2023 Open Championship — Royal Liverpool Golf Club (July 20 - 23)

Brian Harman chalked one up for the lefties after blitzing the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool to win his first major title.

The 36-year-old American opened up a five-stroke lead after the second round and maintained his margin heading into the final round.

A nervous start on a rain-soaked Sunday saw Harman’s lead shrink after he dropped two shots in his first five holes.

But it would be as close as the field would get.

Harman bounced back with consecutive birdies and barring a meltdown, his victory seemed assured heading into the back nine as the challenging conditions thwarted his challengers on Sunday.

Harman carded  one-under 70 in the final round to finish at 13-under par, six ahead of Tom Kim, Sepp Straka, Jason Day and Jon Rahm.

Harman’s last win came in 2017 but it was his week at Hoylake, his superb putting and gritty performance ensuring his name will be immortalised forever on the Claret Jug.

FINAL SCORES

• 1 Brian Harman -13
• T2 Tom Kim -7
• T2 Sepp Straka -7
• T2 Jason Day -7
• T2 Jon Rahm -7
• T6 Emiliano Grillo -6
• T6 Rory McIlroy -6
• T8 Shubhankar Sharma -5
• T8 Cameron Young -5
• T10 Max Homa -4
• T10 Matthew Jordan -4
• T10 Tommy Fleetwood -4

AUSTRALIANS

• T2 Jason Day -7
• T33 Adam Scott +1
• T33 Cameron Smith +1
• T41 Min Woo Lee +2
• MC Lucas Herbert +5
• MC Travis Smyth +8
• MC Haydn Barron +9
• MC David Micheluzzi +10
• MC Connor McKinney +11
• MC Harrison Crowe (a) +14

The whirlwind of 2023’s major season reaches its climax at the Open Championship.

Can Cam Smith defend his crown? Will Rory strike again at Hoylake?

Can Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka or Wyndham Clark cap 2023 with another major win?

Or will Talor Gooch do what he has done all year and putt his way to glory?

The Open Championship will be played at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, starting Thursday July 20 and finishing Sunday July 23.

THE COURSE

The cream always seems to rise to the top at Royal Liverpool.

Rory McIlroy claimed the famous Claret Jug when the course last hosted the Open in 2014.

And in 2006 it was Tiger Woods who broke through for his third Open.

Argentina’s Roberto De Vicenzo, who is arguably better known for signing an incorrect score card to miss a playoff in the 1968 Masters, was the master of Hoylake in 1967.

And Aussie legend Peter Thomson won his third consecutive Open at the course in 1956.

Add in names like Bobby Jones and Walter Hagan and the Hoylake winner’s list reads like a rollcall of golfing royalty.

THE DEFENDING CHAMPION

Mulleted Aussie hero Cam Smith was crowned Champion Golfer of the Year at St Andrews after reeling in Rory McIlroy with a back nine 30 on Sunday.

Winning the Claret Jug is a dream but to do it at the spiritual home of golf last year places Cam in rarefied company.

Can he repeat his heroics at Royal Liverpool and become an Open immortal?

After finishing fourth at the US Open and ninth at the US PGA in the past couple of months, Cam is running into ominous form.

He won the LIV London event at the Centurion Club in his final tune-up and displayed superb touch on the greens, which is the greatest strength of his game.

And as St Andrews last year proved, links golf is the ideal canvas for Cam to demonstrate his short game creativity.

The last golfer to successfully defend an Open Championship was Ireland’s Padraig Harrington in 2007/2008.

But having to hand back the famous Claret Jug, which Cam admitted to consuming many beers from, surely provides all the motivation needed to win it back again.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Royal Liverpool is arguably the least loved, course of the 10 layouts on the Open rota.

But try telling that to the residents of Hoylake, a quaint seaside village that borders the course.

Royal Liverpool is commonly known simply as “Hoylake”.

While nearby Liverpool is a major regional centre in England, Hoylake is home to just 5000 residents.

But much like St Andrews, Portrush and Troon, tiny Hoylake will be the centre of the golfing universe when the Open rolls into town.

RORY’S CURSE

Can Rory’s major curse finally be broken at the site of his last Open win?

Rory was just 25 years old when he won his maiden Open Championship at Hoylake in 2014.

It was the third major win of his career and at the time most pundits expected him to press on to a double-digit tally of majors.

Nine years on, Rory is marooned on four major wins and has accumulated significant scar tissue along the way.

