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Open Championship 2023 Player Guide: Profiles of the top 50 in the betting

Matt Cooper
17 July 2023
12:00 min read

Can Rory McIlroy win again at Royal Liverpool? Or might Viktor Hovland land a first major?

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Who has their eye on the final major of the year? Who's the best bet on the linksland? Who has the strongest form? Before striking your bets read Matt Cooper's guide to the leading players chasing glory at Royal Liverpool Golf Club

Profiles of the top 50 Open Championship contenders
Includes full tournament records
Sportsbook & Exchange betting options for each player

Rory McIlroy

Open record (most recent result on the right): 42-47-3-25-60-MC-1-5-4-2-MC-46-3

"I'll be okay, it's not life or death," the Northern Irishman said after not winning last year's Open at St Andrews, adding: "I'll have other chances." Will this year offer one? It's the scene of his only Open triumph, in 2014, so represents ideal bounce back territory. But he hasn't, of course, won a major since that year so it's a case of good memories versus all the near-misses since. An excellent win in last week's Scottish Open was a great confidence boost however.

Angle? If the wind doesn't blow hard (it's a possibility and it's an Achilles heel) he's reaping top 10s for fun: six in the last seven major championships, five in his last seven Open appearances and six in his last half-dozen starts.

Scottie Scheffler

Open record: 8-21

When he rocked up for his first experience of links golf in 2021, the World No. 1 said: "Everyone said you have to play the ball along the ground and I thought they were making it up, but it came really naturally to me." His first competitive links round was a 72 to leave him outside the top 100 in the Scottish Open but he rebounded with a 63 and his Open record is a little better than the raw numbers indicate because he's been in the top 10 at the end of seven of his eight rounds. He was also third last week in Scotland.

Angle? Sand trap? The bunkers are brutal at Royal Liverpool and he's never ranked top 100 for Sand Saves in a PGA Tour season.

Jon Rahm

Open record: 59-44-MC-11-3-34

jon rahm portrush 2019.jpg

After logging nine consecutive top 10s either side of New Year the Spaniard has become a boom or bust merchant with his latest nine results including victory at the Masters, second in Mexico, 10th at the US Open and four failures to crack the top 30.

Angle? There's no doubt he can play links golf - he won the Irish Open at Lahinch and Portstewart (and prepped on the Emerald Isle last week) - but his Open efforts have been stymied by at least one poor 18-hole score: he's ended three of six first rounds outside the top 70, has a 74 and a 78 on Fridays and has twice carded 75 in five final rounds.

Brooks Koepka

Open record: MC-67-10-6-39-4-6-MC

In 10 starts since the start of April the LIV star has never finished outside the top 20, starting the run with a win on the rebel circuit and highlighting it with triumph in the PGA Championship. The stretch might have been even better but for a knack, in his last five first rounds, of failing to break 70. In all those instances he improved his position on the leaderboard with every subsequent lap.

Angle? He made a bright start at Royal Liverpool in 2014, carding a 68 for third (he's 3-for-8 at sitting top three after 18 holes) but then lurched home with 77-74-74 for T67th.

Viktor Hovland

Open record: 12-4

Last year, asked about his fondness for playing by the ocean, the Norwegian said: "I live in Oklahoma and it blows every single day. Moving the ball down is not an issue." He's proved as much when winning at tropical seaside courses in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Bermuda, and has now added linksland quality to the CV. He finished T12th in his Open debut at Royal St George's and shared the 54-hole lead in last year's championship in St Andrews.

Angle? That result 12 months ago was not his only major near-miss: he was the first round co-leader at Augusta and shared the halfway lead in the PGA Championship.

Cameron Smith

Open record: MC-78-20-33-1

At first glance there was very little evidence ahead of last year's championship that the Aussie had any great affinity for the links. Five starts ahead of 2022 had reaped a best of T20th. But he was top five at halfway in the 2019 Open, top 10 with 18 holes to play in 2021 and then finished T10th in last year's Scottish Open at Renaissance. Fuelled by sensational form (he would end 2022 with five wins) he carded two 64s on the Old Course to lift the Claret Jug.

Angle? After winning LIV London two weeks ago he told the Telegraph he was not just back to 2022 levels of form but maybe playing even better than then.

Rickie Fowler

Open record: 14-5-31-MC-2-30-46-22-28-6-53

It's been a season of rejuvenation for the popular Californian who took a couple of years of diminishing returns on the chin, dug deep and has been rewarded with 15 top 20s in his 21 seasonal starts. Moreover, four of the last half dozen appearances have been top 10s including a near-miss in the US Open and victory in the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He also likes links golf and is 10-for-11 at making the cut in the Open.

