Open Championship 2025: Rating the highest 25 gamers

PORTRUSH, Northern Eire — The ultimate main championship of the yr has arrived, and if the 2019 Open Championship is any indication, Royal Portrush is as soon as once more set to supply the right canvas for an epic 4 rounds of golf to find out the champion golfer of the yr.

This yr’s majors have already given us compelling outcomes as world No. 2 Rory McIlroy accomplished the profession grand slam on the Masters, and the highest participant on the earth, Scottie Scheffler, added to his main whole by profitable the PGA Championship. Then, journeyman J.J. Spaun shocked the golf world final month when he outlasted each participant within the subject and conquered Oakmont for his main victory in the united statesOpen.

All three are within the Open this week in addition to the remainder of the highest gamers on the earth who will look to play their method into the story of this main season.

This is a have a look at the 25 gamers almost definitely to be elevating the Claret Jug come Sunday.

1. Scottie Scheffler

There’s by no means a lot to say about Scheffler earlier than any of those majors any extra than simply to at all times body any prediction with the caveat that he may merely overpower the remainder of the sphere in a method solely he can. However what’s extra intriguing is seeing the three-time main champion make his method abroad and attempt to translate what makes him excel stateside to a vastly totally different type of golf.

On the Scottish Open this week, Scheffler completed tied for eighth and his document at Open Championships to this point has been, comparatively talking, probably the most combined of any of the opposite majors. In 4 begins, Scheffler’s finest end is a tie for seventh ultimately yr’s Open (he completed tied for eighth in his Open debut in 2021) and he has two finishes simply outdoors the highest 20 in between. When you wanted a reminder of how good he’s, since 2021 (the primary yr he performed all 4 majors) that is the one main during which Scheffler has multiple end outdoors of the highest 20 in 19 begins.

So, sure — spoiler alert — it is protected to say the most effective participant on the earth might be going to contend this week.

2. Jon Rahm

Maybe nobody has been slowly however certainly trending in the proper route over the course of this yr greater than Rahm. Positive, there are the sheer variety of top-10 LIV finishes he has accrued, however extra notably is the way in which he has carried out on the yr’s largest occasions. Since final yr’s Open Championship at Royal Troon the place he quietly completed in a tie for seventh, Rahm has discovered his recreation.

On the Masters, he completed 14th and adopted up that efficiency with heading into the again 9 at Quail Hole with an actual likelihood to win the PGA Championship. The Spaniard could not catch Scheffler, however the way in which he battled there and at Oakmont to complete tied for seventh felt quintessential Rahm. No person will get the aggressive juices flowing greater than him, and given the place he already occupies in European golf historical past, it feels as if he ought to have a Claret Jug on his résumé. The best way Rahm has been taking part in just lately, Portrush ought to arrange effectively to present him an opportunity to just do that.

3. Rory McIlroy

Properly, right here we’re once more. The Open has returned to McIlroy’s residence nation and he ought to — emphasis on ought to — be within the combine to win his sixth main championship. In 2019, that was additionally the sense and McIlroy proceeded to hit his first tee shot of the match out of bounds and missed the lower. It was an anticlimactic conclusion to a extremely anticipated week.

Quite a bit has modified since — McIlroy has gained a inexperienced jacket and is now a profession grand slam winner. He has additionally underperformed since that historic win in April. Furthermore, he has spoken at size about struggling to seek out motivation whereas additionally acknowledging that there’s something about this particular match being in Northern Eire that ought to spark one thing in him. Maybe that spark got here every week early, too. On the Scottish Open this previous week, McIlroy performed a few of his finest golf for the reason that Masters, posting rounds of 68-65-66-68 to complete tied for second.

4. Bryson DeChambeau

In the identical method that there was a fascination with how DeChambeau strategizes and assaults Augusta Nationwide on a year-to-year foundation, I am at all times fascinated by how his recreation interprets — or would not — to hyperlinks golf. In seven appearances, DeChambeau has just one top-10 end (Royal Liverpool in 2022) and has missed the lower 3 times, together with final yr at Royal Troon.

Something is on the desk this week for the two-time U.S. Open winner. You would inform me DeChambeau will by some means discover his strategy recreation and journey his brief recreation to a commanding win at Portrush and I might imagine it. You would additionally inform me he struggles to maintain it within the fairway below powerful situations and misses the lower. This type of recreation would not precisely match DeChambeau, however watching him attempt to crack the code is well worth the value of admission.

