Open Championship 2025: Ranking the top 25 players - ESPN

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — The final major championship of the year has arrived, and if the 2019 Open Championship is any indication, Royal Portrush is once again set to provide the perfect canvas for an epic four rounds of golf to determine the champion golfer of the year.

This year's majors have already given us compelling results as world No. 2 Rory McIlroy completed the career grand slam at the Masters, and the top player in the world, Scottie Scheffler, added to his major total by winning the PGA Championship. Then, journeyman J.J. Spaun shocked the golf world last month when he outlasted every player in the field and conquered Oakmont for his major victory in the U.S Open.

All three are in the Open this week as well as the rest of the top players in the world who will look to play their way into the story of this major season.

Here's a look at the 25 players most likely to be raising the Claret Jug come Sunday.

1. Scottie Scheffler

There is never much to say about Scheffler before any of these majors any more than just to always frame any prediction with the caveat that he might simply overpower the rest of the field in a way only he can. But what's more intriguing is seeing the three-time major champion make his way overseas and try to translate what makes him excel stateside to a vastly different style of golf.

At the Scottish Open this week, Scheffler finished tied for eighth and his record at Open Championships so far has been, relatively speaking, the most mixed of any of the other majors. In four starts, Scheffler's best finish is a tie for seventh at last year's Open (he finished tied for eighth in his Open debut in 2021) and he has two finishes just outside the top 20 in between. If you needed a reminder