Open Championship: Ranking the top 25 favorites at Royal Birkdale - ESPN

SOUTHPORT, England — As much of this country turns its attention to England's spectacular quest for its first World Cup title since 1966, the world's best golfers will descend on Royal Birkdale Golf Club this week for the 154th Open Championship.

Several of the country's golf heroes will try to end another long English drought in the final major championship of the season.

Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Aaron Rai and others will try to become the first English golfer to hoist a Claret Jug since Nick Faldo won his third in 1992.

World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler, who will try to become the first back-to-back winner of The Open since Padraig Harrington in 2008-09, and Rory McIlroy are once again the betting favorites.

It will be the 11th time that Royal Birkdale has hosted The Open. Jordan Spieth won the last time in 2017 when he famously made bogey on the 13th hole after taking a drop from an unplayable lie onto the driving range. Then Spieth played the next four holes at 5 under par to beat Matt Kuchar by three strokes.

The golf course has changed dramatically since then. The par-3 fourth has been extended by 20 yards to 219. The fifth has been shortened by 25 yards and is now a drivable par 4. The par-3 14th was transformed into a 602-yard par 5, and the par-5 15th is now a demanding 241-yard par 3.

Here are the favorites to watch when the tournament tees off Thursday:

1. Scottie Scheffler

Scheffler is coming off his first missed cut in nearly four years when he didn't play on the weekend in the Genesis Scottish Open. That gave him a chance to get an early look at Royal Birkdale, where he had never played. Scheffler hasn't won since his first event of the season in the American