Robert TheodorsonThe final major championship of 2025, The Open at Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland welcomes the elite golfers from across the world this weekend, July 17 – 20.
LIV Golf has completed ten tournaments thus far, with Joaquin Niemann winning an astounding four out of those ten, and superstars Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, and Patrick Reed securing their own victories throughout the season.
Though winless on the major championship circuit, LIV has been well represented by Jon Rahm, who has finished in the Top 15 at The Masters, The PGA Championship, and The U.S. Open this year as well as members of the field who almost pulled off a win themselves in Patrick Reed (3rd; The Masters), Bryson DeChambeau (T2; PGA Championship), and most recently Tyrrell Hatton & Carlos Ortiz (T4; U.S. Open).
With one final chance to bring home a major championship trophy, we examine how the invitees amongst the LIV field stack up against their PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and special invitee colleagues.
Table of Contents
- The LIV Field – The LIV Invitees to Royal Portrush
- LIV Golfer Tiers – The Field Ranked in Tiers
- The PGA Tour Field – Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?
- Since The U.S. Open: Winners and Top Talent
- All Things Considered – Final Predictions and Rationale
- The Top 10 at the End of Sunday
The Field
Dean Burmester
- Last Professional Win: LIV Miami (2024)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 13th
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 0
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: T19; 3-over
- Vegas Odds: Over 10K
- State of Play: Burmester was one of the last additions to the field from LIV via a qualifying tournament. Flirting with the Top 10 season-long standings in LIV, Burmester dominated the early part of the 2025 season with an opening T4 in Jeddah and a 2nd place finish in Hong Kong before trailing off.
John Catlin
- Last Professional Win: Asian Tour Saudi Open (2024)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 60th
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 0
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: T16; 2-over
- Vegas Odds: Over 10K
- State of Play: Despite having almost no playing time on LIV this season, Catlin stays competitive by joining on as a regular with The International Series and The Asian Tour. In 2024, Catlin shocked onlookers when he finished better than the vast majority of his LIV colleagues, capturing a T16 finish at Royal Troon, something nobody could have anticipated.
Bryson DeChambeau
- Last Professional Win: LIV Korea (2025)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 3rd
- Previous Open Winner: Yes
- Major Championships Won: 2
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: CUT; 9-over par
- Vegas Odds: +2000
- State of Play: For the first time of 2025, DeChambeau will not be the betting favourite going into a major championship. Despite his Crushers’ team success, DeChambeau has only managed one individual victory this season at Korea and bowed out early at Oakmont, a tournament where he was given an excellent chance to defend his U.S. Open title.
Sergio Garcia
- Last Professional Win: LIV Hong Kong (2025)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 5th
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 1
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: Not Invited
- Vegas Odds: Over 10K
- State of Play: A winner in 2025 and an extra podium finish at LIV Miami to boot, Sergio was looking like the runaway favourite for the 2025 LIV season before a trio of poor finishes bounced the former Masters winner out of the top three in the season-long standings. The majors have not been kind to Sergio the past couple of seasons, and even qualifying for some of them has proven to be a challenge for one of LIV’s more recognisable faces.
Tyrrell Hatton
- Last Professional Win: DP World Tour Dubai Desert Classic (2025)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 21st
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 0
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: CUT; 8-over par
- Vegas Odds: +2300
- State of Play: A last-minute meltdown at Oakmont was reminiscent of his captain’s falter on The Green Mile at Quail Hollow. On LIV, Hatton successfully recorded four straight Top 15 finishes through Weeks 6 – 9.
Lucas Herbert
- Last Professional Win: The International Series Japan (2025)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 8th
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 0
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: Not Invited
- Vegas Odds: Over 10K
- State of Play: A winner on The International Series and currently Top 10 on LIV, Herbert has what it takes to compete at a high level. With two Top 15 finishes in major championships to his name, the most recent being a T15 at the 2022 Open, Herbert may be the most intriguing of the All-Aussie Ripper trio to compete at Portrush.
