154TH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW

Royal Birkdale has played host to some of the most titanic tussles in Open Championship history, but who will come out on top at the famous Southport links in 2026? Nick Bayly previews the season’s final major, which gets under way on July 16, highlighting the key challenges of the course and assessing the chances of the current generation of pretenders to the crown of ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’.
Since 1860, The Open Championship has been played over some of the world’