Preview: The Open Championship 2026 - predictions, course guide, preview, who will pick the final major of the year?

The final major of the 2026 golf season kicks off on Thursday, as Royal Birkdale hosts the 154th Open Championship.

The world's top stars will arrive at the course in Southport in competition for the Claret Jug for the first time here since 2017, after Scottie Scheffler moved within one title of a career grand slam in the last edition at Royal Portrush in 2025.

The Open Championship preview

Defending Open Champion Scottie Scheffler arrives at Royal Birkdale for the final major of the season with perhaps more doubts around his game than have existed since he broke out with four wins including The Masters in 2022.

The now four-time major champion has still recorded nine top-five finishes in 15 starts in 2026, but his only win came at the American Express in January and he is now on the back of a first missed cut since August 2022 at last week's Genesis Scottish Open.

Elsewhere at the top of the board, Rory McIlroy arrives in search of a second major of the season, a seventh of his career and a second Open Championship. He has only made 10 starts since a pair of DP World Tour appearances in January.

His only title in that time came in defending the Green Jacket at Augusta National in April, and after ties for seventh and 32nd in the other two major championships, he most recently tied for seventh spot at the Genesis Scottish Open last time out.

Two-time major champion Xander Schauffele will hope to regain the trophy he won at Royal Troon in 2024 but missed the cut in Scotland last Friday after a 51st-placed finish at the Travelers Championship.

Of all players in the world, it is hard to argue that many have put together a more stellar season than Matt Fitzpatrick, with the 2022 US Open champion having won three times alongside four other top-five finishes, three of which have come in his last four starts most recently tying for third in Scotland.

Other men in form coming into Birkdale include Chris Gotterup, who also boasts three PGA Tour wins this season, and Wyndham Clark, who has picked up the CJ CUP Byron Nelson and a second US Open trophy in June and will set out to add the Claret Jug to his growing trophy cabinet.

Tommy Fleetwood will once again carry the hopes of the home support on his return to Royal Birkdale, just a short distance from where he grew up in Southport, in search of a first major title, having finished in the top 20 of five of his last seven Open Championships and each of his last five starts including the US Open.

Other stars vying to put a first major title on their record include Gotterup, Viktor Hovland, Robert MacIntyre, Ludvig Aberg, Russell Henley, Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay.

Stories continue to rumble around the LIV Golf side of the professional game, with Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Joaquin Niemann carrying much of the hopes of the breakaway tour, while Bryson DeChambeau will hope to avoid missing all four major cuts this year having fallen short at Augusta National, Aronimink and Shinnecock Hills.

Course Guide

The 2026 Open Championship will be the first look at Royal Birkdale for many viewers, or at least the first since the 2017 edition, which was won by Jordan Spieth.

The course will play as a 7,223-yard par 70, featuring four par-3s and just two par-5s, both of which come in the final five holes.

Those par-5s are listed on the scorecard at 602 and 566 yards and could even play further depending on the wind direction.

The par-3s vary largely meanwhile, with two coming in at 220+ yards alongside the 151-yard seventh and 186-yard 12th.

Unlike some other Open Championship venues, Royal Birkdale is renowned for its towering sand dunes, leaving the fairways to run through natural valleys down the middle, providing some shelter from crosswinds while heavily and proportionately punishing wayward tee shots while leaving no blind shots.

Wispy rough and deep bunkers line many of the holes, putting a premium on players' ability to find fairways and perhaps making accuracy more important than distance off the tee, unlike many modern tour stops.

The outward nine builds steadily in difficulty with no par-5s before players head to a demanding back nine.

The par-5 14th may offer a rare genuine birdie opportunity, dependent on help or difficulty from the wind direction, but the closing stretch remains one of the more difficult in major championship golf.

A long par-3 15th is capable of playing in excess of 250 yards into the wind before the somewhat reachable par-5 17 tempts players into taking risks, particularly down the stretch on Sunday with the Claret Jug on the line.

The 18th is a formidable closing hole, coming in at 508 yards on the scorecard, with a narrow driving area framed by bunkers and the famous white Art Deco clubhouse providing one of the most iconic backdrops in golf, perfectly suiting a dramatic end to an Open Championship.

Prediction

We say: Matt Fitzpatrick

Having touched on his 2026 form above already, few players arrive at Royal Birkdale with a stronger comination of recent results, confidence and links pedigree than Matt Fitzpatrick, who is in the midst of his best PGA Tour season yet with three wins and 17 of 17 cuts made.

The 2022 US Open Champion, seeking a second major, refound form last summer and tied for fourth at the 2025 Open Championship, while his links capabilities have shone on top-five finishes in the last two Genesis Scottish Opens, most recently tying for third last week.

Royal Birkdale is unlikely to develop into a birdie fest, instead placing a premium on patience, avoiding mistakes and capitalising on limited scoring opportunities, all of which have become hallmarks of the Englishman's game since returning to his best last summer.

Having again shown his ability to cope in testing British conditions last week, putting up one of his best approach weeks yet in a season where he leads the PGA Tour in average strokes gained approach per round, we fancy Fitzpatrick to return to the major winners circle this July and beat off competition from the likes of Scheffler, McIlroy, Fleetwood and Rahm.