Dustin Johnson
- Last Professional Win: LIV Las Vegas (2024)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 22nd
- Previous Open Winner: Yes
- Major Championships Won: 2
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: T31; 6-over par
- Vegas Odds: Over 10K
- State of Play: Johnson’s play of late has been quite good despite the lack of winning. The long drives are still there, the accuracy in his approach shots is still very good, and his putting can still surprise you. Despite being only 41 years old, DJ is playing like a few of his more senior colleagues, often running out of gas down the stretch. Sundays usually result in surrendering the leads he had built earlier during the tournament. The talent is obvious and still very much present, but the conditioning seems to be lacking.
Brooks Koepka
- Last Professional Win: LIV Greenbrier (2024)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 28th
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 5
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: T43; 8-over par
- Vegas Odds: +5500
- State of Play: The most unpredictable golfer in LIV, Koepka reminded everyone of his greatness at Oakmont on his way to an eventual T12 finish. While the LIV season hasn’t been particularly kind to the Smash captain, his chances of winning The Open increased greatly this past June. Coincidently, Koepka’s best finish at The Open, a T4, was at Royal Portrush back in 2019. Koepka is LIV’s ultimate wildcard going into Thursday, though it would surprise near no one if he pulled this off for the sixth major championship of his career.
Jason Kokrak
- Last Professional Win: PGA Tour HP Enterprise Houston Open (2021)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 40th
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 0
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: Not Invited
- Vegas Odds: Over 10K
- State of Play: Kokrak’s lone Top 10 finish at LIV Singapore has him last in points among his Smash teammates and only a few points away from being relegated out of the league.
Marc Leishman
- Last Professional Win: LIV Miami (2025)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 12th
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 0
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: Not Invited
- Vegas Odds: Over 10K
- State of Play: Making the cut at Oakmont and having won in Miami earlier this season, nobody would be surprised if Leishman’s name appears on the leaderboard at some time during this tournament. An intriguing prospect, Leishman has three Top 10 Open finishes to his credit including a runner-up in 2015 when he lost to Zach Johnson in a three-man playoff which also included Louis Oosthuizen.
Tom McKibbin
- Last Professional Win: PGA Championship (2021)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 14th
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 0
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: T66; 12-over par
- Vegas Odds: Over 10K
- State of Play: The youngest member of the LIV field going into The Open, McKibbin has proved his value to the league and Legion XIII already with several successful tournaments during his rookie campaign. McKibbin already proved last season that he can hang with more seasoned veterans in major championships. While a win would be unlikely, we could witness a finish that would signify something very special coming down the pipeline in a few years.
Phil Mickelson
- Last Professional Win: PGA Championship (2021)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 15th
- Previous Open Winner: Yes
- Major Championships Won: 6
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: T60; 11-over par
- Vegas Odds: Over 10K
- State of Play: 15th overall in the individual standings, you never know what you’re going to get from Phil. He can own a difficult course like Miami, almost win in Virginia, or finish near dead last in Korea and Dallas. Recent Opens have not been kind to Phil, his T60 last season being his best finish since 2018. Phil’s issue this season seems to stem from making one or two huge mistakes like a triple or quadruple bogey, which destroys the good work he does on the rest of the course. It’s difficult to say why this is, but if Phil can get better at getting himself out of trouble quickly and efficiently, he still has the tools to compete as evidenced by some of his great finishes on LIV this season.
Joaquin Niemann
- Last Professional Win: LIV Virginia (2025)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 1st
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 0
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: T58; 10-over par
- Vegas Odds: +4400
- State of Play: Oakmont could have, and likely should have been Niemann’s coming-out party to the world of major championship golf. A Top 10 finish at The PGA Championship earlier this year made everyone believe the Torque captain was finally ready for his first major. Bettors won’t be as high on Niemann as they were in May/June as LIV’s young superstar will need to show he can consistently compete and make Top 5/10 finishes against elite competition before he is crowned the preeminent favourite.