Angle? He's something of a weekend mover in this championship. He's played 10 of them and has seven times carded a 68 or better in one of the rounds (six times a 67 or better).

Xander Schauffele

Open record: 20-2-41-26-15

"It's a bit of a bummer to sort of finish the week off without being in any sort of contention," the Californian said in the halting manner very typical of folk from that state after last year's T15th. A week before, having won the Scottish Open he'd said: "I don't know if it's the European blood in me but I do enjoy it here. I like thinking my way round the property differently to home."

Angle? He only managed T42nd on defence in Scotland last week but remains a top 20 machine: 18 of them in 25 majors (seven in his last seven) and eight in his last 10 strokeplay starts.

Jordan Spieth

Open record: 44-36-4-30-1-9-20-2-8

Jordan Spieth Open press.jpg

It's been a very up and down year for the American, typified by a missed cut last week in the Scottish Open on a course he said he liked at the start of the week. It was a fourth missed cut in six starts and yet he also has half a dozen top six finishes this year, too. The upside? He's never happier than when he can be creative on and around the greens. It makes his brain fizz and generates his finest golf.

Angle? He's 9-for-9 at making the cut in the Open, in six of those championships he was within three blows of the lead after 18, 36 or 54 holes. He has four top 10s in his last five championship starts.

Tommy Fleetwood

Open record: MC-MC-MC-27-12-2-33-4

A confirmed links lover, his early record in the Open was poor and a 76 to open his account on home soil at Royal Birkdale in 2017 had him looking at a fourth missed cut in a row until he turned that week, and his Open record in general, around with a strong closing 54 holes. "I love the Open," he said leaving St Andrews last year. "Hoylake's been on my mind for a while. My first Open was there, it'd be nice to round the circle."

Angle? His second and third round record since 2017 is very good: 10 rounds, all sub-72, seven in the 60s (including a 67, three 66s and a 65).

Tyrrell Hatton

Open record: MC-MC-MC-MC-5-MC-51-6-MC-11

Like his compatriot Fleetwood, he likes links golf, struggled at his early Opens and has improved since. Indeed, it's probably his best chance of major success. "If I could choose one of the four to win, it would be the Open," he said last year, adding: "Easier said than done." He's landed half a dozen top six finishes this year including second in THE PLAYERS Championship and was sixth in last week's Scottish Open.

Angle? He's 3-for-4 at breaking 70 in round four and 2-for-24 in the first three rounds which helps explain a boom or bust championship record.

Collin Morikawa

Open record: 1-MC

"It's a learning curve, but I enjoy it and I love being creative," he said of links golf in 2021. "It fits my game." He then proved it by winning the championship on his debut at Royal St George's. But was it a one off? The week before he'd been T71st in the Scottish Open and last year he missed the cut in that event and on defence of the Claret Jug, as well. And, after saying that the Scottish helped him win the Open two years ago, he missed it this year.

Angle? A three dimensional puzzle: poor links form with one standout, over 18 months without a win, and lost a play-off in his last start in Detroit.

Dustin Johnson

Open record: MC-14-2-9-32-12-49-9-54-MC-51-8-6

It's been an inconsistent year for the two-time major champion who endured an early back injury which impeded him at the Masters. A victory at LIV Tulsa perked him up, prompting good starts in the PGA Championship and US Open (top three after 18 holes) which he couldn't maintain (he finished T55th and T10th). That latter result is one of three top 10s he has ticked off ahead of arriving on the Wirral.

Angle? In the last 10 years he has a fine first round record in the majors: 36 start, 15 times he sat inside the top 10, twice with a shared lead, twice alone at the top.

Matt Fitzpatrick

Open record: 44-MC-44-MC-20-26-21

The improvement in the Englishman's results is at last part explained by a drastic turnaround in his Friday fortunes. In his first four starts he carded 76-80-73-75 in the second round and never once finished top 40. In his last three second laps he's scored 69 every time and recorded top 30s every time. His form has been patchy this year with just the one top five although that was a win in the RBC Heritage.

Angle? In 24 rounds at the Open he has only once been inside the top 10 at the end of any round and that was when tied eighth and seven back of the 54-hole lead last year.

