The 154th Open Championship gets under way at Royal Birkdale on Thursday morning, and Wednesday’s final practice day brought the last round of team news, withdrawals and course verdicts before the Claret Jug chase begins. Here is where things stand heading into round one.
Oosthuizen Withdraws, Potgieter Gets The Call
The 2010 Champion Golfer of the Year, Louis Oosthuizen, has pulled out of this week’s Open with a back injury that will also keep him out of next week’s LIV Golf UK event. According to Golf Monthly, Oosthuizen posted on social media that it was “the difficult decision to withdraw from both the Open Championship and LIV Golf’s JCB event,” adding that his priority is now recovery ahead of a return to competition.
His exit hands a place in the field to fellow South African Aldrich Potgieter, who had finished third in Monday’s Last-Chance Qualifier as first alternate. It is the first time since 2008 that Oosthuizen has missed the Championship outright.
Baldwin Given Home Send-Off For The Opening Tee Shot
Royal Birkdale member Matthew Baldwin, 40, will strike the historic opening tee shot of the Championship at 6.35am on Thursday, teeing off alongside Thomas Detry and James Nicholas. Baldwin qualified for his fourth Open appearance via Final Qualifying at Dundonald Links and will do so in front of his own club, having been a member there since he was 17.
He follows in the footsteps of past honorary starters including Matthew Jordan and Justin Leonard, and joins a week already shaped by the confirmed tee times for rounds one and two, which pair defending champion Scottie Scheffler with Tyrrell Hatton and Bryson DeChambeau.
Players Settle On Their Strategy For A Firm, Fast Birkdale
Practice week has been dominated by the brown, firm conditions at Birkdale, and the final look at the course has sharpened plans rather than changed them. Rory McIlroy said the burnt-out rough was “a double-edged sword,” explaining that some players would take driver more aggressively into the fairway bunkers because the rough is “not that penal” this year. Justin Rose has gone the other way, adding extra long irons to his bag at the expense of his usual 7-wood.
Scottie Scheffler, chasing a second successive Claret Jug, said the firmness “creates a whole lot more challenges” off the tee, with players weighing up driver against longer irons on nearly every hole to control where the ball finishes.
What’s Next
Play begins at 6.35am on Thursday, with full coverage of round one from Royal Birkdale as the 154th Open Championship gets under way.