Louis Oosthuizen
- Last Professional Win: Sunshine Tour AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open (2023)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 27th
- Previous Open Winner: Yes
- Major Championships Won: 1
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: Not Invited
- Vegas Odds: Over 10K
- State of Play: Oosthuizen is finishing the season strong after being out of the conversation for most of 2025, having not participated in any major championships and not really being involved much from an individual or team standpoint on LIV. A former winner in 2010 at St. Andrews, Oosthuizen is several years removed from his prime, but still has the skill necessary to make a run.
Carlos Ortiz
- Last Professional Win: LIV Houston (2024)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 11th
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 0
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: Not Invited
- Vegas Odds: Over 10K
- State of Play: If you watch LIV Golf, you were cheering for Carlos Ortiz when it became apparent he was one of LIV’s last chances at winning the U.S. Open. A Top 10 player for most of the LIV season, Ortiz has been more consistent than anything, recording four Top 10 finishes, though without a win to his credit.
Jon Rahm
- Last Professional Win: LIV Chicago (2024)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 2nd
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 2
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: T7; 1-under par
- Vegas Odds: +1200
- State of Play: The oddsmakers have Rahm going into Royal Portrush at the favourite amongst the LIV field, and I agree completely that he is deserving of that recognition. As far as major championship finishes are concerned, this is Rahm’s best season since 2021, when he won the U.S. Open. Rahm’s issue has been, and continues to be, not getting off to an early start. I will repeat what I said about him at Oakmont – if Rahm finishes Friday in the Top 5, he will win. If he waits until Saturday or Sunday to make a run, someone who spent the first two rounds killing it will walk away with the trophy instead.
Patrick Reed
- Last Professional Win: LIV Dallas (2025)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 4th
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 1
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: Not Invited
- Vegas Odds: +6500
- State of Play: There’s too much at stake for Reed not to be one of the top competitors at Royal Portrush. A second major would solidify his place as one of the all-time greats, likely set up a run for number three as Reed is still relatively young (he will turn 35 in August), and give him a Ryder Cup spot he certainly deserves. The Open has traditionally been Reed’s least successful major showing, but his lone Top 10 Open finish was at Portrush in 2019.
Cam Smith
- Last Professional Win: LIV Bedminster (2023)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 16th
- Previous Open Winner: Yes
- Major Championships Won: 1
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: CUT; 12-over par
- Vegas Odds: +8000
- State of Play: The state of Smith’s play in 2025 is not something to write home about. Winless on LIV and not impressive in the majors, Smith may need to work on his game this offseason if cut at Portrush. About to turn 32 years old, Smith is still in his prime, but there’s something about his form that inspires no confidence at this point.
Henrik Stenson
- Last Professional Win: LIV Bedminster (2022)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 46th
- Previous Open Winner: Yes
- Major Championships Won: 1
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: CUT; 8-over par
- Vegas Odds: Over 10K
- State of Play: Stenson’s lone Top 15 finish on LIV earlier this season at Adelaide is the least impressive resume of his LIV colleagues competing at Portrush. In danger of being relegated out of the league, Stenson will need a very good showing to convince the powers that be to give Stenson a special exemption to stay with LIV should he falter down the stretch.
Lee Westwood
- Last Professional Win: DP World Tour Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (2020)
- Current Standing on LIV Tour: 45th
- Previous Open Winner: No
- Major Championships Won: 0
- Last Finish at The Open Royal Troon: Not Invited
- Vegas Odds: Over 10K
- State of Play: Westwood had a decent shot at winning the Senior PGA Championship earlier this year at Congressional Country Club, but a lack of consistency, especially towards the end of tournaments has killed any chances Westwood has had of winning. Like his Majesticks teammates, Westwood seems to run out of gas by Sunday and the results aren’t pretty. Westwood is a legend, especially at The Open, but like Phil Mickelson, the thought of him winning a major championship at this point is likely a pipe dream. Oddly enough, I do like him to make the cut as I think he’ll empty the tank on Thursday and Friday – and it will be a sight to see.
