The final major of 2025, this week’s British Open at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland, is suddenly here. It seems like yesterday when Rory McIlroy ended his long drought in majors by winning the Masters in a playoff over Justin Rose, becoming the sixth man to attain the career Grand Slam.
McIlroy, despite his uneven performances in the P.G.A. Championship and U.S. Open, will be among the favorites this week in his native country, as will Xander Schauffele, the defending champion, and Scottie Scheffler, the top-ranked golfer in the world.
Here are five other players to watch.
Lee Westwood
It’s good to see Westwood in the field for another major championship. His most recent appearance was the 2022 British Open at St. Andrews, where he tied for 34th.
Westwood, 52, who jumped to LIV Golf in 2022, was for many years on the short list of the best players in the game without a major victory. He came close on numerous occasions, recording nine top-three finishes. But in his last nine majors, he hasn’t cracked the top 10.
He got into this year’s British Open by qualifying this month at Dundonald Links in Scotland. He shot rounds of 70 and 67 — the lowest total of anyone in the field — to secure one of the five available spots.
“I’m just looking forward to enjoying the week at Portrush,” Westwood told the media recently. “Seeing a few old friends and enjoying that golf course. For me, it’s in the top three links courses in the British Isles.”
In 2019, when the British Open was last staged at Royal Portrush, Westwood tied for fourth.
Keegan Bradley
With the Ryder Cup two months away, a big question remains: Will Bradley, the United States captain, play in the event as well?
It depends on how he performs over the remainder of the season, starting this week at Royal Portrush.
Bradley, 39, the winner of a recent tournament in Connecticut, hasn’t played well in the British Open, and that’s putting it mildly. In 11 appearances since his debut in 2012, he has yet to record a top 10 finish, his best showing was a tie for 15th in 2013. Worse yet, he has missed the cut the last five times, including last year when he shot rounds of 74 and 75.
Still, he’s ranked No. 7 in the world and occupies the ninth spot in the current Ryder Cup standings. The top six automatically qualify, with the captain picking the rest of the squad.
The way he’s been playing this year — he has four top 10s in addition to his one victory — he’d be justified picking himself.
A good showing at Portrush would make the case even stronger.
Justin Rose
Rose, 44, of England, is running out of time to add a second major title to the one he captured at the 2013 U.S. Open.
He’s had his chances in recent years. In addition to this year’s playoff loss to McIlroy at the Masters, he tied for second in the 2024 British Open, two shots behind Schauffele. Overall, he has posted finishes of five seconds and two thirds in majors since turning professional in 1998.
The British Open was where he made his first big impression. In the 1998 Open, Rose, an amateur at the time, tied for fourth, making a shot from about 50 yards on the final hole. He became a pro the next day.
His near misses in the Masters have been particularly frustrating. He’s held a share of the lead after 12 rounds, the fourth most of all time, but has not been able to walk away with the green jacket.
Rose, ranked No. 21, tied for 20th in the 2019 Open.
Adam Scott
Scott, who turned 45 this week, is also running out of opportunities to pick up a second major. His first major, similar to Rose, came in 2013 when he defeated Angel Cabrera in a playoff at the Masters.
To succeed, Scott will have to rebound from what has to rank as one of his toughest setbacks.
Heading into the final round of last month’s U.S. Open, Scott trailed the leader, Sam Burns, by only one stroke. He was still in the hunt on the back nine, but made bogeys on 14 and 15 and a double bogey on 16. Scott shot a nine-over 79 to finish in a tie for 12th.
A victory at Royal Portrush would also atone for his memorable collapse in the 2012 British Open. Scott, leading by four strokes with four holes to go, bogeyed each of them to lose by a stroke to Ernie Els.
“I had it in my hands with four to go,” Scott said afterward. “I’m very disappointed.”
Brooks Koepka
On the one hand, Koepka’s play in the majors the last two years has been mediocre.
In seven majors, he hasn’t recorded a single top 10 finish. This year he missed the cut in the Masters and the P.G.A. Championship. He was able, however, to tie for 12th in the U.S. Open.
On the other, he has a reputation of performing his best in these events. Before 2024, he won five majors, including the 2023 P.G.A. In other words, he is due.
Koepka, 35, made other kinds of headlines recently. At last month’s LIV Golf event in Dallas, he smashed a tee marker after hitting a poor drive on the ninth hole. He ended up with a bogey on the hole and withdrew from the tournament because of illness.
It appears that Koepka, a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup teams in 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2023, will not make the squad for this year’s matches at Bethpage Black in New York.
Unless perhaps he pulls off a victory at Royal Portrush. It could happen.
The post The Players to Watch at the British Open appeared first on New York Times.
