The Open Championship returns to Royal Birkdale; FedExCup points at stake in Puntacana
The 154th Open Championship is set to begin on Thursday, July 16, at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. This marks the tournament’s return to Royal Birkdale for the first time since 2017, and it will be the 11th time the course has hosted the event. Concurrently, the Corales Puntacana Championship is also scheduled from July 16-19 in the Dominican Republic, where critical FedExCup points are available as the regular season approaches its conclusion.
Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion of The Open Championship. He is attempting to become the first player to successfully defend his title since Padraig Harrington in 2008. Other past champions in the field include Xander Schauffele (2024), Collin Morikawa (2021), Shane Lowry (2019), and Rory McIlroy (2014). Players like Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood are aiming for their first Open Championship title.
The Open Championship Field and Notables
The field for The Open Championship includes all players ranked in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking and each of the top 30 in the FedExCup standings. There are 41 players competing this week who also participated in the 2017 event at Royal Birkdale. An American player has won each of the past three Open Championships, with Scheffler, Schauffele, and Brian Harman (2023) securing victories. Each of the past 12 champions won the event for the first time.
Tom Kim, who recently won on the PGA Tour, is looking to become the first player since Rory McIlroy in 2014 to win a major the week after a PGA Tour victory. Adam Scott is making his 101st consecutive major start, a streak that began at the 2001 Open Championship. Justin Rose, who finished fourth as an amateur at Royal Birkdale in 1998, has recorded strong finishes in the year’s first three majors.
Royal Birkdale is known for its challenging conditions, with potential for wind, rain, and fog from the English coastline. The course features pot bunkers, natural gorse, fescue, and firm runouts near the greens, requiring players to maintain accuracy off the tee and avoid bunkers on approach shots.
Puntacana Championship and Other Tours
The Corales Puntacana Championship is the ninth iteration of the PGA Tour‘s event in the Dominican Republic. This tournament has been co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and DP World Tour since 2022 and was moved to July this year. The winner of this event will receive 300 FedExCup points and a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour if not already exempt.
Garrick Higgo is the defending champion of the Corales Puntacana Championship, having won by a single shot last year. Joel Dahmen was one of five runners-up in that event, after leading for the first three rounds. The next PGA Tour event will be the 3M Open, scheduled for July 23-26 in Blaine, Minnesota.
Other golf tours are currently off this week. The LPGA Tour‘s next event is the Women’s Scottish Open from July 23-26. LIV Golf‘s next event is the LIV Golf United Kingdom, also from July 23-26. The PGA Tour Champions will have their next tournament, the Senior Open, from July 23-26 in Auchterarder, Scotland.
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Source: thesportsanimal.com