LIV Winners in 2025, The U.S. Open to The Open
- Patrick Reed– LIV Dallas
- Talor Gooch – LIV Andalucia *
* Talor Gooch was not invited to The Open and did not qualify through any means.
LIV Field Ranked Tiers
Tier 4 – Extremely Unlikely
Henrik Stenson – Stenson’s 2025 season is the worst amongst his LIV full-time peers going to Portrush. It is difficult to say much about Stenson’s recent career without being overly critical. Stenson’s T45 finish at LIV Andalucia is not the proper way to go into a major championship, especially one you’ve won before.
Phil Mickelson – On LIV, you never know what you’re going to get with Phil. One week he looks like he’s going to win a tournament, and even if he doesn’t is a lock for a Top 10 finish, and others he looks like one of the worst in the field. In the majors, the costly mistakes of double/triple/quadruple bogeys have sunk any hopes of winning a tournament and the lacklustre play through the major circuit has been ugly.
Jason Kokrak – Qualifying through a special International Series event, Kokrak is likely the least known member of the field and will have to fight to make the cut.
Cam Smith – Confidence in Cam Smith has dropped to an all-time low since his 2023 season. Seemingly lost at Oakmont, Smith has been decent at LIV tournaments this season but has never really been a true threat to win. The Open is what made Cam Smith a household name, but currently Smith is closer to becoming a one-hit wonder. Smith has not made a cut during a major championship since the 2024 U.S. Open. It pains me to move him to Tier 4 but everybody needs to see results out of the Ripper captain before we can take him seriously again.
Sergio Garcia – Garcia’s major play and limited time outside LIV this season has been a mess. Looking superb earlier this year, there may be an injury issue that is not being reported because Sergio’s play dropped off a cliff a few months ago with no explanation as to why. Garcia did recoup himself at LIV Andalucia where he went into the tournament the reigning individual champion, but his effort which resulted in a T10 finish did not inspire too much confidence that he can make a sudden and dramatic turnaround competing in the majors.
Louis Oosthuizen – Making it all the way to a playoff at LIV Dallas, Oosthuizen has quietly put together a couple of decent outings this season. Oosthuizen, along with Phil and Stenson, have won an Open, albeit a long time ago, and are not favored to make the cut. Louis was also particularly bad at Andalucia, with two over-par rounds and finished in the bottom 10.
John Catlin – Having nearly pulled a miracle last year at Royal Troon, Catlin’s playing time in 2025 has been severely reduced as teams have opted for other substitutes instead of securing Catlin’s services, something that was in high demand in 2024. Catlin failed to impress at The International Series Morocco with a T14 finish.
Lucas Herbert – Until back-to-back finishes in the 40’s at LIV Virginia and Dallas, Herbert looked like he had an honest shot at finishing the 2025 LIV season in 2nd or 3rd place. Herbert has been fantastic this season and I would have easily had him in Tier 3, or perhaps even 2 if not for three poor consecutive finishes before The Open.
Tier 3 – Makes The Cut, But Trails Off
Marc Leishman – Leishman’s performance at the 2022 U.S. Open proved he can hang with the best players on the world’s most difficult courses. A three-day score of 10-over par at Andalucia is not how Leishman likely wanted to go into Portrush.
Carlos Ortiz –LIV Dallas and Andalucia were tournaments to forget for Ortiz, so be aware that Carlos will not be going into Royal Portrush in anywhere near the form we saw displayed at Oakmont. On that point, Ortiz cannot be counted out immediately due wholly to his performance at Oakmont where the Torque standout proved he can tackle the world’s most difficult courses.
Dean Burmester– A surprise Top 25 finish at Royal Troon last season, Burmester is a very good golfer and we wish he would play more international golf so we could see more of him. Unfortunately, Burmester is coming off his worst performance of the season at Andalucia. Will that form stick for a second consecutive weekend, or can Burmy put a 51st finish behind him pronto?