5. Xander Schauffele

The defending champion is barely right here, at No. 5, as a result of he has had a comparatively quiet yr since profitable two majors final yr. After coping with a rib harm initially of the yr, Schauffele took a while off after which took time to get again into kind. He has just one top-10 end this season and his strategy recreation (prime 10 in strokes gained on tour) has buoyed what has been an uncharacteristically unhealthy yr for his driver, brief recreation and placing.

Certainly one of Schauffele’s finest qualities, his total steadiness, is what allowed him to come back from behind final yr at Troon. This week in all probability would require loads of that once more at Portrush.

6. Shane Lowry

Maybe that is too excessive for Lowry, however in 2019, he rode the emotional wave of taking part in in a area he is aware of all too effectively to a commanding six-shot victory. The vitality that Lowry will carry with him as followers cheer him on at a spot the place he has already gained needs to be price some form of worth to his probabilities this week.

Like McIlroy, he’ll be one of many emotional favorites and although his recreation hasn’t precisely been in nice form on the majors this yr (two missed cuts and a tied for forty second on the Masters) he does have 4 top-10 finishes on Tour and it would not shock anybody if he once more performed effectively at Portrush.

7. Viktor Hovland

Having an actual sense for simply precisely how Hovland will play at a serious championship nowadays is an entire guessing recreation. Although he is perhaps waxing within the information convention about how unhealthy his swing feels and the way he is chasing the right really feel, he may find yourself contending the way in which he did at Oakmont final month the place he completed third and had an actual shot to win it on the again 9.

Earlier this yr, Hovland missed three straight cuts. Shortly after, he gained the Valspar Championship. Final yr, Hovland completed third on the PGA Championship and in addition missed the lower on the three different majors, together with the Open. Like DeChambeau, Hovland has the sport to win this week, however the area between his ceiling and his ground is as broad as anybody close to the highest of this record.

8. Collin Morikawa

There aren’t too many individuals on the earth who’re hitting the ball in addition to Morikawa has this season. His ballstriking is as elite as ever and but, regardless of having 4 top-10s this season, he can not seem to recover from the road and win his first match for the reason that 2023 Zozo Championship.

Morikawa is aware of learn how to win this match — he did it in 2021 at Royal St. George’s — and although his recreation has objectively improved since then, there appears to be one thing lacking in his skill to place 4 high quality rounds collectively on the sport’s prime tournaments. This yr, he completed 14th on the Masters however has gone backward, ending tied for fiftieth on the PGA Championship and tied for twenty third on the U.S. Open. Theoretically, at a course like Portrush, Morikawa’s iron play and accuracy off the tee ought to put him in competition. How his placing fares (at the moment 99th on tour this season) will decide how far up the leaderboard he can go.

9. Ludvig Åberg

There was some extent, proper after Aberg’s win at this yr’s Genesis Invitational, that it felt as if he was the speak of the game. Since then, Aberg has fallen right into a little bit of a rut, lacking 4 cuts (together with at each the PGA and the U.S. Open) and solely notched one top-10 end (seventh place on the Masters). However Aberg is quietly lurking. On the Scottish final week, he appeared to seek out some kind and completed tied for eighth and it might not be a shock if he entered the dialog at Portrush this week and hung round till Sunday.

10. Tommy Fleetwood

Might this lastly be the week? Fleetwood has come agonizingly near not solely a serious win in recent times however actually, grabbing any win that is not on the DP World Tour. Fleetwood’s recreation, with its elite ballstriking, feels primed for an Open Championship and this one, specifically, ought to go well with his recreation. Although he missed the lower at Troon final yr, in his two earlier appearances on the Open, Fleetwood completed inside the highest 10.

11. Tyrrell Hatton

Maybe Hatton needs to be a bit greater right here. His efficiency at Oakmont was completely spectacular — a tie for fourth was his finest end ever at a serious and it feels as if he has been slowly trending towards being extra of an element on the weekend of main championships (he has two top-15 finishes up to now two years at Augusta).

Nonetheless, it is exhausting to shake the truth that Hatton’s angle, the way in which he responds to unhealthy pictures or unhealthy breaks will likely be examined this week at a hyperlinks setup like Portrush. Both method, it’s going to be enjoyable to observe him do that week.

12. Robert MacIntyre

MacIntyre was completely spectacular at Oakmont, battling the situations and delay on Sunday and nonetheless carding a spherical of two below to carry the clubhouse lead and almost get right into a playoff with Spaun. MacIntyre is comfy, to say the least, on this a part of the world and on hyperlinks programs. Although he missed the lower on the Scottish this previous week, he has the sport to contend at Portrush this week.

