The Open: Scheffler favored; McIlroy seeks season's first major win - ESPN

TROON, Scotland — The Open Championship, the final major championship of the season, starts Thursday at Royal Troon Golf Course on Scotland's west coast.

The Open is typically the most wide-open of the four majors, which is how it produced previous champions like Todd Hamilton, Ben Curtis, Paul Lawrie and others. The firm fairways and slow greens of links golf help make it anyone's tournament to win.

«I can just see how somebody who is either a bit older or maybe not as talented as some of us out here, like you take a 10 handicap that only carries it 200 yards, they can run it up and have fun and not lose many balls,» world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler said. «But a golf course out here is still going to challenge players like myself.»

Of course, Scheffler is still the man to beat, according to oddsmakers. How he continues to adjust to links golf will be one of the top storylines at Royal Troon.

Scheffler comes in red hot, having won six times in his past 10 starts on tour. His sixth win came in a playoff victory over Tom Kim at the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, on June 23.

Tiger Woods was the last golfer to win seven times in a season on tour, most recently in 2007.

As good as Scheffler has been the past four seasons, The Open has been his biggest challenge in the majors. His best finish was a tie for eighth at Royal St. George's in Sandwich, England, in 2021.

«As far as the learning curve goes, I just feel like you have to be more creative here,» Scheffler said. «I love that part of it. I feel like, when I do come over here, this is really how golf was intended to be played. I feel like there's a lot more opportunity for shotmaking and being creative around the greens.»

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