Lee Westwood – Westwood’s inconsistency and inability to string multiple successful rounds together takes him out of the running to finally win his first major despite a grand total of six Top 10 finishes for The Open during his illustrious career. I do believe Westwood will put every ounce of energy he has into the first two rounds however, make the cut, and give us another good story to follow on Saturday and Sunday.
Dustin Johnson – DJ, like Brooks Koepka, is extremely hard to read going into a major championship. Johnson’s best major finish in recent memory was last year’s Open, so even though DJ hasn’t won that particular major yet, perhaps the European links style of play is more up his alley at this stage of his career than say a Masters or U.S. Open, both tournaments he has won in the past but performed poorly at of late.
Tier 2 – Has a Decent Chance
Bryson DeChambeau – DeChambeau’s title defence at Oakmont came to an unceremonious end on Friday evening.
The 2024 U.S. Open winner was only able to manage rounds of 73 and 77 at a tournament he was heavily favoured to win.
On LIV, DeChambeau has managed Top 10 finishes in six straight tournaments from Singapore to his hometown Dallas.
While he is certain to command the crowds and the media, I do not view DeChambeau as one of the preeminent favourites going into Royal Portrush as his finishes at The Open outside of a T8 in 2022 have been paltry to say the least
Brooks Koepka – Oakmont reminded everyone of what Brooks Koepka is capable of when he’s on his game. Koepka is on the cusp of being in Tier 1, but recent major outings other than Oakmont have left much to be desired, not to mention his play on LIV this season has left question marks as to where his game is at 75% of the time. A Top 10 finish at Portrush all but proves everyone correct about Koepka, he shows up only when he wants to, whereas being cut before the weekend signals that Oakmont was a one hit wonder for the 2025 season. It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t for Koepka.
Joaquin Niemann – LIV’s top points getter in the season-long individual points race, Niemann is a total wildcard when it comes to major championships.
After securing a career-best T8 at Quail Hollow, Joaco looked like he had finally turned a corner and was ready to compete for his first major championship.
Twin rounds of 75 at Oakmont led to Niemann exiting the U.S. Open stage-right along with Bryson, and like that, two of LIV’s young superstars were just gone.
The difference between the two of course is Bryson having two major championships to his name while Niemann is still working on shaking off the choker label.
Tier 1 – Legitimate Contender
Patrick Reed – Captain America finally broke through at LIV Dallas, winning his first LIV tournament since joining the league back in 2022.
Now in contention to finish the season in the Top 3, Reed has cemented himself as one of the best golfers anywhere in the world for the 2025 season.
While his weekend at Oakmont eventually unravelled, Reed was entertaining throughout the tournament, and paired with his 3rd place finish at The Masters earlier this year, Reed proved he can take on the world’s toughest courses.
A win at LIV Dallas, and another good finish at the ultra-difficult Club Real Valderrama has me convinced Patrick Reed can win The Open.
Tyrrell Hatton – Tyrrell Hatton was my pick to win Royal Portrush in the 2025 season preview. Despite not being able to secure a victory on LIV this season, Hatton’s form is good enough that I still believe Portrush could be his coming-out party. If LIV is to produce a major champion for 2025, that champion is likely to come from Legion XIII.
Jon Rahm – Even though his Top 10 streak/record on LIV came to an end in Dallas, Rahm is still one of the most consistent golfers in the world as evidenced by Top 15 finishes at Augusta, Quail Hollow, and Oakmont.
Rahm is the betting favourite amongst the LIV field for Portrush and rightly so. Rahmbo almost secured his first victory of the season in his native Spain, but 2023 Individual Champion Talor Gooch barely held on for the win. Had it come to a playoff, there’s no doubt that Rahm would be a winner going into Portrush.
