The Open Championship 2026 Preview

The Open Championship is the oldest major, the last major of the year, and it crowns the Champion Golfer of the Year.

The 154^th edition is being held at Royal Birkdale in Southport on the North West coast of England this July.

2026 marks the 11^th time that the Birkdale links will be hosting the Open Championship, with the Claret Jug ready to be lifted once again.

Royal Birkdale has undergone recent alterations in order to be prepared to test the world’s best golfers for the final major of 2026.

Who will rise to the occasion and render themselves the 2026 Champion Golfer of the Year?

The Open Championship Preview 2026

Check out our comprehensive coverage of the 154th Open – from frequently asked questions, to the competition’s unique heritage, and how the course is shaping up – by reading and clicking on some of the links below.

When and where will the 154th Open Championship take place?

The 154th Open Championship will be played at Royal Birkdale, just north of Liverpool city centre. The event will take place from July 16-19.

Who won the last Open Championship?

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler cruised to victory last year at Royal Portrush, which was the third instance that the Open had been held in Northern Ireland. The American, whose prior Open record was undesirable and unthreatening, won comfortably by four strokes and left it never in doubt.

Meticulous course management and appropriate aggression was the masterplan for Scheffler who claimed his second major of 2025 and took hit total tally to four, just one behind the likes of Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka. The man from Texas has ruled the sport of golf in recent years with 13 wins since the start of 2024. His play has been unparalleled, so can anyone stop him from retaining the Claret Jug this go around?

Scheffler shot a final round 68 to beat runner-up Harris English by four shots, with the winning score being 17-under par.

What is the history around Royal Birkdale?

Royal Birkdale was established in 1889 but redesigned in 1922 to create the current layout, which winds its way through sand dunes towering over each fairway. Since first hosting The Open in 1954, it has been the most regular venue, other than St Andrews.
Previous Opens at Royal Birkdale:
The venue has staged The Open on ten previous occasions, with some of the sport’s most notable figures having lifted the Claret Jug on the Southport links.
Two five-time Champion Golfers, three back-to-back Champions and a host of multiple major winners have written their names into Open history at this iconic venue.
Most recently, Jordan Spieth won the 146^th Open at Royal Birkdale in 2017 after a thrilling round up there with the greatest the Championship has seen.
The 2026 British Open will be the 11^th time the Open is played at Birkdale. These are the 10 previous Opens at Birkdale, with winners and winning scores.

1954: Peter Thomson, 283

1961: Arnold Palmer, 284

1965: Peter Thomson, 285

1971: Johnny Miller, 279

1983: Tom Watson, 275

1991: Ian Baker- Finch, 272

1998: Mark O’Meara, 280

2008: Padraig Harrington, 283

2017: Jordan Spieth, 268

Royal Birkdale has also been the site of multiple Women’s British Opens, Senior Open Championship, the Ryder Cup, Walker Cup and Curtis Cup, the British Amateur Championship and Women’s British Amateur Championship.

Which golfers have been the most successful at the Open Championship?

There have been 27 players who have won the tournament on multiple occasions, but only one of those has won the event six times.

Harry Vardon first won the Open in 1896, and he would go on to win the title five more times. Two of those came before the turn of the 20th Century, in 1898 and 1899, with further wins in 1903, 1911, and 1914.

James Braid, J.H. Taylor, Peter Thompson and Tom Watson are all five-time winners of the tournament, with the latter managing to win the Open five times in nine events.

Both Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris are among the four-time winners, while amateur Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods have all lifted the Claret Jug on three occasions.

Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Greg Norman and Padraig Harrington are part of the two-time winning group, with the Irishman being the last to defend his Open Championship crown.

How can I get tickets for the 154th Open Championship?

To attend the 154th Open Championship at Royal Portrush in 2025, you’ll need to secure tickets through the official ballot or by purchasing Premium Experiences.

There will also be a ticket resale platform, which allows ticketholders to sell the tickets they got in the ballot.

Who are the members of the LIV Golf League participating in the 154th Open?

Several LIV Golf League members are eligible for the 154th Open. These include Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen, Cameron Smith, Henrik Stenson, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Tom McKibbin.

To learn more about the full lineup, click here.

How does the qualifying process for the 154th Open Championship work?

Regional Qualifying takes place at 15 courses in Great Britain and Ireland in June. The leading finishers at each event earned places at Final Qualifying on 1 July. A minimum of 16 players from Final Qualifying usually then participate in The Open.

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