By admin 
The last men’s major championship of the season is upon us with the best in the world eager for one final shot at glory in 2026.
Royal Birkdale hosts The Open for the first time since 2017 and it’s looking firm and fast, thanks to a summertime heatwave across the Atlantic (English reporters have already dubbed it “Royal Burndale”) and even those who played nine years ago will be looking at a completely different course — although fewer than 100 yards of distance was added, almost every hole was renovated or reworked in some capacity. The most prominent pivot comes with Nos. 14 and 15, as the former changed from a par 3 to a par 5, while the latter changed from a par 5 to a par 3.
Like it’s been for each of the previous three majors in 2026, the top two golfers in the world sit atop the favourites board, but for the first time this season, neither Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler are playing their best golf heading into a major. Golf fans everywhere would love nothing more than to see these two titans duel down the stretch at The Open. McIlroy would love to end his major season the same way he started it — with a victory. And Scheffler is looking to become the first golfer in almost 20 years to successfully defend his Claret Jug title.
This is the kind of battle we’d love to see.
But are they ready to give it to us?
Out of the two, McIlroy is coming into the week with slightly better form. McIlroy won his lone Open Championship in 2014 and said he’d love the opportunity to win an Open under conditions like what we’re seeing this week. McIlroy tied for seventh at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open and was first in strokes gained: off the tee, which is a positive — missing fairways means a big-time punishment at Royal Birkdale this week (distance will matter little as 5- or 6-irons even are running out 300-plus yards). But McIlroy has teed it up only 12 times worldwide this season as he continues to say that he’s reducing his schedule and will play only where and when he would like. After a 30-hole marathon on Sunday in Scotland, McIlroy has taken his measured time to get ready for the major challenge ahead.
“I felt really good the first two days in Scotland and then felt like my game just sort of deteriorated as the week went on. Even though I shot a good score on Sunday, it didn’t feel very good,” McIlroy told reporters. “I felt a little bit tired (on Monday), so I didn’t make it on the course, but that allowed me a bit more time to hit some balls and dig into the swing a little bit. Felt good on the range. Felt good out on the course today.
“Definitely trending in the right direction.”
Scheffler, meanwhile, comes into The Open off a shocking result in Scotland — he missed the cut.
It was the first time Scheffler didn’t find the weekend on the PGA Tour in four years and admitted he was “a bit lost” about what to do on the weekend with no tee time. It’s been quite the campaign for Scheffler in 2026 as he’s not been playing poorly — Scheffler, who has never finished outside the top 15 at The Open, is still first on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: total and, in fact, is ranked inside the top 15 in each of the primary strokes gained categories, according to stats guru Justin Ray, and there is only one other golfer on Tour who is inside the top 50 in those categories; he’s just not getting the results we’ve become accustomed to seeing. Scheffler won seven times in 2024 and six times last year. In 2026, he’s won just once but has four runner-up results — including two losses in playoffs.
You would assume that Scheffler’s hunger for a victory, especially in his final chance to capture a major of the year, would be at an all-time high.
“I’ve had a very solid year, but like I said, frustrating at times because I’ve been close and I haven’t been able to get it done like I have been in years past. Overall, I feel like I know what my ‘why’ is, why I’m out here playing, and I’m excited to try and defend my title this week,” Scheffler said.
The two men have won six of the last 19 majors and, at 30, Scheffler has a long way left — with just the U.S. Open to capture if he is to join McIlroy as part of the very exclusive grand-slam winners’ club. McIlroy is a little greyer at 37, but his consistency at the top of the sport is incredibly impressive. He’s spent 813 weeks in the top 10 in the world in his career, a number surpassed only by Tiger Woods.
Alas, they were both asked about their legacies this week before teeing off at The Open and both struggled with a reply.
“I don’t really care. I would like to think that the people that love and care about me think a certain way of me, but I’ll be long gone. I’ll be dead,” McIlroy said.
“There’s things I would like to accomplish in the game, but at the end of the day, I have never once thought about how I’m going to be remembered,” Scheffler added. “To me, it truly doesn’t matter from a sense of like accomplishment. Like, when I die, Hey, Scottie won four majors and 20 tournaments and he won this much money. That has zero effect on me.”
McIlroy would go on to add that he believes it would be a “pretty unfulfilling pursuit” to chase results and records. The process must be enjoyed as well, he explained.
But there’s no doubt the trophies — especially one as old and revered as the Claret Jug — are awfully nice to win again.
And what a week it would be if they were the ones fighting it out down the stretch Sunday.
“Obviously, one last opportunity at one of the big four,” McIlroy said, “and try to give it all I’ve got this week.”