Patrick Cantlay

Open record: 12-41-MC-8

With 23 top 30s in his last 25 starts (13 of them top 10s) he remains ultra-consistent and clearly has a superb all-round game. But he struggles to set up a major championship challenge. In fact, in 26 starts he's only twice been within six shots of the 54-hole lead. In the 2020 PGA Championship he was six back but T21st on the leaderboard and in this year's Masters five back in fourth before a 75 left him T14th.

Angle? That inability to get involved is further revealed by his first round efforts in the majors: he's gone sub-70 just twice in 26 of them (admittedly three of his Open Thursdays have reaped 70s).

Shane Lowry

Open record: 37-32-9-MC-MC-MC-MC-1-12-21

Shane Lowry at the Scottish Open 2023.jpg

Exiting the Open last year in St Andrews the 2019 champion said: "It shows you where I am that I'm p***ed off at finishing T21st. I'd have been happy five or six years ago, but not any more. I love these weeks. It's what I get out of bed in the morning for." He's finished top 25 in nine of his last 11 majors which backs up his notion that he plays them well. He's just lacked a bit of luck or edge (and this year a putter to match his long game). But two 64s in Detroit, followed by 64-65 middle rounds in last week's Scottish Open, saw him putt much better.

Angle? His first Open top 10 came at Royal Liverpool in 2014 when handed a bad draw.

Justin Thomas

Open record: 53-MC-MC-11-40-53

One way and another the Kentucky man has had his difficulties pre-cut at the Open. On his first three visits he sat top 10 after 18 holes every time but contrived the card 77-80-77 and missed the cut twice. Since then he has failed to break 71 on Thursday and found himself outside the top 40, fighting to make the cut on Friday rather than getting into contention. Little wonder he says: "For as much as I love links golf and the Open I have not played it very well in my career."

Angle? He's had pre-cut problems in recent times too: 75-75 at Memorial, 73-81 at the US Open, 76-69 in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, missed cuts all.

Cameron Young

Open record: 2

It's not entirely surprising that the New Yorker's limited experience of links golf has been so contrasting: he carded 76-77 to miss the cut in last year's Scottish Open and was then solo second in the Open a week later. Why not so surprising? Well, his major championship record includes three top 10s and four cuts, with just one effort (T32nd) not feast or famine. And then there is his record in his last 15 starts: five top 10s and eight failures to crack the top 50.

Angle? A bit of a mystery given he opted not to play the Scottish Open.

Bryson DeChambeau

Open record: MC-51-MC-33-8

Quietly did something click for him in the final round of the 2021 championship? Before then he'd played 11 Open rounds and never broken 70. Then he thrashed his way round in 65 blows and said: "I don't think I'll ever figure links out but I think I'll learn a lot from this going into next year." At St Andrews he made it four sub-70 scores in five on his way to land eighth so maybe the lesson was learned.

Angle? He's in a fine vein of form: six straight top 20s including fourth at the PGA Championship, T20th in the US Open and he was the pre-final round leader at Valderrama two starts ago.

Robert MacIntyre

Open record: 6-8-34

macintyre scottish open 2023.jpg

A winner of the Italian Open at the Ryder Cup venue last year, a neat fourth in Denmark at the start of the month and a sensational second, fuelled by a brilliant final round 64, in last week's Scottish Open. He's also been a runner-up on the links of Hillside so there's plenty of upside.

Angle? His Open record is also a little better than it looks at first glance. He was sixth at Royal Portrush, eighth at Royal St George's and admitted after his T34th on the Old Course that it's a layout he's never got to grips with: "I just can't see shots or scores here."

Hideki Matsuyama

Open record: 6-39-18-MC-14-MC-MC-68

When he finished sixth in his Open debut at Muirfield in 2013 he looked a natural for major golf and he backed that up: in a five year run starting that year he tallied seven major top 10s. He has won the Masters since then and yet that result is actually only one of two major top 10s he's recorded since the start of 2018. Form-wise he's had just one top 10 finish since January and that was at THE PLAYERS Championship in March.

Angle? His Open record has gone backwards since that bright start with just one top 60 return in his last five appearances.

Jason Day

Open record: 60-30-32-58-4-22-27-17-MC-MC

It's common for golfers to rhapsodise about their childhood Open memories. Not this Aussie though. "I didn't really watch Open TV coverage," he admitted last year, adding that his oldest Open memory was his debut in 2010. Five years after that he spent all week in the top four and missed the play-off by just one stroke but those four rounds are the only ones in his entire Open career that he's ended a lap inside the top 10. A winner in May off the back of a great run, he's lost his mojo since with three missed cuts and T45th.

