Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Merseyside: Designer: Frederick G. Hawtree & J.H. Taylor, with Martin Hawtree 1993, plus Mackenzie & Ebert 2023-2025 renovations; Course Type: Coastal Links, Medium Length; Par: 70; Length: 7,223 yards; Number of Holes Water is in Play: 1; Number of Sand Bunkers: 110; Acres of Fairway: 29; Fairways: Fescue with Browntop Bentgrass; Rough: Fine Fescue + Buckthorn/Dwarf Willow – Semi – 1.4”, Primary 2.75 – 3”; Greens: 6,000 sq.ft average featuring A1/A4 Creeping Bentgrass, Fine Fescue and Poa Annua mix.
The Open Championship is always a stern test of any golfer, but Royal Birkdale is regarded as the fairest test on the Open course rota. Yes the Open’s 1998 and 2008 visits to Southport saw over par champions in Mark O’Meara and Padraig Harrington. But those Open Championships saw some of the worst weather of any renewals.
Ian Baker-Finch won the title in 1991 with a -8/262 total, whereas Jordan Spieth in the latest 2017 renewal took the Claret Jug back to Texas after a -12/268 score. That 2017 championship was famous for Branden Grace becoming the first man to shoot 62 in a Major, achieving the feat on the Saturday on a soft golf course with minimal wind.
Birkdale links sets its stall out from the start with perhaps the most demanding Open rota 1st hole, but difficultly is a total marriage with the local weather conditions.In terms of Royal Birkdale in 2026, the course has received a Mackenzie & Ebert renovation which took place over 2023 and 2025. It’s been extended out to a circa 7,220 yard, Par 70, up 70-odd yards from 2017. In reality it’s a medium length test which features a 34-36 split, where the players’ first look at a par-5 is the 14th hole.
For a full breakdown of the course, changes since The Open last visited, and player quotes from the 2017 Open Championship hosted here, read Steve Bamford’s pre-event trends article.

Tournament Stats: We’ve published some key player statistics for this week’s Open Championship that will help to shape a view on players who traditionally play well at this event: Current Form | Tournament Form | First Round Leader Stats | Combined Stats | Recent Majors Stats.
Predictor Model: Our published Predictor Model is available here. As always you can build your own model using the variables available.
Our brand new predictor model is running alongside, where you can build your own rankings in live time, using the variables listed on the left hand side.
Winners & Prices: 2025, Scottie Scheffler, 5/1; 2024, Xander Schauffele, 14/1; 2023: Brian Harman, 125/1; 2022: Cameron Smith, 28/1; 2021: Collin Morikawa, 40/1; 2019: Shane Lowry: 70/1; 2018: Francesco Molinari, 33/1; 2017: Jordan Spieth, 16/1; 2016: Henrik Stenson, 33/1; 2015: Zach Johnson, 110/1; 2014: Rory McIlroy, 18/1; 2013, Phil Mickelson, 20/1; 2012: Ernie Els, 45/1; 2011: Darren Clarke, 200/1; 2010: Louis Oosthuizen, 250/1.
Weather Forecast: The latest weather forecast for the area is here.
The glorious hot and sunny conditions in England will continue right up to the start of this year’s tournament, with Thursday promising sunshine and temperatures approaching 80 Fahrenheit. It will cool a little from there with highs of 73 Fahrenheit over the weekend, however any showers will be negligible in terms of their impact on the course. Wind will be mostly light at around 10mph throughout.
Tournament Trends & Key Factors: Let’s take the final skill statistics from Padraig Harrington and Jordan Spieth from the latest 2008 and 2017 Open Championships held at Royal Birkdale. There was no Strokes Gained data back then of course. This gives us a little more insight into the requirements for this test:
- 2017, Jordan Spieth (-12). 295 yards (44th), 42.9% fairways (59th), 69.4% greens in regulation (3rd), 72.7 % scrambling (4th), 1.72 putts per GIR (10th).
