The 154th Open starts Thursday at Royal Birkdale. It is the 11th time the Southport links has hosted, and the last two Opens here show how far apart the winning scores can be.
2017: 268, 12 under
Jordan Spieth led Matt Kuchar by three going into Sunday and was a shot behind after a bogey at the 13th. That bogey took a 20-minute ruling and a third shot from the practice ground. He then played the next four holes in five under, closed with 69 and won by three.
2008: 283, 3 over
Pádraig Harrington defended his title in far harsher conditions. Greg Norman, aged 53, led by one with nine to play, but made too many mistakes in the wind and shot 77. Harrington hit a 5-wood to four feet for eagle at the 17th, closed with 69 and beat Ian Poulter.
Same course, nine years apart, 15 shots different. At Birkdale the weather sets the winning number more than the card does.
The other numbers for the week
- 14 Past Open champions in the field, from David Duval (2001) to Scottie Scheffler (2025)
- 4 Players in the field who also played Birkdale in 1998, 2008 and 2017
- 23 Open starts for Justin Rose, one of those four. He won the Silver Medal here as a 17-year-old amateur in 1998
- 10 Previous Opens at Birkdale, won by nine players. Peter Thomson won twice
The roll of honor at Birkdale also includes Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Ian Baker-Finch and Mark O'Meara. If the wind stays away this week, the 2017 number is the one to beat. If it arrives, 2008 says anything over par is in play.
Sources: AP via WTOP, Royal Birkdale's roll call of champions (July); Sky Sports and Golf Today (2017 final round); The First Call (14 July, past champions in the field and Justin Rose).