Angle? He's never broken 70 in 10 championship second rounds.

Justin Rose

Open record: 4-MC-30-22-MC-12-70-13-MC-44-MC-MC-23-6-22-54-2-20-46

It remains a curiosity that Rose, who introduced himself to the world at the Open as a teenager in 1998, has added only two more top 10s since turning professional. Against that, he's made his last seven cuts in the championship, continues to tally top 25s in the majors - nine of them in his last 15 starts - and is already a winner by the ocean this year, albeit overlooking the Pacific Ocean rather than the Irish Sea.

Angle? Over half (10) of his 19 second rounds have needed 72 strokes or more (five of them 77 or worse).

Max Homa

Open record: 40-MC

It's getting increasingly difficult to believe that a decent major championship run is not going to come Homa's way just by dint of the law of averages. He is, after all, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour, one who looks entirely at home in elite company, and yet his major record so far is almost comical: 16 starts, only seven cuts made, just one finish better than T40th and that was T13th in last year's PGA Championship.

Angle? Let's look at some good news. He's 2-for-6 at going sub-70 at the Open which is a heck of an improvement on 3-for-40 in the other three majors.

Tom Kim

Open record: 47

When the Korean star arrived in Scotland last year for his links debut he admitted to being inspired by seeing Tiger Woods win the Open on TV but was, nonetheless, somewhat astonished by the reality. He told the Korean press that it was the strangest golf he had played and he was viewing the course as one big green. Royal Liverpool will be a tighter test but he was third at last year's Scottish Open and sixth last week so he's in fine nick.

Angle? He was T16th in the Masters, tied eighth in the US Open and this week should be a better fit for his excellent, but short, tee to green game.

Tony Finau

Open record: 18-27-9-3-15-28

Twelve months ago the Utah man sneaked into the weekend and then carded a final round 66 to maintain a 100% record of landing top 30s at the Open. That's the best news. In terms of his wider major championship record he landed nine top 10s in 13 starts from early 2018 to mid 2021 but has now gone 10 appearance without one. And since winning the Mexico Open in fine style in May he's played six times and has not yet added another top 20.

Angle? He's been sat tied fourth or better after 18 holes in three or his six Open starts.

Adam Scott

Open record: MC-47-MC-MC-42-34-8-27-16-MC-27-25-2-3-5-10-43-22-17-MC-46-15

adam scott sandwich.jpg

A bit of a rarity in the field having played both the 21st century Hoylake Opens and he enjoyed them, finishing eighth in 2006 and fifth in 2014. Moreover, he was bullish after the latter saying: "Look, I'm going to give myself a little bit of a break because it was such a lopsided draw this week. It was very hard to catch up." He also said: "The course is great." He's registered five top 30s - three of them top 10s - in his last five starts, albeit with a missed cut last week in Scotland.

Angle? He was top 10 all week in 2006 and only slipped outside it once nine years ago, when grinding out a second round 73 in the tougher Friday conditions.

Adrian Meronk

Open record: 42

The Pole is among the favourites to grab a Ryder Cup debut in September off the back of three wins in the last year, including at the host course in May. He also has nine top 25s in his last 11 DP World Tour starts and has been 2-under the card through a handful of holes in each of this year's three major but he is yet to maintain the pace, missing the cut in the Masters and US Open, finishing T40th at the PGA Championship.

Angle? He led strokeplay scoring in the 2013 Amateur Championship at Royal Cinque Ports and made the last four at Royal Porthcawl in 2016 but is yet to fire on the links as a pro.

Corey Conners

Open record: MC-15-28

The Canadian has admitted of the links: "I certainly didn't grow up playing golf courses like this at all. It's very different. I'm learning what it takes and hopefully filling the memory bank." He sat fourth with 18 holes to play in the 2021 Open at Royal St George's, slipping back to T15th, and added T28th last year on The Old Course. It's a weakness that, for all his excellent tee to green work, he's average around the greens and saves par less than 50% of the time.

Angle? He carded a second round 65 last week and did precisely that ahead of contending in Sandwich.

Sungjae Im

Open record: MC-81

It remains the case that the highest level golf - outside of Augusta National - seems to confound the Korean. He's 3-for-4 at recording top 20s in the Masters but has just one in 12 starts at the three travelling majors. His form has also dropped off. He won on home soil in mid-May, a result that was a seventh top 20 on the trot. But since then he has gone another seven starts without one top 20.

