2026 Open Championship: 10 major storylines to watch at Royal Birkdale

The fourth and final major championship in men’s professional golf begins this week with the Open Championship. Royal Birkdale Golf Club in the United Kingdom is the site for this year’s 154^th playing of the Open Championship.

Last year, Scottie Scheffler claimed the Claret Jug by four shots at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. That helped him claim his third different major trophy.

As the preparation begins for the final major of 2026, the players are putting together a game plan on how to endure 72 holes of links golf to become the Champion Golfer of the Year.  

Here are 10 storylines to watch for this year’s 2026 Open Championship.

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Is Scottie Scheffler struggling heading into the Open Championship?

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Scottie Scheffler is trying to become the first golfer to win back-to-back Claret Jugs since Padraig Harrington in 2007-08. In those two years, Harrington won at Carnoustie and Royal Birkdale. For the reigning Champion Golfer of the Year, Scheffler has stumbled a bit. After losing in the playoff at the Travelers Championship, Scheffler missed the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open last week. It marked a stretch of 78 made cuts on the PGA Tour. The last time he had missed a cut was the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Related: Open Championship 2025: 10 Winners and Losers, Including Scottie Scheffler Hoisting the Claret Jug

Rory McIlroy looks to continue Open Championship momentum

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Rory McIlroy enters this week coming off a top 10 finish last week at the Renaissance Club. He played well Sunday but knows there is another benchmark to reach if he wants to win again. McIlroy last hoisted the Claret Jug 12 years ago when he won at Royal Liverpool by two strokes. When the Open was last held at Royal Birkdale nine years ago, McIlroy finished tied for fourth. A victory for McIlroy would give him his second major win of 2026 and also be one U.S. Open win shy of accomplishing a second career Grand Slam.

Also read: 2026 U.S. Open 10 Winners and Losers, Including Wyndham Clark

Tommy Fleetwood looking to ride home environment

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Growing up in England has given Tommy Fleetwood extra support when this major rolls along every year. However, unlike McIlroy and Scheffler, Fleetwood is still figuring out how to hoist a major championship trophy. In 44 major tournaments, he has come close, including being the runner-up in 2019 at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Last year, Fleetwood tied for 16th. Now back at Royal Birkdale, where he tied for 12th nine years ago, Fleetwood will try to ride the home crowd to reach the promised land.

“For anybody who was lucky enough to grow up in Southport, it’s such a golfing town and the Open at Birkdale holds such a special place in the area,” Fleetwood said during his Monday press conference. “It’s a dream to be competing in an Open here. It’s very rare to have an opportunity to play a tournament, let alone the Open, in the town you grew up.”

Course history

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Royal Birkdale is hosting the Open Championship for the 11th time. The Southport, England course was established in 1889 and redesigned in 1922. The 11 Open Championships are tied with Royal Lytham and St. Annes for the sixth-most times a course has hosted the Open. Since Royal Birkdale hosted the 1954 Open Championship, only St. Andrews has hosted more Open Championships. This year marks the first time Royal Birkdale is the host since 2017, when Jordan Spieth hoisted the Claret Jug. Spieth is one of six Americans to win the Open at Royal Birkdale, including Arnold Palmer in 1961, Lee Trevino in 1971 – which was the 100th Open Championship – and Tom Watson in 1983.

Course Conditions

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This week, the biggest factor will be the wind because whatever direction the wind is blowing dictates the length of the course. Add that into how firm the course is, some of the par fours can play really short, especially when the wind is helping. In addition, the weather will be a big story as well. Nine years ago, rain dominated the week. This week, there might not be a single raindrop this week, making the course firm and fast.

Two holes that have changed since 2017 are the fifth and the 15^th. Both holes have been redesigned. The fifth hole, a short par-4 at 321 yards, is now a blind tee shot, compared to nine years ago when the green was visible off the tee. The 15^th is a long par-3 at 241 yards and was where the 14^th was previously.

FedEx Cup watch

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With the final major tournament underway this week, it means that the PGA Tour is about to wrap up. After this week, there are only three weeks left before the FedEx Cup Playoffs. For some, the Open Championship is their final tuneup before the playoffs, while others are still playing their way in. Only the top 70 players from the FedEx Cup standings make the first leg of the playoffs. Some of the notable players on the outside of the top 70 include Keegan Bradley, Brian Harman, Tony Finau and Brooks Koepka.

The Open Championship winner not only receives the Claret Jug, but also 750 points in the standings. A win for any one of those four players not only puts them in playoff contention but also into the top 30, which guarantees a spot in the third and final event of the playoffs, the Tour Championship.  

Notable Groups

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Here is a look at when the notable groups tee off in the first two rounds of the Open Championship. All times ET.

• 2:19 a.m. (Thu.) | 7:25 a.m. (Fri): Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler, Alex Fitzpatrick
• 3:25 a.m. | 9:31 a.m.: Ben Griffin, Hideki Matsuyama, Min Woo Lee
• 3:36 a.m. | 9:42 a.m.: Russell Henley, Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland
• 3:47 a.m. | 9:53 a.m.: Justin Thomas, Alex Noren, Jason Day
• 3:58 a.m. | 10:04 a.m.: Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson DeChambeau
• 4:09 a.m. | 10:15 a.m.: Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm
• 9:31 a.m. | 4:25 a.m.: Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns, Adam Scott
• 9:42 a.m. | 4:36 a.m.: Collin Morikawa, JJ Spaun, Nicolai Hojgaard
• 9:53 a.m. | 4:37 a.m.: Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Brooks Koepka
• 10:04 a.m. | 4:58 a.m.: Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Aberg
• 10:15 a.m. | 5:09 a.m.: Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick

How to Watch the 2026 Open Championship

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Here is the Broadcast information to watch the Open Championship. (All times ET)

• Thursday: 1:30 a.m.-4:00 a.m. (Peacock), 4:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (USA Sports)
• Friday: 1:30 a.m.-4:00 a.m. (Peacock), 4:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (USA Sports)
• Saturday: 5:00 a.m.-7:00 a.m. (USA Sports), 7:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)
• Sunday: 4:00 a.m.-7:00 a.m. (USA Sports), 7:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)

My pick to hoist the Claret Jug

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I am taking Viktor Hovland to win the Open Championship slightly over Matt Fitzpatrick. Hovland is coming off a T13 last week at the Genesis Scottish Open. Before that, he took down Scheffler in a playoff at the Travelers Championship. While also placing third at the RBC Canadian Open, the Norwegian takes advantage of the crowd. With Norway’s success in the FIFA Men’s World Cup reaching the quarterfinals, the Norwegians have found Hovland also competing, cheering him on, including doing the row. As long as that support is there for Hovland, he has a big chance to hoist the Claret Jug.  

When is the next Open Championship?

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Next year’s Open Championship will return to the holy grail at St. Andrews for the 155^th Open Championship. St. Andrews will host the Open for the 31st time in 2027, five years since it last hosted in 2022. The Open Championship returns to Royal Lytham and St. Annes in 2028. The last time Royal Lytham and St. Annes hosted an Open Championship was in 2012 when Ernie Els hoisted the Claret Jug. It also comes a little more than a century after amateur legend Bobby Jones won at Royal Lytham and St. Annes in 1926.

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By Breven Honda

Breven Honda received his bachelor’s in journalism from San Diego State in May 2021. During his time at SDSU, ... More about Breven Honda