The Competition
Top 10 in OWGR Top 10 in TUGR
- Scottie Scheffler 1. Scottie Scheffler
- Rory McIlroy 2. Jon Rahm
- Xander Schauffele 3. Bryson DeChambeau
- Justin Thomas 4. Rory McIlroy
- Russell Henley 5. Colin Morikawa
- Colin Morikawa 6. Tommy Fleetwood
- Keegan Bradley 7. Joaquin Niemann
- Sepp Straka 8. Russell Henley
- Ludvig Aberg 9. Justin Thomas
- JJ Spaun 10. Xander Schauffele
2025 PGA Tour Synopsis Since the U.S. Open
JJ Spaun’s win at Oakmont was unexpected to say the least. A relative unknown, Spaun’s major championship win was something nobody could have foreseen, and even though it was a first-time winner taking home the trophy, it was a smarter bet that it was going to be someone named Hovland, Aberg, or Ben Griffin. Big things will be expected of Spaun this week, and rightly so.
As we saw with Bryson DeChambeau, once you win the U.S. Open the media and the fans will latch on to you and almost demand that you win another major, and soon!
Tommy Fleetwood came so very close to that elusive first PGA Tour win, but lost after a misread short putt veered off to the right by a few millimetres.
It was, for all intents and purposes, a preview of the upcoming Ryder Cup – Keegan Bradley, captain of USA against one of the most successful European golfers of the past several years in Fleetwood.
The ISCO did little to impress anyone as the star players opted to travel to Scotland one week before The Open.
By Saturday evening, the Genesis Scottish Open turned into the Rory McIlroy show once again though Justin Rose, the runner-up to the 2025 Masters, had an amazing run which made me rethink my Top 10 (see below).
PGA Tour Winners in 2025: The U.S. Open to The Open
- Keegan Bradley – Travellers Championship
- Padraig Harrington – U.S. Senior Open Championship *
- Aldrich Potgieter – Rocket Classic
- Brian Campbell – John Deere Classic
- Chris Gotterup – Genesis Scottish Open
- William Mouw – ISCO Championship **
*The U.S. Senior Open Championship is part of the PGA Tour Champions (senior) league. Padraig Harrington will be playing The Open in July. Harrington has previously won The Open in 2007 & 2008.
** Mouw did not qualify for The Open, with the last invites going to Gotterup and others who participated in the Genesis Scottish Open.
From Oakmont to Royal Portrush
Keegan Bradley’s win in Connecticut sparked debate as to whether or not the Ryder Cup captain should be a playing captain.
That conversation is a testament to the form of the captain and his place on The PGA Tour this season.
A former major championship winner, Bradley is a solid bet to win and can be lumped in with the other frontrunners not named Rory and Scottie.
Both McIlroy and Scheffler opted out of both the Rocket and John Deere classics, mystifying the state of their respective forms for a good couple of weeks.
Both finished T6 behind Bradley at The Travellers Championship though neither exhibited their total dominance that viewers have become so accustomed to seeing from at least one of the two at any given time.
I hate to say there has been a drop in Rory’s game since winning at Augusta, but there has been even with the second-place finish in Scotland, especially considering how incredibly good he was right before he won the green jacket.
Despite his T2 finish at the Genesis Scottish Open, I don’t believe McIlroy will be the outright favourite despite playing a major in his native Northern Ireland.
The oddsmakers have bestowed that honour once more on Scottie Scheffler, who is seen as the safer option, and I cannot disagree there.
Chris Gotterup, the man who took out Rory in Scotland, is a name most are probably not familiar with. With two PGA Tour wins now under his belt, and a T23 finish at Oakmont to boot, we will all need to keep a closer eye on the 25-year-old up-and-comer.
All Things Considered and Final Predictions
- The decision to include or exclude Shane Lowry, the last Open winner at Royal Portrush was head-jarring. When he won, Lowry was still in his prime at 32 years old and he already had a win at Abu Dhabi that same season. 2025 has been a decent season for Lowry, and he has had a few close calls but as the season went on Lowry became less and less of a sure thing. Lowry’s decision to skip the Genesis Scottish Open while his friend Rory McIlroy returned to action and had a very successful tournament gave me even more pause. Ultimately, I decided not to go with Lowry because he just has not been the same golfer he was earlier in the year.