Angle? His links record is even worse than his major championship log book. A missed cut at Royal Portrush, two missed cuts at Renaissance (including last week) and T81st on the Old Course.

Min Woo Lee

Open record: MC-21

The giddy Aussie said leaving the Old Course last year: "I wish all events were majors. When I'm in that zone, it's pretty impressive." Last year he was T14th in the Masters, T27th in the US Open and T21st in the Open. This year he has been T18th in the PGA Championship and tied fifth in the US Open. That's five top 30s in seven starts and he was also sixth in "the fifth major" (THE PLAYER Championship) in March.

Angle? He can play link golf: he's a winner at 13th Beach in Victoria and also at The Renaissance Club in Scotland.

Joaquin Niemann

Open record: MC-59-53

The Chilean did finish T16th in last year's Scottish Open but on traditional links he's failed to light the touch paper. He missed the cut at Royal Portrush, was T59th at Royal St George's and T53rd last year on The Old Course. He's also still looking for a first major championship top 10 finish in his 19th start.

Angle? In addition to links troubles his form has stalled and he's now gone 12 starts without a top six finish.

Wyndham Clark

Open record: 76

Wyndham Clark win US Open.jpg

Not just a winner of the US Open last month, but a first-time major champion who had never finished in the top 70 at a major before then in six tries and never won on the PGA Tour. He made the cut on his Open debut last year and very nearly won his first PGA Tour title in blustery Bermuda.

Angle? He was T16th at last year's Scottish Open and T25th last week - he's sneaky by the seaside.

Alex Noren

Open record: 19-MC-MC-9-WD-46-6-17-11-MC

The Swede's first Open was 15 years ago and he has a decent record with five top 20s in 10 starts. He's also got five top three finishes, including a win at Castle Stuart, on Scottish links.

Angle? He's very boom or bust at the weekend: 12 rounds, half of them sub-70, the other half 73 or worse. Four of his last five third rounds were sub-70 but four of his six final rounds have been 74+.

Louis Oosthuizen

Open record: MC-MC-MC-1-54-19-36-2-MC-MC-28-20-3-MC

There's a sense that the South African has become a little sleepy at LIV Golf but he was second (after a play-off) in Tulsa and has two top six finishes in his last three starts. His best golf is also a fine fit for the Open, proved by victory and play-off defeat in St Andrews, and third at Royal St George's two years ago.

Angle? His first round major scores since the start of 2022 read: 76-73-77-71-76.

Patrick Reed

Open record: MC-20-12-MC-28-10-MC-47

It's two and a half years since the American tasted victory but in among some flat efforts he's come close in 2023, notably going head-to-head with Rory McIlroy in Dubai, a trio of top fours in April that included fourth at the Masters, and second last time out at LIV London.

Angle? His Thursday 66 at Troon in 2016 is an outlier - after his other seven first rounds he was sitting outside the top 40 and he's only twice broken 72.

Ryan Fox

Open record: 49-MC-39-16-67-MC

The Kiwi makes an intriguing case: a golfer who can clearly play links golf (he has top six finishes at Gullane, Ballyliffin, Dundonald Links and Portstewart, second at 13th Beach in Victoria, and won last year's Dunhill Links Championship) but, with the exception of a top 20 at Royal Portrush, he's stalled in the Open.

Angle? That T16th in the 2019 Open in Northern Ireland remains his only top 20 in 17 majors.

Sam Burns

Open record: 76-42

The Louisiana man is preparing for his 14th major championship and he'll be more irked than anyone else that T20th remains his best finish. It's an absurd state of affairs for a five-time PGA Tour winner who has defeated an elite field in this year's WGC Dell Match Play and lost in a play-off in 2021's WGC St Jude Invitational.

Angle? He closed with a 64 at last year's Open and was T19th last week in Scotland. Primed to improve his major best?

Sepp Straka

Open record: MC

The Austrian made it two wins on the PGA Tour two weeks ago when a dazzling final round of 62 saw him claim the John Deere Classic. It pushed him closer to a Ryder Cup debut and came shortly after another super Sunday (he carded 65) helped him land a first major top 10 in the PGA Championship.

Angle? He's raw on the links. He shot 71-76 and 81-72 in last year's Scottish Open and Open, then 75-73 at Yas Links this January.

Talor Gooch

Open record: 33-34

A three-time winner on LIV this year, the American was sensational when winning on the Adelaide sandbelt (he led by 10 after 36 holes). His Open experience is limited but promising. A steady debut at Sandwich included a third round 67 and last year he spent the first 36 holes inside the top 10.

