The final major of the season — the Open Championship — is over, with Scottie Scheffler dominating the field on the way to his second major of the season.
With the FedEx Cup playoffs, the Tour Championship and the Ryder Cup still to come, there is plenty left to play for.
What’s next for Scheffler? Who surprised and who disappointed at the Open? What’s the latest on the race for spots on the Ryder Cup teams? We answer some of the biggest questions coming out of Royal Portrush and heading into the rest of the season.
Mark Schlabach: Scheffler doesn’t want to hear comparisons to Tiger Woods, but perhaps no one has played as consistently for so long since the height of Tiger’s career.
“I don’t think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger come through so soon, and here’s Scottie sort of taking that throne of dominance,” two-time major champion Xander Schauffele said. “You can’t even say he’s on a run. He’s just been killing it for over two years now. He’s a tough man to beat, and when you see his name up on the leaderboard, it sucks for us.”
Scheffler, 29, is now the third-youngest player with 15 PGA Tour victories and four majors; only Tiger (24) and Jack Nicklaus (25) were younger. He is only the fourth golfer to win the Masters, PGA Championship and The Open before turning 30; Woods, Nicklaus and Gary Player were the others. That’s elite company.
Given Scheffler’s ballstriking and vastly improved putting, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him at least double his four major victories — if not more. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t complete the career Grand Slam in next year’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. For a guy who seems to have better perspective than most when it comes to golf, family and faith, he still has a red-hot competitive fire that we’ve rarely seen.
Paolo Uggetti: Well, you heard the man. He’s on to Memphis (and eventually the Tour Championship), where he’ll start even par and get back at it. Scheffler said in our interview with him that he will take time to enjoy this but if there’s anything we learned about Scheffler this week — or rather have it confirmed — is that the process of becoming the best player in the world is more enjoyable to him than actually being the best player in the world.
“It’s hard to describe what it feels like because, yeah, I don’t feel any different because I’ve won a golf tournament. This is not the be-all, end-all for me, but I’m extremely grateful for it,” Scheffler said. “I don’t think that I’m anything special just because some weeks I’m better at shooting a lower score than other guys are.”
The thing is that Scheffler continues to shoot lower scores than anyone else and there’s no sign of that stopping anytime soon — be it in Memphis, the Tour Championship, the Ryder Cup or eventually the major championships next season. His propensity for being the odds-on favorite will get even more stark and chances are, barring injury or otherwise, he’ll keep adding to his win tally and major championship record too.
Other than Scottie, who were biggest winners at The Open?
Schlabach: It was Scheffler’s tournament with his dominance over 72 holes, but in many ways it was Rory McIlroy’s week. After missing the cut at the first Open Championship at Royal Portrush in 68 years in 2019, Rory was around for the weekend this time, and he put on quite a show in his homeland.
While McIlroy finished a distant seven shots behind Scheffler for a tie for seventh at 10 under, the week was in many ways a celebration of his Masters victory in April, which allowed him to finally complete the career Grand Slam.
With thousands of fans following him on the links course, McIlroy delivered a 5-under 66 in the third round that at least gave him an ounce of hope in trying to chase down Scheffler. He said the roars after his eagle on the par-5 12th were the loudest he’d ever heard in a golf tournament.
“It’s been an awesome week,” McIlroy said. “I’ve gotten everything I wanted out of this week apart from a Claret Jug, and that’s just because one person was just a little bit better than the rest of us.
“I feel so thankful and just so lucky that I get to do this, I get to do this in front of this crowd. Hopefully, I’ll have one or two Opens left here, if the R&A decide to keep coming back, probably one while I’m still competitive and another one while I’m more gray than I already am.”
Uggetti: There’s not enough talk about Harris English, who has finished second place at two major championships this year and lost only to one guy: Scottie Scheffler. You don’t get a trophy for second place but the mark is a testament to the kind of golf English is playing as of late.
This season, English has one PGA Tour win and four top-10 finishes. He’s now ranked inside the top-10 in the OWGR.
“I’m playing some good golf. Just need to clean it up a little bit,” English said Sunday. “But one of my — my two goals this year were to make it to the Tour Championship and make that Ryder Cup team, and hopefully I’ve moved myself a little bit closer to that, and hopefully I can get in that top six to lock up a spot.”
English’s finish at Portrush does get him into that coveted sixth spot for an automatic qualifier, but even if he slips below the sixth spot, it’s safe to say English is nearly a lock to be a part of Keegan Bradley’s team come September at Bethpage.
Most disappointing at The Open?
Schlabach: Not to pick on the LIV Golf League, but three of its most recognizable stars — Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and Cameron Smith — were three of the worst flops at Royal Portrush.
Koepka gave us a glimmer of hope when he was in the mix and tied for 12th in the U.S. Open. But the five-time major champion missed the cut in the Masters, PGA Championship and The Open. He hasn’t finished in the top 10 in one of the big four since winning the 2023 PGA Championship.
Smith captured the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews in Scotland in 2022, but other than winning three times in the LIV Golf League and once in his native Australia, he hasn’t done much of anything. He is the only golfer who missed the cut in all four majors this season.
After Reed was solo third at the Masters and tied for 23rd at the U.S. Open, there was talk that he might sneak his way back onto the U.S. Ryder Cup team. There’s zero chance of that happening now after he missed the cut at Royal Portrush. And, to be honest, given Reed’s controversial history in the Ryder Cup, Greg Norman probably had a better chance at hitting the ceremonial opening tee shot at Bethpage Black.
