)
Defending Champions: Jennifer Kupcho, Lizette Salas
Race to the CME Globe leader: Ruoning Yin
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV/Streaming: Wednesday, 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel, Peacock, NBC Digital streaming); Thursday, 12-3 p.m. (GC, Peacock, NBC Digital streaming); Friday, 1-3 p.m. (GC, Peacock, NBC Digital streaming), 3-4 p.m. (Peacock, NBC Digital streaming), 10 p.m.-12 a.m. (GC – Tape Delay); Saturday, 3-4 p.m. (NBC Digital Streaming), 4-6 p.m. (CBS, Paramount+)
Twitter: @DowGLBI
NOTES: The two-player team event is comprised of a 72-hole, stroke-play format. The first and third rounds will be played in foursomes (alternate shot), and the second and final rounds will be a fourball (best-ball) format. After 36 holes, the field will be cut to the lowest 35 teams and ties. If there is a tie at the end of 72 holes, the champion team will be decided by a hole-by-hole playoff in foursomes format.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Evian Championship, Evian-les-Bains, France, July 27-30
Champions Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Kaulig Companies Championship (Steve Stricker)
THIS WEEK: OFF.
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Steve Stricker
NEXT TOURNAMENT: The Senior open, Bridgend, Wales, July 27-30
LIV Golf League
LAST TOURNAMENT: London, Hertfordshire (Individual: Cam Smith; Team: 4Aces)
THIS WEEK: OFF.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, W.V., Aug. 4-6
–Field Level Media