The season's final major is upon us, with the shores of Northern Ireland hosting the Open Championship at the iconic Royal Portrush.
Rory McIlroy looks to exorcise the demons of 2019 when he missed the cut at his local event by adding to his Masters win with another epic victory. While he's one of the top golfers to watch this week, he's not one of the top two players we expect to perform well on the links this time out.
Here's the top 20 players for the 153rd Open Championship.
20. Justin Thomas
If this were a PGA TOUR event, Thomas would be one of the top names on the list. However, it's a major championship, which means he's lucky to find himself at No. 20. When the golf gets tougher, Thomas has essentially been a complete no-show. His usually elite ball-striking has disappeared in the biggest events, as the two-time PGA champ has lost strokes off the tee and on approach over the three majors this season. That likely doesn't bode well for the challenging test at Portrush.
19. Adam Scott
Scott threatened to win the U.S. Open for 63 holes at Oakmont before fading in horrendous conditions late Sunday. The Aussie clearly thrives in links golf, nabbing a top-25 finish in almost half of his 24 starts in The Open. His brilliant driving should put him in a prime position to attack at Portrush. Whether Scott can do so for four straight days at age 45 is the question he needs to answer.
18. Cameron Young
Young has quietly become one of the better major players on the PGA TOUR, recording six top-10 finishes in 15 majors since the start of 2022. Those results include two top-10 showings in three starts at The Open, highlighted by a runner-up finish at St. Andrews in his debut. Young has yet to win on the PGA TOUR, but he raises his game in majors - this won't be the last time we say that on this list.
17. Robert MacIntyre
The Scottish star feels right at home across the Irish Sea, boasting a T-6th finish in The Open six years ago at Portrush. MacIntyre nearly nipped the U.S. Open in June, only to fall just short to J.J. Spaun's late heroics. He showed at last year's Scottish Open that he can rise to the occasion, and nobody would be shocked if he seizes the moment Sunday in Northern Ireland.
16. Patrick Reed
Is Reed the 16th-best golfer in the field this week at Portrush? Probably not. However, is a motivated Reed looking to make a shock return to the Ryder Cup team in two months a threat at The Open? Absolutely. Reed's best showing in an Open Championship came six years ago at this venue, and he enters showing some solid form over the past three months. A course like Portrush places a premium on short-game acumen, something Reed excels at as well as anybody in the world.
15. Jordan Spieth
Only 15 golfers worldwide have gained more total strokes than Spieth over the last six months, according to Data Golf. He's also been a menace on links courses, posting seven straight top-25 finishes in The Open, including a win in 2017 and a runner-up in 2021. So why isn't Spieth higher on this list? He withdrew from his last start and welcomed his third child to the family last week. Any parent will tell you that's probably not the most productive way to prepare for a big event at work.
14. Russell Henley
Two years ago, a shorter-hitting American got hot with the putter and charged to an unlikely Open Championship win at Royal Liverpool. Could Henley be this year's version of Brian Harman? Henley winning would be less of a long shot, as the Georgia alum has quietly been one of the best players on the PGA TOUR the past couple of years. He finished fifth in last year's Open Championship and nabbed a solid 10th-place showing at the U.S. Open at Oakmont.
13. Hideki Matsuyama
Trouble lurks around Portrush for anybody straying even remotely off course, with thick gorse and internal out-of-bounds providing major challenges for the field. That leads us to one of the best ball-strikers in Matsuyama. The Japanese star is ranked 20th in the world in strokes gained: tee-to-green over the past six months and possesses the type of elite chipping skills needed in links golf.
12. Ludvig Aberg
Early returns on Aberg's brief major career suggest he's either threatening to win or packing up the car early Friday. Seven majors in, the Swede has three top-12 finishes against four missed cuts, including this year's PGA Championship and U.S. Open. Which Aberg are we getting this week at Portrush? An eighth-place finish last week in Scotland points toward the one who contends down the stretch.
11. Brooks Koepka
Koepka finally showed signs of major life with a 12th-place finish in June's U.S. Open after missing the cut in the Masters and PGA Championship. His form has been spotty on LIV Golf, but that rarely means anything for one of the best major players of his generation. While golf is largely an individual endeavour, Koepka has the best "teammate" this week with caddie Ricky Elliott. The veteran looper hails from Portrush and got his start caddying at the historic course. That knowledge likely helped Kopeka to a T-4 finish six years ago at the same track.
