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2026 Open Championship Preview: Scheffler Defends the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale
Published July 2026 | Royal Birkdale Golf Club | July 16–19, 2026
The 154th Open Championship brings golf's oldest major to Royal Birkdale for the 11th time — and it arrives with the final chapter of a wild 2026 major season still unwritten. Rory McIlroy went back-to-back at the Masters, Aaron Rai became the first English winner of the PGA Championship since 1919, and Wyndham Clark claimed his second U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Now Scottie Scheffler returns to links golf to defend the Claret Jug he won at Royal Portrush in 2025.
Birkdale's champions list reads like a history of golf itself: Thomson, Palmer, Trevino, Miller, Watson, O'Meara, Harrington, Spieth. Someone adds their name to it on July 19.
The Key Storylines
1. Can Scheffler Defend the Claret Jug?
Scottie Scheffler won the 2025 Open at Royal Portrush at 17-under 267 for his fourth major. The last man to successfully defend the Claret Jug was Padraig Harrington in 2008 — and he did it at Royal Birkdale. History rhymes: Scheffler attempts the same feat on the same links.
2. McIlroy's Chase for Major No. 7
After winning consecutive Masters titles (2025, 2026), Rory McIlroy is playing the best golf of his late career. His lone Open title came in 2014 at Royal Liverpool — another English links. A second Claret Jug would be his 7th major, moving him past Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Gene Sarazen and Harry Vardon's American-major haul on the all-time list conversation.
3. An English Open, an English Champion?
Aaron Rai's breakthrough at the PGA Championship made him the first English major champion since Danny Willett (2016 Masters) and ended a 107-year English drought at the PGA. No Englishman has won The Open on home soil since Tony Jacklin in 1969. Rai, Tommy Fleetwood (a Southport native who grew up minutes from Birkdale), Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton all carry that hope into Merseyside.
4. Spieth Returns to the Scene
Jordan Spieth's 2017 Birkdale triumph — the bogey-from-the-driving-range escape on 13, then birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie to run down Matt Kuchar — remains one of the great closing stretches in Open history. He returns to the course where he won his third major.
Royal Birkdale's Open Champions
| Year | Champion |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Jordan Spieth |
| 2008 | Padraig Harrington |
| 1998 | Mark O'Meara |
| 1991 | Ian Baker-Finch |
| 1983 | Tom Watson |
| 1976 | Johnny Miller |
| 1971 | Lee Trevino |
| 1965 | Peter Thomson |
| 1961 | Arnold Palmer |
| 1954 | Peter Thomson |
Top Contenders
- Scottie Scheffler — Defending champion, World No. 1, four majors and counting
- Rory McIlroy — Back-to-back Masters champion, 2014 Open winner, chasing major No. 7
- Tommy Fleetwood — Southport local, grew up on these links, runner-up at the 2017 US Open
- Jordan Spieth — 2017 champion at this very course
- Aaron Rai — 2026 PGA champion, precision game built for firm links fairways
- Wyndham Clark — 2026 US Open champion, arrives with the season's best form
- Xander Schauffele — 2024 Open champion, elite in wind
2026 Open Fast Facts
- Dates: July 16–19, 2026 (practice rounds July 12–15)
- Venue: Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Merseyside, England
- Edition: 154th Open Championship; 11th at Royal Birkdale
- Field: 156 players
- Defending champion: Scottie Scheffler (2025, Royal Portrush, 267/−17)
- Last Birkdale champion: Jordan Spieth (2017, 268/−12)