- Is this really Scottie Scheffler versus Rory McIlroy again? From a bettor’s perspective, yes, though I think you can throw Jon Rahm in there as well for the trifecta. Everyone thought Scottie or Bryson would walk away with the U.S. Open before JJ Spaun worked his way towards the tournament’s only under-par score and stole the trophy from the favourites and media darlings. When you look below at the predicted Top 10, you’ll notice quite a few would-be first-time major championship winners.
- Joaquin Niemann is an elite golfer, except when he isn’t. It seems as if for the past two seasons the world has been waiting for Niemann to break out and win a major championship, something he seems fully capable of doing. That coming-out party almost occurred at the 2025 PGA Championship but a poor showing at the U.S. Open seems to have turned the clock back a few months (hopefully not years) on Niemann’s eventual championship win. It was not a difficult decision to move Joaco from Tier 1 to 2 based on his performances outside LIV. Everyone wants Niemann to pull through and we know he will, eventually, but for now I think we need to be OK with Niemann not being a favourite, making the cut, and finishing in the Top 15 – 25 until a win finally comes his way.
- Dustin Johnson’s performance at the 152nd Open – not good enough for you? Watching LIV, DJ frustrates me like no other. He is an extremely likeable man (he was signing golf balls and gloves in the middle of a thunderstorm when I was marshalling LIV Virginia) and he is so good, but every time I think he can pull off a win he takes a late nosedive, basically a bizarro Jon Rahm. DJ did so again last weekend at Andalucia, a tournament he had a real shot at winning. Him and Brooks Koepka are an oddsmaker’s nightmare because there is just zero consistency between the two of them in 2025.
- How much damage did Oakmont do to the legend of Bryson DeChambeau? Before the 2025 U.S. Open there was no one hotter in golf than DeChambeau. Scottie Scheffler was winning more and in better form than anyone else, but DeChambeau commanded nearly all the attention going into Oakmont. The fact that DeChambeau had just won at LIV Korea right before Oakmont only added fuel to the fire that Bryson was destined to win his 3rd U.S. Open.
- Why not Xander Schauffele to repeat? Two wins and two Top 10 finishes in the majors last year, Schauffele versus Scheffler for best golfer in the world was a hot debate. Not nearly as successful as last season, Schauffele is still extremely capable of contending but has been unable to recapture the magic of 2024. I like Xander a lot, do not think he will win, but would not be surprised one bit if he holds the top spot for some amount of time.
The Anticipated Results for the Top 10
10. Justin Rose
9. Xander Schauffele
8. Padraig Harrington
7. Russell Henley
6. Ben Griffin
5. Patrick Reed
4. Jon Rahm
3. Scottie Scheffler
2. Rory McIlroy
1. Tyrrell Hatton
Tyrrell Hatton is projected to our winner of The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush. Already a lock for Team Europe at The Ryder Cup, a winner on The DP World Tour in 2025, and having several fine tournaments on LIV this season, it’s finally time for the veteran Hatton to break through and capture his first major championship of the season.
Betting favourites Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and John Rahm will all finish in The Top 10 with McIlroy likely making his push early while Scheffler and Rahm wait until Saturday and Sunday to threaten for a win.
We like Patrick Reed to secure another Top 10 finish at a major championship and earn his way onto the American Ryder Cup team.
Reigning champion Xander Schauffele reinserts himself into the conversation and two-time winner and senior golfer Padraig Harrington makes a surprise run to the enjoyment of everyone watching.
Live coverage of the opening round begins on Thursday from 6.30 am on Sky Sports Golf.
For comprehensive coverage – and a host of fantastic features – download The Open App for free, on iOS and Android.
You’ll be able to access live coverage on R&A TV and The Open Radio, along with the latest news, features, quizzes as well as our live blog updates.
The app will also host a dedicated Spectator Guide and course map, providing ticket holders everything they need to know before and during the Championship.