13. Russell Henley

Any time ballstriking and accuracy — and never driving distance — are prioritized in a specific venue, Henley appears to rise to the highest and with good cause. He’s a top-10 participant in strokes gained and has eight top-10s and one win this season. On the key entrance, Henley has struggled, lacking the lower on the Masters and the PGA. At Oakmont, a top-10 end felt extra apt, and now he’ll arrive at Portrush coming off a fifth-place end at Troon final yr.

14. Brooks Koepka

It is exhausting to gauge the place precisely Koepka’s recreation is for the time being. Although he confirmed flashes of his previous self Oakmont and talked at size about how misplaced his swing had been for some time, he withdrew from the next LIV occasion and completed tied for thirty second in its most up-to-date match. If situations at Portrush get gnarly this week, I might see Koepka rising, however it may also be that his recreation is solely not fairly sharp sufficient proper now to really contend.

15. Joaquín Niemann

This is the factor: Niemann needs to be greater than fifteenth on this record, however the actuality is that, although he continues to excel on LIV (4 wins this season), his performances on the sport’s largest occasions proceed to underwhelm. Even this yr, after lastly recording his first top-10 end at a serious through the PGA, Niemann adopted it up with a missed lower at Oakmont.

16. Justin Thomas

Thomas and the Open Championship do not appear to get alongside very effectively. In eight appearances at this occasion, Thomas has missed three cuts and by no means completed inside the highest 10. However for those who’re on the lookout for optimism, Thomas’ finest end at an Open got here at Portrush in 2019. That week, Thomas performed 4 rounds of even-par golf or higher. He’ll be hoping to deliver that very same form of show to the Dunluce course this week.

17. Matt Fitzpatrick

I actually do not know what to make of Fitzpatrick, who hasn’t had a win on tour since 2023 and hasn’t actually contended at a serious since his 2022 U.S. Open win, however he has proven some kind going into this week with an eighth-place end on the Rocket Classsic and a fourth-place end this previous week on the Scottish Open.

18. Jordan Spieth

Talking of gamers who you by no means know what you are going to get, this is Spieth. I’ve a tough time believing he truly has an opportunity to win this week, however whilst erratic as he may be, Spieth has 4 top-10 finishes this season and has missed solely two cuts. Final yr, these two numbers had been three and 7, respectively.

19. Justin Rose

Let it not be forgotten that Rose had an actual shot to win this match final yr at Troon and completed in a tie for second. Rose has had a roller-coaster yr to this point, taking McIlroy to a playoff at Augusta however lacking three of his previous 4 cuts, together with on the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. Nonetheless, at 44, he has proved he can nonetheless contend and an Open is perhaps his finest shot at getting a second main.

20. Corey Conners

Very similar to Henley, Conners’ superpower is his elite ballstriking, which ought to translate effectively to a hyperlinks course resembling Portrush. It is by no means fairly felt as if Conners has ever raised his recreation sufficient to really compete at a serious championship (his finest end is a sixth-place end on the 2022 Masters), however because it did in 2022 with Brian Harman, the Open usually tends for giving us sudden winners who merely hold the ball in entrance of all of them week. Conners might actually be that.

21. J.J. Spaun

Very similar to Wyndham Clark after the 2023 U.S. Open win, Spaun’s profession now takes on a unique tone. Whether or not he is ready to observe up his win at Oakmont with one other aggressive begin at a serious championship is perhaps a tricky ask, particularly given that is Spaun’s first time competing in an Open.

22. Ben Griffin

How do you not embody Griffin? The 29-year-old has been the most effective gamers on tour this season, profitable twice and racking up eight top-10 finishes. Griffin hasn’t had a lot luck with the Open — he has missed the lower in two appearances — however he is taking part in at an entire totally different stage this yr.

23. Keegan Bradley

5 top-10 finishes, a top-10 at a serious and a PGA Tour victory — that is what Bradley’s season seems to be like to this point and the dialog about him being a taking part in captain on the Ryder Cup is already at a fever pitch. He won’t want it, however an ideal end at Portrush, and even an inconceivable win, would seal it.

24. Sepp Straka

In a transfer that may solely be described as the other of Koepka, Straka has made a dwelling off excelling at PGA Tour occasions however continues to wrestle on the game’s largest phases. Like Griffin, he additionally has two wins this season whereas including 5 top-10s, however he has missed the lower on the Masters, the PGA and the U.S. Open.

25. Hideki Matsuyama

Matsuyama’s finest end at an Open Championship got here in his Open debut in 2013 when he completed tied for sixth at Muirfield. Can Matsuyama win? After all. However it might take rather a lot for a participant who hasn’t had a top-10 end this yr outdoors of his win on the Sentry.

First 4 out: Cameron Smith, Patrick Reed, Adam Scott, Sam Burns