- 2008, Padraig Harrington (+3). 292 yards (45th), 51.8% fairways (37th), 52.8% greens in regulation (30th), 49.6 % scrambling (13th), 1.66 putts per GIR (4th).
Statistics don’t always highlight the full story, especially at an Open Championship, and traditional non-Strokes Gained stats are pretty blunt. But the last two Champions here were controlled off the tee in terms of their driving distance but not accurate. Scrambling and putting were where both Harrington and Spieth excelled, as did Matt Kuchar who was runner-up in 2017.
Recent Form: Going back to the Open held at St Andrews in 2010, each of the 15 players who’ve lifted the Claret Jug have had some contending form in the recent past. Each of the winners had a top-3 finish or better in their last 8 starts, and if you take the past 8 Open victors in isolation, each of them had a win or 2nd place finish in one of their past 9 outings.
Last 10 event form of Open Championship winners since 2010 reads as follows (most recent result on the right):
- 2025, Scottie Scheffler: 2/4/8/1/1/4/1/7/6/8
- 2024, Xander Schauffele: 2/5/8/18/2/1/8/7/13/15
- 2023, Brian Harman: MC/7/MC/MC/29/MC/43/2/9/12
- 2022, Cameron Smith: 33/1/3/MC/21/13/13/48/MC/10
- 2021, Collin Morikawa: 1/41/56/18/7/8/14/2/4/71
- 2019, Shane Lowry: 62/MC/MC/24/MC/3/8/2/28/34
- 2018, Francesco Molinari: 17/20/49/16/MC/1/2/25/1/2
- 2017, Jordan Spieth: 12/30/MC/11/MC/MC/2/13/35/1
- 2016, Henrik Stenson: 11/3/2/24/MC/MC/4/WD/1/13
- 2015, Zach Johnson: 20/9/MC/17/13/19/5/72/6/3
- 2014: Rory McIlroy: 25/7/8/8/6/1/15/23/MC/14
- 2013: Phil Mickelson: 3/MC/16/54/3/MC/2/2/MC/1
- 2012: Ernie Els: 4/12/MC/2/MC/41/7/58/9/52
- 2011: Darren Clarke: 12/48/MC/77/1/45/63/46/MC/66
- 2010: Louis Oosthuizen: 3/44/2/1/MC/MC/21/20/MC/MC
The other point to note here are the finishes of our last four winners who all played the Scottish Open the week before lifting the Claret Jug. Cam Smith finished 10th at Renaissance, Brian Harman finished 12th, Xander finished 15th, and Scottie Scheffler finished 8th on the North Berwick links last year.
For current form stats for this week’s field click here.
2026 Victory: Going back to the start of the century, 18 of the 25 Open Championship winners had already won an event of some description in that calendar year to date, so siding with players who have already tasted success in 2026 may not be a bad ploy.
For reference they were: Tiger Woods (00, 05, 06), Ernie Els (02), Todd Hamilton (04), Padraig Harrington (07), Louis Oosthuizen (10), Darren Clarke (11), Phil Mickelson (13), Rory McIlroy (14), Henrik Stenson (16), Jordan Spieth (17), Francesco Molinari (18), Shane Lowry (19), Collin Morikawa (21), Cameron Smith (22), Xander Schauffele (24) and Scottie Scheffler (25).
Open Championship Record: Positive previous Open Championship performances have also been a factor when you look through the history of the most recent winners of golf’s oldest Major.
12 of the last 15 Open Champions had all previously secured at least a top-10 in this event in their careers – the exceptions to that rule being Louis Oosthuizen’s win at St Andrews in 2010, Collin Morikawa who won at Royal St George’s on debut in 2021, and Cameron Smith in 2022 at St Andrews.
Smith’s record could and perhaps should have been much better though, having sat in 5th place after 36 holes in 2019 and 9th after 54 holes in 2021, before getting it right over the weekend 4 years ago.
