The PGA Tour heats up this week as it returns to Royal St. George’s Golf Courae for the 149th playing of The Open Championship. Read on below to see my predictions for who will win the tournament, as well as my predictions for who will finish in the top 10, my dark horse, and my player to fade.
Winner: Brooks Koepka- Koepka has been feast or famine of late, finishing in the top 5 in 6 of his last 14 starts as well as missing the cut in 6 of those 14 starts. But as we all know, Koepka shifts into an extra gear when the majors role around, with 4 wins, 12 top 5’s, and 21 top 25’s in 29 career major starts, to alongside just 3 missed cuts. Koepka has finished in the top 10 in 3 of his last 4 Open Championship appearances, including a T-4 finish in 2018. Koepka has finished T-2 and T-4 in the PGA Championship and US Open, respectively, and is due for a major win. With all that said, I predict a victory for Brooksy come Sunday!
Top 10: Xander Schauffele- Schauffele has played as well as you can without a win of late, with 9 top 15 finishes in his last 13 worldwide starts. Like Koepka, Schauffele has a way to play even better when it comes to the majors, with a pair of runner ups, 6 top 5’s, 9 top 10’s and 12 top 25’s in 17 career major starts, with only 2 missed cuts along the way. Schauffele finished T-2 in the Open Championship in 2018 and is coming off a T-10 at the Scottish Open. I expect Schauffele to contend for the win, but a top 10 is a lock at this point.
Dark Horse: Takumi Kanaya- The 90th ranked player in the world, Kanaya is not a player many people in the United States are familiar with. Nevertheless, Kanaya is an absolute stud over on the European and Japan Golf Tours, finishing in the top 20 in 9 of his last 14 worldwide starts, including 2 wins during that stretch. I don’t expect Kanaya to be a realistic threat to win, but I expect him to turn some heads and bring home at least a top 25 finish.
Player to Fade: Haotong Li- Li has been in quite the slump of late, making the cut just once in his last 14 worldwide starts. Royal St. George’s is not a course where you’ll find your form if you’re game has been struggling. I predict a missed cut for Li this week.