The Open 2026 storyline to follow: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Bryson DeChambeau and more | golf news

It’s become standard practice for Scotty Scheffler and Rory McIlroy to be pre-tournament favorites at a major in recent seasons, but both are the world’s top two majors at The Open with questions about their games.

Scheffler claimed a four-shot victory at Royal Portrush 12 months ago and is now bidding to become the first back-to-back winner of The Open since Padraig Harrington, despite missing the cut for the first time at the Genesis Scottish Open since July 2022.

A shock early exit allowed Scheffler to arrive early at Royal Birkdale, a course he had never played before, with the world number one success he had enjoyed the same amount of success in the previous four years.

Scheffler has had four runner-up finishes since his last win at The American Express in January and remains a dominant force from tee to green, despite being outside the top 90 in the PGA Tour’s ‘proximity to the hole’ statistic.

He insisted he didn’t think he ‘played that badly’ during his missed cut at The Renaissance Club but admitted he was ‘not hitting it very close’ during a second-round 72, with another week of links golf in need of improvement in approach play.

While the same can be said of McIlroy, who sits outside the top 110 in PGA Tour statistics for holes-in-one and teetering from the rough, the six-time major champion admitted he had identified a problem in his game to address ahead of Royal Birkdale.

McIlroy diagnosed himself as ‘very bad at golf’ after a poor approach shot on the final day in Scotland, where a six-under 64 took him into the top five and offered his best finish since holding off Scheffler to retain The Masters in April.

“At least I know what I’m doing,” said McIlroy, who has struggled with ‘left misses’ at various points this year. “It’s a matter of trying to make amends. Of course there was some good, but there was some bad. I have to work a little bit.”

After McIlroy overcame similar issues mid-tournament at Augusta National earlier this year to win the green jacket again, the 2014 champion golfer can still compete this week in a tournament where he has had six top-seven finishes in nine starts since that victory.

Scheffler remains in the same position, finishing outside the top-10 in majors just six times in the past six seasons and now looking for a fifth major win in as many years. Even without their full A-games, both he and McIlroy will hope to see their names high on that iconic yellow leaderboard on Sunday evening.

Another American winner on UK soil?

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see an American named Champion Golfer of the Year again this year, even if it isn’t Scheffler, as four of the previous five winners have come from the United States and have shown signs of plenty of form in recent months.

Chris Gutterup finished third in his Open debut last year and is already a three-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, while Russell Henley – in the world’s top five after winning the Charles Schwab Challenge – has five top-10s in his last nine major starts.

Wyndham Clark rebounded from an opening-round 76 to finish tied-fourth last year and has since won the US Open, one of two titles in 2026, leading many to tip him to follow Xander Schaeffel and Scheffler to their second major wins of the season at The Open.

There’s also an argument for world No.3 Cameron Young – a past Open runner-up and with two PGA Tour wins to his name this season, Colin Morikawa is another popular pick and previous winner of the Claret Jug.

Don’t forget Brian Harman, who was last held on Merseyside in 2023 and is a winner of The Open with three top-10s in the last four years at the event. With more than a third of the field and 11 of the world’s top 20 from America, expect plenty of challenging viewing this week.

Can DeChambeau avoid the ‘Bryson Slam’ of Miss Cut?

When Bryson DeChambeau bounced back from an opening round 78 to a backdoor top-10 finish at The Open last year, few could have predicted the spectacular slump that would follow.

DeChambeau needs to go into the weekend to avoid the ‘Grand Slam’ of big missed cuts in 2026, with the Masters, PGA Championship and US Open bumped early.

The American’s form will be scrutinized again as questions continue over LIV Golf’s long-term future, with the two-time US Open champion already admitting to putting extra pressure on himself to get to the majors earlier this year.

DeChambeau last missed the cut here in 2017, and his record at The Open is worse than at any other major, the 32-year-old has struggled with swing issues at various points this season.

“The only good he’s played in an Open Championship in recent years was last year, and it was the last three rounds when the wind died,” said former PGA Tour player Johnson Wagner. “He’s not built for the Open Championship.

“I’d say he has a much better chance of missing the cut than even just making the cut.”

Can Fleetwood end England’s long wait for the Open?

As Thomas Tuchel’s England football team look to end their 60-year wait for World Cup glory, England’s golfers look to break their own drought and make their third different champion golfer from the same period.

Although the island of Ireland has brought home five Claret Jugs in the past 20 years, including Padraig Harrington at Royal Birkdale in 2008, no English Open has been won since Sir Nick Faldo claimed a third Claret Jug in 1992.

Few will be more popular this week than hometown hero Tommy Fleetwood, who has a huge mural on the wall at Southport and Birkdale Sports Club and is claiming his first major on the course he played hide and seek with his father as a child.

Fleetwood failed to contend last time here in 2017 but has been in good form, finishing no worse than 14th in his last five global starts and delivering a solid weekend at the Genesis Scottish Open.

Matt Fitzpatrick has won three times on the PGA Tour this season and also competed at the Renaissance Club over the weekend, while Justin Rose is eyeing a fairy-tale major breakthrough in 1998 after finishing tied-fourth as a junior pro.

Tyrrell Hatton is another regular major contender who won at LIV Golf last month, while Aaron Rye has already ended an English majors drought by becoming the first in more than a century to win the PGA Championship.

England’s victory over Argentina on Wednesday evening will raise the possibility that the R&A will slightly adjust the start time of their final round, to avoid a clash with the World Cup final, as the record-breaking crowd at Royal Birkdale will be rooting for English success in both events.

“World Cup fever is definitely brewing at a serious height at the moment, and the English in particular are getting very excited about their chances now,” former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley said in a media call ahead of The Open.

“As great as golf is, as great as The Open is, competing with a World Cup final – with England in it – is probably not going to happen. I think if you put an English player even in contention going into Sunday, I think it would resonate very strongly.”

When is the Open live on Sky Sports?

Sky Sports is once again the exclusive home of The Open in the UK and Ireland, with over 75 hours of live coverage across seven days of tournament week at Royal Birkdale.

Live coverage for each of the three practice days begins at 6.30am on Thursday on Sky Sports Golf before wall-to-wall action kicks off from the year’s final men’s major.

Sky Sports+ or The Sky Sports appwith extended coverage then beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. on Sunday.