Brian Harman restored the trend in 2023 having finished 6th at St Andrews the year before and continuing a sequence of improving performances at The Open, Xander built on a solid Open record in 2024 which included runner-up to Francesco Molinari at Carnoustie in 2018, and Scottie Scheffler had recorded two top-10s at The Open before capturing the Claret Jug for the first time last year:
- 2025, Scottie Scheffler: 8/21/23/7
- 2024, Xander Schauffele: 20/2/41/26/15/17
- 2023, Brian Harman: 26/MC/MC/MC/MC/19/6
- 2022, Cameron Smith: MC/78/20/33
- 2021, Collin Morikawa: Debut
- 2019, Shane Lowry: 37/32/9/MC/MC/MC/MC
- 2018, Francesco Molinari: MC/13/MC/MC/39/9/15/40/36/MC
- 2017, Jordan Spieth: 44/36/4/30
- 2016, Henrik Stenson: MC/34/48/MC/3/13/3/68/2/39/40
- 2015, Zach Johnson: MC/MC/MC/20/51/47/76/16/9/6/47
- 2014: Rory McIlroy: 42/47/3/25/60/MC
- 2013: Phil Mickelson: 41/24/76/MC/11/30/66/59/3/60/22/MC/19/48/2/MC
- 2012: Ernie Els: 2/10/28/24/2/3/1/18/2/34/3/4/7/8/MC/MC
- 2011: Darren Clarke: 11/2/MC/30/7/3/37/59/11/15/MC/MC/52/44
- 2010: Louis Oosthuizen: MC/MC/MC
For event history stats for this week’s field click here.
Recent Majors Form: One aspect that we’ve discussed on the Golf Betting System Podcast when previewing The Open over the years is the growing and consistent trend that recent Open Champions have recorded a top-25 finish in one of their previous 4 Major starts, and in the case of the last 8 Open winners, a top-11 finish.
Last 4 Majors of Open winners:
- 2025, Scottie Scheffler: 1/2/14/4
- 2024, Xander Schauffele: 17/8/1/7
- 2023, Brian Harman: 6/MC/MC/43
- 2022, Cameron Smith: 33/3/13/MC
- 2021, Collin Morikawa: MC/18/8/4
- 2019, Shane Lowry: 12/MC/8/28
- 2018, Francesco Molinari: MC/2/20/25
- 2017, Jordan Spieth: 30/13/11/35
- 2016, Henrik Stenson: 40/25/24/WD
- 2015, Zach Johnson: 47/69/9/72
- 2014: Rory McIlroy: MC/8/8/23
- 2013: Phil Mickelson: MC/36/54/2
- 2012: Ernie Els: MC/MC/-/9
Logically this makes a level of sense as players who have found themselves in and around the top end of a Major leaderboard in recent times may well take that experience forward and build on it when the chance arises at The Open.
For recent Major Championship form for this week’s field click here.
OWGR Ranking Of Winners: It’s also interesting to note that only two players since 2000 have won The Open whilst ranking outside of the world’s top-55 when entering this week: Ben Curtis in 2003 and Darren Clarke in 2011 were the two to achieve this.
Taking this another step further, every Open Champion since Clarke’s win has ranked inside the OWGR top 40 at the time:
- 2025, Scottie Scheffler: 1st
- 2024, Xander Schauffele: 3rd
- 2023, Brian Harman: 26th
- 2022, Cameron Smith: 6th
- 2021, Collin Morikawa: 4th
- 2019, Shane Lowry: 33rd
- 2018, Francesco Molinari: 15th
- 2017, Jordan Spieth: 3rd
- 2016, Henrik Stenson: 6th
- 2015, Zach Johnson: 25th
- 2014, Rory McIlroy: 8th
- 2013, Phil Mickelson: 6th
- 2012, Ernie Els: 40th
Of course there’s the LIV factor to consider given that those players haven’t had the same level of opportunities to gather OWGR points over the last two years, however the history to this point is pretty indisputable.
The performance of Jordan Spieth in 2017 and his eventual winning score of 12-under was achieved in far more receptive conditions, and with this year’s renewal promising to be far firmer and faster, I can’t see the players getting so deep in terms of scoring this time around.