Tag Archives: Justin Rose

Will an English Golfer Win The Open at Royal Birkdale

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It is the last major of the season for the men and the 2026 Open is at Royal Birkdale. If history is any indication of this years Open it should provide some memorable moments. This is the course where Jordan Spieth, in 2017, won after the crazy shot from the practice range. This is the course where in 1998 Justin Rose, as a 17 year old amateur, chipped in on the 18th hole and finished fourth. So what will happen this year that we will remember forever?

The last time an English golfer won The Open was in 1999 and it was Sir Nick Faldo. My hope is that Justin Rose will create magic again at Royal Birkdale and win The Open. Normally, I am picking Scottie to win majors but I really want Rosie to win this major. One reason I want to see Rose win is his age. He is 45 years old and although he is in amazing shape and appears to have a few more good years on tour; winning majors is a numbers game at this point.

Now if Justin can’t pull off the win, who else might be fun to cheer for this year? Another English golfer that would be a great win would be Tommy Fleetwood. He grew up in Southport in a house not to far from Royal Birkdale. So he will have lots of local support cheering for him. And Fleetwood seems like such a good guy that I can’t imagine any golf fan not being happy if he won. Well, I guess if you are betting on The Open and don’t pick Fleetwood then you probably would be unhappy if he wins. Of course, you can’t forget about the Fitzpatrick boys; Matt and Alex. Matt Fitzpatrick tied for 4th last year and he has three PGA Tour wins in 2026 so technically he is the best bet of the British players.

How about a golfer not from England? A long shot but exciting win would be Jordan Spieth! It would be a fun and unbelievable win. I cannot imagine that Jordan could pull it off given he is so unpredictable and has not won a tournament since 2022; but that is what makes watching Jordan fun. And of course, if Rose, Fleetwood, Fitzpatrick, or Spieth are not in the mix I hope Scottie Scheffler plays well; especially after missing the cut last week at The Scottish Open.

So can an English golfer win at Royal Birkdale and make the local fans go crazy? Or will we see an unbelievable shot that changes the life of a journeyman tour player? Or will Scheffler reaffirm his status as the best golfer in the world? Who knows but I will be watching.

Side Bar: There is a fun list of winners by nationality on The Open Website.

How to Watch:

Thursday and Friday: 4 AM to 3:30 PM EST on USA Network

Saturday and Sunday: 5 AM to 7 AM EST on USA Network then 7 AM to 3 PM EST on NBC Network

You can also stream on Peacock (as early as 1:30 am est) if you have a subscription. Or stream on the Golf Channel app.

Evian Championship or Scottish Open

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Which golf championship are you going to watch this weekend; the Evian Championship or the Scottish Open?

I’m just going to be blunt. As an LPGA fan, the third major for the ladies, the Evian is the least important major for the LPGA. I doubt many general golf fans even known the Evian is the weekend because the Scottish Open is also this week with all the top PGA Tour golfers playing to get ready for The Open next week.

EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

This week the ladies head to France for the Evian Championship. It has always been clouded by the fact that it was added in 2000 (during the rein of Mike Whan as LPGA Commissioner) as the fifth major in the ladies professional game. I think it is “clouded” because of the debate of four vs five majors; but the unspoken thoughts are that by giving Evian the status of a major the door was closed on a women’s masters. I’m sure Mike Whan never thought Augusta National would have a women’s event and yet in 2019 the first Augusta National Women’s Amateur was held.

The 2026 Evian is July 9 through July 12 and the defending champion is Grace Kim. Of course, I believe, the golf news will be all about Nelly Korda and can she win a third major this calendar year; but for me the real story for Nelly will be can she win the next “important” major, the AIG Women’s Open which is being contested July 29 to August 2 at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in England.

But back to the Evian. The purse is $9.1 million with the champion taking home $1.365 million. I am sure Nelly Korda would love to win the Evian because she has not won this major yet. A few of the big names that have won in the past and are in the field this year include Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson and Celine Boutier. A fun fact is that the first winner in 2000 was Annika Sorenstam and she won $270,000.

An indication of the lack of status of this championship is that all coverage will be on the Golf Channel (no Sunday afternoon NBC or CBS prime time coverage). But still I will probably watch some of the coverage; especially if Nelly Korda, Charley Hull, or Brooke Henderson are in the lead.

The USA TV times (eastern time zone) on Golf Channel are: July 9 & 10 (Thursday & Friday): 6 am to 11 am and July 11 & 12 (Saturday & Sunday): 4 am to 10 am. You can also watch one additional hour on the Golf Channel App from 11 am to Noon on Thursday and Friday.

SCOTTISH OPEN

You might have thought I would write about the Scottish open first in this blog post but technically the LPGA event is a major for the tour and the Scottish open is not a major for the PGA tour.

As a quick reminder The Open is next week at Royal Birkdale (July 16 to 19). If you are a golf fan, you know Royal Birkdale is famously where Justin Rose, as an young amateur at 17 years old, tied 4th in The Open and became a household name in England. There is a great video on YouTube titled “Chasing Forever: Justin Rose” from the R&A that interviews Rose and others about that day and his career.

Back to this weeks Scottish Open. All the big names are playing. I believe Golf Channel reported 33 of the top 50 players in the world are playing. And Chirs Gotterup who won the John Deer last week is the defending champion at the Scottish Open.

The Scottish Open is always fun to watch because it is at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick. It’s a hard course and there always seems to be times when pros have trouble getting out of the bunkers; which makes regular golfers, like me, feel better about their game. Watch this fun YouTube video titled “Golf Is Hard” to see some of the previous tough shots for the pros.

I don’t have a particular favorite to win the Scottish Open. It will just be fun to see some great golf on a links course as a primer before next week when I will be obsessed with watching The Open at Royal Birkdale; and yes, I want Justin Rose to win his Claret Jug.

How to Watch: It will be on the golf channel on Thursday and Friday starting at 11 am (after the Evian coverage from 6 am to 11 am). If you have ESPN+ you can start watching as early as 3:15 am. On the weekends again, turn in early on ESPN+ or watch Golf Channel from 10 to Noon and then CBS coverage from noon to 3 pm.

One thing is for sure, given how hot it is right now, I think a lot of golfers will be watching golf from the lovely air conditioning of their homes.