Classy field lines up for the Open Championship with no clear favourite

Cameron Smith opens his title defence at the Open Championship at Hoylake near Liverpool on Thursday clubbed along with Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Xander Schauffele and US Open champion Xander Schauffele.

The popular Australian warmed up for the 151st edition of the Open at Royal Liverpool in prefect fashion with a title-winning run at LIV Golf’s London tournament two weeks ago and barring an errant driver, looks to be in good shape to go for a rare double.

Smith will be challenged all the way by world number two Rory McIlroy, winner of the Genesis Scottish Open at North Berwick two days ago – also runner-up at the year’s fourth and final major at St Andrews last year.

“I’ve had a few close calls recently so to get over the line and get this bit of confidence going into next week and the rest of the season is huge,” McIlroy said after his win at the Renaissance Club on Sunday. “Hopefully this breaks the seal for me and we can go on from here.”

World number one Scottie Scheffler too had a good run at the Scottish Open, taking third place while Spain’s Jon Rahm, with four titles already in the bag this season says Carlos Alcaraz’s victory at Wimbledon over seven-time champion Novak Djokovic was inspiring.

“I think when you have the right people to look up to, it’s a little bit easier to get to that,” the world number three was quoted as saying. “Rafa obviously had a few major tennis champions to look up to when he was coming up and he did what he did, so it’s obvious for Carlos to grow up watching Rafa do what he did.

“Not that it’s easier, but it makes you want to be the next … When it comes to golf, we have massive references as well,” the 28-year-old added.

The Asian challenge at Hoylake will come from mainly from the Koreans Si Woo Kim, Byeong Hun An, third at the Scottish Open, Joohyung Kim, and Sungjae Im amongst others.

For his part, Si Woo is keen to launch a title tilt at The Open following a three-week break, saying his game has been the most consistent it has ever been this season. The four-time PGA Tour winner will make his fifth appearance at the Open where a career best tied 15th at St Andrews last year helped him believe he could challenge the best.

“This is the most consistent year, I think, for me. Only missed cuts in a few events, and made a lot of cuts,” said Kim, who has earned over $4.8 million this season, a career high since making his tour debut in 2016.

Kim said he was particularly happy with improvements with his iron play where he is ranked 24th in Strokes Gained: Approach to Green. His best performance in the stat category was

previously 84th during the 2019-20 campaign and he credited swing coach Chris Como for his stellar season thus far.

“My iron play is more consistent now compared to the last few years. Hitting more greens and less percentage to make bogey. That’s why it’s helped,” Kim explained. “I’ve been working on my irons, step by step. A couple of years ago, I wasn’t quite ready for great ball-striking and I’ve been trying to build it up with my coach and it’s been helpful since I started to work full time with him this year.”

While Kim has won the Players Championship in 2017, which is often regarded as a tournament with the deepest field in the game, he knows that winning a major is a different challenge. No Asian golfer has won The Open, with Chinese Taipei’s Lu Liang-huang coming closest by finishing runner-up to Lee Trevino in 1971.

Kim, winner of the Sony Open in Hawaii in January, thinks The Open provides a good chance for players like him to challenge for major glory. “Always hard to win a major. These guys hit it far but I think there’s a chance for Asian players on this kind of golf course as we don’t have to hit it far.

“It’s more course management and short game. I think I can have more of a chance to win here than a U.S. Open or PGA Championship. Links course is more doable. I always like to play on links courses. Love to play the low trajectory shots. Everything feels great now. Feeling fresh and body is feeling good.”

On the challenge from his fellow-Asians in the field, he added, “All the Korean players are pushing each other and I think that helps us to play better. I don’t know, if he (An) follows me. I’m happy for him. Maybe I’ll take 3 percent (of his winnings)!” he laughed.

Meanwhile, a pack of LIV golfers too will line up at Royal Liverpool besides Cameron Smith with Brooks Koepka winning the PGA Championship and sharing second place with Phil Mickelson at the Masters, Patrick Reed taking a T4 at Augusta, and Bryson DeChambeau tied for fourth at the PGA Championship.