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The Open at Royal Liverpool
Last Men's Major of the year at Hoylake, a team event on the LPGA, and stableford scoring in Lake Tahoe
Jack Middlebrook
July 19, 2023
Purses
The Open
Barracuda Championship
Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational
La Sella Open
Price Cutter Charity Championship
Daito Kentaku Eheyanet Ladies
The Open Championship
The 151st Open and last major of the year on the mens side is set for Royal Liverpool.
Royal Liverpool, commonly called Hoylake, has hosted 12 Opens in the past, with the most recent winners being Rory McIlroy in 2014 and Tiger Woods in 2006. This week the top players in the world look to add their name to the illustrious list.
The links course will look a bit different this year from changes led by Martin Ebert. Compared to the last Open in 2014, the course will play 71 yards longer at 7,383 yards but as a par 71 instead of a 72 as in the past.
Among the changes to the course, the new 17th hole, “Little Eye”, will garner much of the attention. The hole is 136 yards and plays out towards the ocean. With windy conditions, it will challenge the players to control their ball flight to hit the green. Any missed tee shots will create difficult up and downs to the raised green. Early reviews from players have been mixed as to whether the change is a welcome one.
Short but potentially punishing. Little Eye.
Royal Liverpool’s new 17th Hole.
— The Open (@TheOpen)
5:21 PM • Jul 18, 2023
Cam Smith is the reigning champion golfer of the year and has had a week of rest after a win at LIV London. His game recently seems to have found the form that led him to victory last year with a fourth place finish at the US Open. He is off the first two rounds with Xander Schauffele and US Open champ, Wyndham Clark.
Rory McIlroy comes off a dramatic win at the Scottish and also the winner of the last Open held at Hoylake. In 2014, McIlroy went wire-to-wire, shooting a pair of 66s in the opening rounds, to win his first and only Open Championship. It would be a surprise not to see him in contention on Sunday.
Rickie Fowler, one of the two runner-up finishers from 2014 at Hoylake, looks prime for a shot to win his first major championship. He has a streak of great golf going with a win at the Rocket Mortgage at the start of the month and three other recent top 10 finishes.
Viktor Hovland is another name that sticks out in the lead up to The Open. His superb ball striking works everywhere and he has been steadily improving in the majors with a tie for second at the PGA and tie for seventh at the Masters. He has a win at the Memorial earlier this year and showed flashes at the Scottish Open with a 63 on Friday.
Australian Min Woo Lee was putting on a stripe show at the range for the cameras. Check out the segment on YouTube for good commentary by Min Woo while prepping. Lets hope his form carries over to the week and we see him in the hunt.
LPGA - Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational
The LPGA features a lighter field this week for a team event in Michigan. The tournament format is teams of two playing alternate shot for the first and third round and four-ball for second and final round.
A couple of the top teams for the week are Brooke Henderson and Lexi Thompson, and Celine Boutier and Yuka Saso.
The tournament gets underway Wednesday with the final round on Saturday.
PGA Tour and DP World Tour - Barracuda Championship
Opposite the major championship is the Barracuda event in Lake Tahoe. Scoring is using the modified stableford format where players get 5 points for an eagle, 2 for a birdie, -1 for a bogey, and -3 points for double or worse. The tournament features the best of the rest not qualified for the Open. Last year’s winner was Chez Reavie at 43 points.