He will rightly be one of the favourites again for the Open and, unlike other years, has genuine form after finishing just one shot behind Wyndham Clark at the US Open in LA and winning the Scottish Open with a superb finish last weekend.

The one caveat on Rory’s chances this year is whether he can lift a gear when it counts.

Leading into the final round at St Andrews last year, a stale Sunday saw him get swamped by Cam Smith, who shot 30 on the back nine.

He won at Hoylake in 2014 with incredible accuracy off the tee and you expect he’ll invoke a similar strategy this year.

There’s no doubt Rory is a mega talent, but will another year go by without him adding a fifth major to his CV?

TIGER TEES IT UP

There will be a Tiger teeing it up at this year’s Open but it’s not of the Woods variety.

Tiger Christensen, a German amateur who plays college golf in the US, will play at Hoylake after winning a spot in final qualifying.

The 19-year-old, the only amateur to progress into the field via qualifying, currently plays for Arizona State University and is known for hitting bombs off the tee.

Christensen played in the Porsche European Open in Hamburg as an amateur last month but missed the cut.

In case you’re wondering, he’ll be the sole Tiger in the field — his slightly more famous namesake is still recovering from ankle surgery.

AUSSIES IN ACTION

Cam Smith, Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Jason Day, Lucas Herbert, Connor McKinney, Haydn Barron, Harrison Crowe, David Micheluzzi and Travis Smyth will be flying the Australian flag at Hoylake.

Smith’s claims as the defending champion are obvious but Royal Fremantle’s Lee is fast becoming acquainted with being in the mix at majors.

The talented 24-year-old notched his best finish at a major when tying for fifth at last month’s US Open at LA Country Club, shooting a brilliant bogey-free 67 in the final round when conditions were at their toughest.

That performance came after a T18 finish at the US PGA and a top 10 at the Player’s Championship, which is often referred to as golf’s unofficial “fifth major”.

Lee’s game is arguably best suited to the fast and firm links conditions of an Open Championship.

His two career victories have both come at links courses, the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in 2021 and the Vic Open at 13th Beach in 2020.

If Lee can get comfortable early at Royal Liverpool, look for him to contend again this week.

TIGER IN 2006

Hoylake in 2006 was peak Tiger, a win that underlined his strategic superiority alongside his habitual ball striking pre-eminence.

Woods decoded Hoylake in 2006 with one of the most restrained performances of his career.

He hit driver just once all week, instead relying on a two iron to find the straw-tinged fairways all week at a baked-out Hoylake.

Tiger beat Chris DiMarco by two shots to win his third Open Championship and didn’t find a fairway bunker all week — a feat the field would gladly take any week on tour, let alone at an Open Championship.

AUSSIE FIRST TIMERS

Five of the 10 Aussies at Royal Liverpool will be making their Open debuts.

Joondalup’s Connor McKinney earnt his spot via final qualifying in Scotland while Yokine’s Haydn Barron secured his berth after finishing equal fourth at the Australian Open last December.

Sydney amateur Crowe played his way in after winning the Asia Pacific amateur and Newcastle’s Smyth did enough at the Asian Tour’s Hong Kong stop to embark on his major debut.

Victorian David Micheluzzi, however, appeals as the debutant destined to make the biggest impact.

The 26-year-old topped the Australasian PGA Tour the past season after winning three times, including the WA PGA in Kalgoorlie in October.

With a full-time card already secured for the 2024 DP World season, Micheluzzi has been playing on invitations in Europe and the US.

He finished 17th in Denmark last week after shooting a stunning 62 in the third round but playing on the biggest stage in golf will provide priceless experience for the budding young pro.

You feel there will be many more major appearances ahead for David Micheluzzi.

ROYAL LIVERPOOL’S “NEW” HOLE

Royal Liverpool has undergone one very significant overhaul since Rory won in 2014.

The 17th hole, a 140-yard par 3, has been flipped — it will play in the opposite direction to what it did in 2014.

The tee now faces the Irish Sea and a cavernous bunker has been added to the right side of the green.

It’s a short hole but if the breeze is hurting, it will be very intimidating — making par will be difficult if you miss the putting surface.

SCOTTIE SHEFFLER

The current world No.1 has been mind-numbingly consistent in 2023.

From 15 starts since the start of the year, Scottie has notched 11 top ten finishes.

He has won twice, finished second once, third three times and fourth three times.

His worst result? A tie for 12th.

It’s the kind of boringly competitive golf Scottie seems to churn out week-after-week.

But Scottie is a bad-ass and success in majors is what ultimately drives him.

