The golf world heads to Hoylake, England for the 151st Open Championship. This year’s venue is Royal Liverpool Golf Club which has hosted the Open Championship 13 times.
With the announcement of the merger between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and the Saudi Arabian Private Investment Fund (PIF) the XX LIV Golf players that made the field this week is less of a story since the strife in the golf world has been resolved.
There still is a sour taste in some mouths of PGA Tour players regarding the secrecy of the negotiations, the 180 – degree reversal on the stance previously taken by the tour, and the amount of money some players lost by not initially going to the tour that they are now aligned.
The run up to the 2022 Open Championship was dominated by the players that had defected to LIV Golf and those top players that were being actively courted by the Saudi backed league.
Last year eventual champion, Cam Smith, dodged questions regarding his allegiance to the PGA Tour in pre-tournament press conferences. Which led to some pundits predicting, accurately, his defection to LIV Golf.
But now is all well in the golf world, and we’re ready to crown the Champion Golfer of the year from among the best in the world.
Although the strife has been squashed, the 15 LIV Golfer will garner attention that have qualified for the fourth major championship of the year.
Brooks Koepka, Cam Smith, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Talor Gooch, Abraham Ancer, Richard Bland, Laurie Canter, Branden Grace, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, Thomas Pieters, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, and Henrik Stenson could be seen again on the Tour with the new “agreement to make an agreement” between the PGA Tour and PIF.
Tiger Woods, who shunned LIV, won at Royal Liver Pool in 2006 for his 11th major championship, however he will not be in the field this week while he continues to rehab his ailing leg.
Players to Watch
Tony Finau
This will be Tony’s first trip to Royal Liver Pool, but his seventh appearance at the Open Championship.
In his six times playing in the first major championship Tony’s best finish was third at Royal Port Rush in 2019. That third place finish was also Tony’s best finish in a major championship.
Finau also has one other top-10 which came when he finished ninth at Carnoustie in 2018. He’s made the cut in every appearance with his worst finish being 28th in last year’s tournament at the Home of Golf, St. Andrews.
In the other major championship this year Tony finished in a tie for 26th at the Masters, a tie for 72nd at the PGA Championship, and a tie for 32nd at the U.S. Open.
In 19 events on the PGA Tour this season Tony has 11 top-25 finishes which include four top-10s. Tony also has two wins this season. His first was in November at the Cadence Bank Houston Open, and his second was at the Mexico Open at Vidanta in April.
Tony’s most recent event on the PGA Tour was the Rocket Mortgage Classic where he failed to make the cut.
Finau is currently ranked 9th in the FedEx Cup and 16th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Sahith Theegala
This will be Sahith’s second appearance at the Open Championship. His first appearance in 2019 was at St. Andrews; he finished tied for 34th.
In the other major champs this year Sahith finished in ninth at the Masters, in a tie for 40th at the PGA Championship, and in a tie for 27th at the U.S. Open.
In 24 events so far on the PGA Tour this season Sahith has 10 top-25 finishes which include seven top 10s. His best finish was at the RSM Classic in November.
Theegala is currently ranked 31st in the FedEx Cup and within the top 70 that will make it to the playoff. He is also 35th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Tee Times
Finau: Thursday – 2:48 PM; Friday – 9:47 AM
Theegala: Thursday – 1:26 PM; Friday – 8:25 AM
How to Watch
On Thursday (7/20) and Friday (7/21) live coverage can be seen from 4 AM to 3 PM on USA. Saturday coverage will be split between USA from 5 AM to 7 AM and NBC from 7 AM to 3 PM. The final round on Sunday can be seen on USA from 4 AM to 7 AM, and NBC from 7 AM to 2 PM.