After the British Open, some of men's golf's biggest stars go for Olympic gold

The final men's golf major of the year tees off Thursday at Scotland's Royal Troon, site of the 152nd Open Championship.

The last-chance vibes of this British Open, as we call it on this side of the pond, are especially strong as some of the sport's biggest stars look to make up for missed opportunities in the previous majors.

We're mostly talking about Rory McIlroy, who blew a pair of short putts over the final few holes of last month's U.S. Open to cost himself his first major title in a decade. If the second-ranked Northern Irishman is truly recovered from that meltdown (his fourth-place finish on Sunday at the Scottish Open after a long break suggests that he is), he should contend again this week.

Sixth-ranked Collin Morikawa tied for third at the Masters and fourth at the PGA Championship, but the American is still seeking his first major since winning the British Open in 2021. Tenth-ranked Jon Rahm has gone off the rails since he took the money and ran to LIV Golf late last year, surrendering his Masters title with his worst-ever finish at Augusta in April before missing the cut at the PGA Championship and withdrawing from the U.S. Open with a toe injury.

Even top-ranked Scottie Scheffler has something to prove. Yes, he's a virtual lock for PGA Tour player of the year with six tournament wins already, including his second green jacket, to establish himself as the most dominant player since Tiger Woods' heyday. But the American tied for eighth at the PGA Championship (getting arrested by an overzealous traffic cop probably didn't help) and was outside the top 40 at the U.S. Open — easily his worst finish of the year.

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