Uggetti: Patrick Cantlay’s major record was already lacking much substance in the way of top-10s, let alone wins, but after missing the cut at Portrush, he has now missed three straight major championship cuts this year and has only finished inside the top 20 at a major once in the last two years. Expectations seem to dwindling for Cantlay, who might be one of the better players to not win a major in his career, and it appears that he has fallen off even just his customary form on the PGA Tour — he hasn’t won a tour event since 2022. The majors have simply been further proof of that.
Who is one player you’ll be watching the closest over the next few weeks?
Schlabach: U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley has to be happy about Xander Schauffele’s form in recent weeks. The two-time major champion missed about six weeks with a painful rib injury at the start of the season, and he’s been trying to find his putting stroke ever since.
Schauffele tied for eighth at the Scottish Open and for seventh at The Open. It’s not like Schauffele hasn’t performed well in the tournaments that mattered most this season: he tied for eighth in the Masters, 28th in the PGA Championship and 12th in the U.S. Open. There are dozens of golfers who would happily take those results.
Uggetti: Chris Gotterup is the X factor the U.S. Ryder Cup team has been waiting for. Think Ludvig Åberg ahead of Rome. Or Scottie Scheffler ahead of Whistling Straits. OK, maybe not quite to that level. But Gotterup has burst onto the scene with a win over Rory McIlroy at the Scottish Open and a third-place finish at The Open this past week — only his fourth major championship start.
“I expected to play well, but I don’t think I expected quite this well,” Gotterup said. “I don’t know what’s going on over here, but maybe my European blood in me a little bit has come to life.”
Gotterup hasn’t quite come out of nowhere — he had three top-30 finishes before this run and besides one missed cut, his worst finish since April is T-28 — but this is still a bit of a surprise. He has now leaped into the top 40 of the world rankings and jumped 19 spots in the Ryder Cup rankings.
“I haven’t thought about it at all. I mean, it really wasn’t ever on my radar,” Gotterup, a New Jersey native, said of the Ryder Cup. “I obviously hoped to play well, and it would be a miracle. Now I mean, I have no idea. Northeast is my home, and we’ll see what happens.”
Gotterup’s next month or so will be crucial to solidifying himself not just as a potential Ryder Cup team member but also a top player on Tour. Even though his best stuff has come across the pond on links courses, his game clearly has a high potential ceiling.
Thoughts on the Ryder Cup coming out of The Open
Schlabach: Scheffler has already qualified for the U.S. team, and I’d guess that the next five golfers in the points standings — Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Russell Henley, Bryson DeChambeau and English — will probably end up making the squad.
The top six in the points standings after the BMW Championship on Aug. 17 will automatically qualify for the U.S. team, and then Bradley will make six captain’s choices. I think the aforementioned golfers have done enough to be selected, even if they’re not in the top six after the second FedEx Cup playoffs event.
Bradley told Sports Illustrated at The Open that DeChambeau has all but made the team: “Bryson is going to be a very important piece to us winning the Ryder Cup. He brings so much. He brings energy, passion, but most importantly, he’s one of the best players on the planet.”
As for Bradley’s captain’s choices, Justin Thomas and Morikawa rank seventh and eighth in points, respectively, and are Ryder Cup veterans. Ben Griffin, a two-time winner on tour this season, is ninth in points, followed by Bradley, Maverick McNealy and Brian Harman.
After winning the Travelers Championship in June, there’s a strong possibility that Bradley might be a playing captain. He tied for 30th at Royal Portrush, and a solid finish or two in the FedEx Cup playoffs might solidify his position. He would be the first player-captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
Andrew Novak (13th in points), Patrick Cantlay (14th), Sam Burns (15th), Wyndham Clark (16th), Lucas Glover (17th), Daniel Berger (18th), Gotterup (22nd) and others remain in the mix.
Uggetti: Though there’s still plenty to figure out with the U.S. team, it appears that the European team is crystallizing into something quite similar to what it had in Rome.
Though he began the year slowly, Matt Fitzpatrick has picked up his form, totaling four straight finishes inside the top 20, including three inside the top-10 and an impressive T-4 finish at The Open this past week.
“First time being in contention for The Open. It’s a big step forward,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’ve been in contention for two of the four majors this year, which is really nice. Last time I did that was 2022. A lot of good stuff to build on, knowing that my game is there to give it a go.”
If there was any slight doubt that Fitzpatrick would be on the team at Bethpage, he has now quieted it.
The same can likely be said for Robert MacIntyre who was a captain’s pick last Ryder Cup and has now had a second-place finish at the U.S. Open and a T-7 finish at the Open. Currently, MacIntyre would qualify on points as he stands comfortably in second place in the rankings.
Perhaps the only question mark remains with the Hojgaard twins, who both played exceptionally well at Portrush — Nicolai (who did not make the Ryder Cup team in Rome) finished in 14th place while Rasmus (who did make the team last time) finished 16th. Rasmus is seventh in the rankings, just one spot outside of the automatic qualifiers, while Nicolai (25th) probably has some more work to do if he wants to be considered.
“We couldn’t handle each other’s success when we were younger, but we can do that now and support each other and get motivated by each other,” Nicolai said this week. “When you get older, you get slightly more mature.”
