Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss the missed cuts of two World No. 1s and the other brewing storylines ahead of The Open Championship.
Scottie Scheffler missed the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open, ending what was the longest made-cut streak on the PGA Tour. Up next? The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Are you selling Scottie’s Open chances after his rough outing, or buying because it’s an outlier and now he’s even able to get to Royal Birkdale early?
Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@schrock_and_awe): I’m buying as much as I would’ve been pre-Scottish. As I wrote after he lost the Travelers to Viktor Hovland, Scottie has been more than a half-shot worse on approach this season. He is still the best player in the world but going from an otherworldly iron player to just pretty good has allowed a few others to sneak by him at their best. He didn’t play well in Scotland but I still think he’ll be in the mix at Birkdale. He’s not my pick, necessarily, but I would be stunned to see Scheffler play two tournaments in a row without being a factor. So, I’m gonna hold onto Scheffler Open stock.
Josh Sens, senior writer, (@joshsens): Schrock pretty much sums up my feelings. Scheffler on his ‘B’ game is still good enough to contend. If anything, this week’s missed cut stands to serve as extra motivation — the equivalent of bounce back after a bogey.
Sean Zak, senior writer (@sean_zak): I recall the golf world freaking out about Scheffler’s putting exactly 12 months ago, when the Scottish Open didn’t go his way. How’d he respond? By winning at Portrush the next week. A couple extra prep days should sort him straight ahead of Thursday’s first round.
What’s the best Open Championship storyline?
Schrock: There are two really obvious ones, but I’ll go off the board and say it’s not Tommy Fleetwood, nor Jordan Spieth. It’s Rory McIlroy. Now 37, McIlroy has really leaned into playing less, playing the tournaments he wants and throwing all his eggs into stacking up majors. He only has one Claret Jug (he should have two if not for Cam Smith). He’s been one of the best Open players of the last 20 years and it would feel weird if he doesn’t get a second. He’s only played four times since his Masters win but says that has him feeling fresh. He played well at the Scottish outside of the third round. With Scottie “struggling,” this feels like a prime opportunity for Rory to grab another major. He’s only got so many more chances on the horizon.
Sens: I’d add Scheffler to the list. The defending champ, looking to retain the title even as he searches for whatever is missing in his game.
Zak: It’s the kid from Southport playing the Open in Southport. How could it not be Tommy Fleetwood? He’s in very good form and has been looking to this week for … years now? Just listen to the people who know him best:
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One big Birkdale storyline is Tommy Fleetwood, the hometown kid who is still looking for his first major title. Although despite Tommy’s improved play over the past year (he moved up to as high as 3rd in the World Ranking at the beginning of the season) he hasn’t recorded a major top 10 in the last two years. At 35, is Fleetwood’s peak major window closing? Or just opening?
Schrock: I think it’s firmly open. He’s still a world-class ball-striker and I expect him to win one or two of these. But as we’ve seen with Rickie Fowler, sometimes the near-misses become forever misses and the window shuts. Would like to see some life from Tommy at Birkdale to show the major window is still as wide open as I think it is.
Sens: It’s still open but with every opportunity that slips by, that opening starts to look tighter and tighter. The flipside of being the hometown boy is the added pressure that comes with it. I don’t see that benefitting a guy of Fleetwood’s makeup. As great a player as he is, he always seems more comfortable in team play than he does as the lone guy in the spotlight, trying to win a biggie in stroke play.
Zak: I think that window really starts to close for guys when they turn 37 or 38. Fleetwood has a couple more years of absolute prime, I’d think. He’s basically played at this top-8 level for three straight years now, so there’s not much for signs that the door is closing just yet.
Speaking of Fleetwood, does he hold the title of Best Player Without A Major right now? If not, who does?
Schrock: I want to say it’s Hovland but I think the clear answer is Cameron Young. He won the Players and had the lead at the Masters on Sunday. He’s No. 3 in the world and has clearly leveled up this year. Won’t be surprised to see him leave Birkdale with the Claret Jug and take his name off this list.
Sens: I’d go with Young as well. Our reigning Player’s Champion who has come agonizingly close in several majors already.
Zak: It’s Fleetwood. (Apologies for talking about him so much!) Young has been at this level for only a little while. I think that distinction often follows someone who’s been doing it a bit longer. But if we’re talking straight up most talented non-major winners, I nominate Ludvig Aberg.
It’s the last men’s major of the season; who is feeling the pressure the most?
Schrock: I feel like my answer to this question is always Jon Rahm. Ever since he left for LIV, our chances to see him compete against Scottie and Rory have been limited. He has contended at two PGAs since the move to LIV, but we’ve seen little else. With LIV having an uncertain future and Rahm’s future equally murky, it’s always important that he brings his best this week and potentially gets a third major.
Sens: Schrock takes the words out of my keyboard yet again. And again, I’ll add Scheffler to the list. On the one hand, he never really seems daunted – he’s too grounded for that— but he comes in off a rare missed cut as the defending champ, for the final major of what has been a disappointing season by his standards. This one’s got to feel just a bit bigger than usual for him.
Zak: Am I wrong to invoke Fleetwood again?!? He will feel things on Birkdale’s 1st tee that no one else will really feel this year. Or maybe even next year. Until Shane Lowry plays the 1st tee shot in the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor, we won’t have the hometown, home legend story building quite like it has for Fleetwood this week. That’s incredible pressure.
More surprising missed cut: Scheffler at the Genesis; or Nelly Korda, who up until her Evian Championship missed cut hadn’t finished worse than T8 (and with four wins and three runner-up finishes) in nine individual stroke-play events?
Schrock: It’s Nelly for me. She has a shaky history at the Evian but I very much expected her to at least be on the periphery. A missed cut wasn’t in the cards given how dominant she has been this season. As stated above, Scottie has been a tick below his normal self and when you add in links golf with some wind, sometimes you’re going to get a bad result when you don’t have your ‘A’ game.
Sens: Scheffler. It had been nearly four years since he missed the weekend. That’s staggering.
Zak: By the look of his confused face Friday afternoon, I’ll say it was Scheffler’s missed cut that was most surprising. People forget that he was riding an even more impressive streak: 37 straight top-25 finishes (including a couple Hero World Challenges, FWIW). As Jon Rahm told me, it wasn’t the cuts made that are astonishing. It’s that every time he played, he seemed to have a chance to win.