Through that lens, you sense Scottie would regard the year as a total failure thus far.

He finished 10th at the Masters, second at the US PGA Championship and third at the US Open, a run of near misses which will be fuelling Scottie’s internal fires.

At the US Open, the normally poker-faced Scheffler was clearly grumpy, channelling some uncharacteristic agitation after a few bad breaks.

Will Scottie add another major alongside his brilliant 2022 Masters win? It seems only a matter of time until the floodgates open up.

LINKSLAND WEATHER

The weather at an Open Championship is always a significant factor.

It can be both beautiful and brutal — often on the same day.

But in the past couple of years the Open has been beset by a streak of benign weather.

At St Andrews last year, the weather was almost balmy; in 2021 at Royal St George’s, Open week was idyllic.

With that in mind, the odds are shortening that there could be some brooding nastiness developing in the Irish Sea for Open week at Hoylake.

Let’s hope it’s not a Muirfield 2002 kind of massacre but to make it a true Open test, the wind needs to blow consistently.

If it doesn’t, expect a birdie fest.

TALOR GOOCH

Talor Gooch is in the middle of a career-defining purple patch, but can he convert it into a major championship?

After missing the US Open due to a mini furore over his qualification status, Gooch got back to what he does best: winning, this time at the notoriously tricky Valderrama course at LIV Andalucia in Spain.

It was the 31-year-old’s third win in 2023, all of which have come outside his native US — which seems to enhance his claims for an excellent on-the-road performance at Royal Liverpool.

Gooch hasn’t finished inside the top 10 at a major thus far but you feel Hoylake could be a great opportunity for him to strike while his irons are hot.

WYNDHAM CLARK

Will Wyndham Clark be a Shaun Micheel-type, one-and-done major champion? Or is he destined to win more and join the greats of golf?

Whatever happens in the future, you can’t take anything away from him after a nerveless final round performance at the US Open.

Clark was brilliant closing out his maiden major win on LA Country Club’s back nine, holding out Rory McIlroy by a stroke after making several huge up-and-downs to save par.

While his record in majors prior to his US Open win was unremarkable (four missed cuts from six starts and a best finish of T75), Clark has shown somewhat of a liking for links golf.

He made the cut last year in his first Open Championship and finished 16th at the Scottish Open at Renaissance Club one week prior.

If Wyndham gets it done at Hoylake, he’ll become the first player since Brooks Koepka to win back-to-back majors (2018 US Open, US PGA Championship).

VIKTOR HOVLAND

Norway might crown its first major winner at Royal Liverpool if Viktor Hovland can maintain his impressive run of form.

One of the most popular players in the game, Hovland was seventh at the Masters, finished runner-up to Brooks Koepka in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill and logged a 19th at the US Open.

And his victory at the Memorial last month further legitimised his claims that a major win surely isn’t too far away.

He played in the final group alongside Rory McIlroy at St Andrews last year, however, his untidy golf saw him drop out of contention early.

If Hovland is in the final group again this year, expect a different result.

ON THE TEE…

One of the most recognisable traditions at an Open Championship is the first tee introductions.

From 1975 until 2015, Ivor Robson’s familiar Scottish brogue was the first tee soundtrack for the Open.

Robson announced every group and every player in the 156-man field with the same simple but famous introduction: “This is game number…” followed by “On the tee… (player name)”.

When Robson retired his role was taken over by Matt Corker and David Lancaster, who continue to enunciate the famous introduction verbatim.

PATRICK CANTLAY

Despite tormenting the Masters field earlier this year with his snail-like pace of play, Patrick Cantlay is in no mood to change his ways.

Known as “Patty Ice” for his pulseless demeanour, Cantlay withstood the post-Masters media pile-on and has gone close to winning multiple times this season.

Can he win his first major at Hoylake?

He’s been thereabouts in his major starts this year but hasn’t stuck to the task convincingly in any of them.

But Cantlay has no trouble minimising distractions and remaining in the zone, even though his slow play tends to blow up the concentration of others — most notably, Brooks Koepka in the final round at the Masters.

Cantlay’s game, however, is first class.

And while it will be slow going, if Patty Ice does land in contention you can be sure he will be remain as methodical as always.

Written by Jamie Martin Jamie Martin is currently locked in a battle to keep his handicap hovering around the mid-single digits. Despite his obvious short-game shortcomings, Jamie enjoys playing and writing about every aspect of golf and is often seen making practice swings in a mirror.