Angle? This is his 11th major championship start and he has a best of T14th in last year's Masters but this might be a great chance to land another top 20.

Chris Kirk

Open record: 19-MC-MC-42

This year's Honda Classic winner (six players have won that event and the Open this century) made his Open debut - and his best effort yet in the championship - at Royal Liverpool in 2014 and he recovered well from sitting T119th after 18 holes last year in St Andrews.

Angle? He's taken to majors recently, landing two top 30s this year and he was fifth in last year's PGA Championship.

Denny McCarthy

Open record: Debut

Widely considered one of the PGA Tour's finest putters, the win has so far eluded him but he's been banging on the door since May: eighth at Quail Hollow, play-off defeat at Muirfield Village, seventh at River Highlands and sixth at Deere Run. He's also taken to the US Open (seventh last year, T20th this).

Angle? A bit of a mystery man on his Open debut because he has no experience of linksland.

Padraig Harrington

Open record: 18-5-MC-29-20-37-5-22-MC-MC-1-1-65-MC-MC-39-54-MC-20-36-MC-MC-MC-72-MC

harrington 2017 open.jpg

The Irishman has spent the last couple of years insisting that anything Phil Mickelson can do (win a major in his 50s, for example) he can do. Moreover, he's welcomed the knowledge that anything special this week will put him in Luke Donald's Ryder Cup thoughts.

Angle? A good week is a romantic story but it's also a brutal truth that since he won the Open back-to-back in 2007/08 he has a best of T20th in 13 tries.

Rasmus Hojgaard

Open record: Debut

The dramatic winner of a fourth DP World Tour title earlier this month after a long-running play-off on home soil, the Dane has played three majors with a best of T79th. He has limited links experience but hasn't look baffled by it.

Angle? As impressive as his nerve and driving were in that win two weeks ago, his caddie said he was still suffering from a rib injury and thick, wet rough could test that. He was T143rd last week in Scotland.

Russell Henley

Open record: 73-MC-20-MC-37-MC-MC-62

No less than eight of the American's last 10 starts have reaped top 20 finishes (two of them in majors) but his week will be a case study in current form versus event form because he has just one top 20 in eight Open appearances (and that by the skin of his teeth).

Angle? There are some ugly scores in his Open record. He carded 75-80 in Hoylake nine years ago and has nine totals of 75+ in 24 laps.

Victor Perez

Open record: 34

He won the 2019 Dunhill Links Championship, the 2022 Dutch Open on the inland "linksy" Bernardus and this year's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at the modern Yas Links. Against that he has just one top 20 in 11 major championship starts (when T12th in this year's PGA Championship).

Angle? Six of his 13 starts this year have been top 20s.

Branden Grace

Open record: 43-77-64-36-20-72-6-MC-51-MC

grace open 2017.jpg

It's odd that a man who has won the Dunhill Links Championship, been second in the Scottish Open on the links, whose two PGA Tour wins have been by the sea, who's made eight of 10 cuts in the Open and carded a 62 in the championship has just one finish better than T20th.

Angle? He was twice second on LIV in May but failed to break the top 20 in the two recent events.

Lucas Herbert

Open record: 51-MC-15

He won his first DP World Tour title on a very windy day in Dubai, made his PGA Tour breakthrough in blustery Bermuda and has twice landed a top four finish in the Scottish Open at Renaissance. "I'm finding my feet in the majors now," he said after last year's top 20 on the Old Course.

Angle? He's played well in wind but he did card a 79 in wind and rain when leading the Scottish Open in 2020.

Brian Harman

Open record: 26-MC-MC-MC-MC-19-6

Is the lefty a sneaky little play this week? He was T26th on Open debut at Royal Liverpool, T19th in Sandwich and sixth last year. He was also T12th last week in the Scottish Open when he flirted with the lead until impatience got the better of him late in the final round.

Angle? He briefly contended at the 2021 Masters and also in the last two US Opens.

Kurt Kitayama

Open record: MC-MC-72

The American couldn't break 70 in his first two Open appearances before opening last year's championship with a 68 whereupon he reverted to type and could only add three scores of 73. He won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in "major-like" conditions and was fourth in the PGA Championship.

Angle? He has a links weakness (although he was second in last year's Scottish Open) but is very good in wind, winning in Oman and Mauritius when it was blowing a hoolie.

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