10. Collin Morikawa
Morikawa's form has taken a dip as he speed dates caddies looking for someone who fits his eye. Last week was the first in a two-week pact with veteran Billy Foster, but the new partnership flamed out with a missed cut. Foster is as experienced as anybody in the game - something that should help Morikawa at Portrush. One area that needs drastic improvement is putting. Morikawa has lost strokes on the greens in four straight tournaments, including a dismal performance at Oakmont in the last major. His minus-2.17 strokes gained: putting was the worst showing of his major career.
9. Tommy Fleetwood
Remember the Cameron Young section where we said, "He's yet to win on the PGA TOUR but clearly raises his game in majors?" Young may be the newcomer on that block, but Fleetwood is absolutely the OG. Despite the Englishman constantly being in contention in golf's biggest events, he remains snakebitten in getting things across the line. That includes a solo second in 2019 at Portrush as the only man to finish within seven shots of Shane Lowry.
8. Shane Lowry
The hero at Portrush six years ago returns with much fanfare, with Lowry's major triumph easily one of the most popular in recent memory. A second Claret Jug hitting Lowry's locker would shock no one. The Irishman comes to The Open having gained the 10th-most strokes worldwide in the last six months. Expect the crowd support to be loud and boisterous again for the lad who grew up just 170 miles from Portrush.
7. Tyrrell Hatton
It's hard not to love Hatton's chances this week, considering the Englishman is fresh off his best career major finish in June at the U.S. Open. He also posted his top showing ever in the Open Championship last time out at Portrush in 2019. Although he's got a volatile demeanour on the course, Hatton has thrived in links-style golf, scoring three victories in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship played at St. Andrews.
6. Xander Schauffele
The defending champion comes to Portrush sitting 138th in putting, a steep drop from the 12th-place finish in his career-defining season last year. That's the major difference in Schauffele's brilliant 2024 run compared to 2025. However, there's reason for optimism in Schauffele's camp, with a T-12 finish at the U.S. Open and an eighth-place result at last week's Scottish Open now on his resume. Those results suggest he might be trending toward the form that won him two majors last year.
5. Bryson DeChambeau
It might be good, it might be bad, but either way, DeChambeau is guaranteed to be a box office draw. DeChambeau is one of the most entertaining golfers on the planet on a week-to-week basis, and the unpredictability of the Open Championship only heightens that spectacle. But his scientific approach thrives on controlled conditions, something the season's final major doesn't offer. The numbers back that theory up with a T-8 in 2022 being the only top-30 finish of DeChambeau's major career. Watching the LIV star try to overpower Portrush will be must-see TV - a strategy that'll likely either result in a win or a missed cut and nothing in between.
4. Viktor Hovland
After a volatile major season last year, Hovland has found his footing again in 2025. His worst major finish was a T-28 at the PGA Championship, and he comes in off a third-place showing at the U.S. Open. Hovland has been beating down flagsticks all season, trailing only Scottie Scheffler in strokes gained: approach over the past six months. He's a hot putting week away from cashing that in with a first major victory.
3. Rory McIlroy
Imagine telling McIlroy at the start of the season that the pressure would somehow be off his shoulders heading into The Open at Portrush. That's essentially what the Masters victory has done for the 36-year-old, making things slightly less stressful at the tournament played just 60 miles from his hometown. McIlroy's first Open at Portrush - a place he broke the course record as a 16-year-old - got off to a disaster with an opening-round 79 dooming him to a missed cut. It's hard to see that happening twice, and it would be stunning if he weren't in the mix come Sunday.
2. Scottie Scheffler
Grading on the immense Scheffler scale, the Open Championship has traditionally been his "worst" major. Considering a 23rd-place showing in 2023 was the poorest finish in his career at the event, that's all relative. It seems the only thing that baffles the brilliant Scheffler these days is a bad bounce or a ball not reacting as he expected. That's frankly the essence of links golf - something Scheffler still has to show he can handle. If he figures that out, it would likely result in a runaway win given how exceptionally he's striking the ball lately.
1. Jon Rahm
Rahm has quietly been one of the best major players in the world over the last calendar year, posting four straight top-15 finishes. That streak includes a T-7 at last year's Open Championship and a T-7 at June's U.S. Open. Fresh off nearly winning his home event on LIV in Spain last weekend, Rahm comes to Portrush in full flight. He grabbed a T-11 finish in 2019 at Portrush and has shone bright in previous events across Ireland in his career. It feels like it's Rahm's time to re-establish himself in the argument for the planet's best male golfer.
