The 2026 season has reached the end of the majors line with the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Jordan Spieth detoured through the driving range en route to winning the last Open at Birkdale in 2017. Global Golf Post’s Ron Green Jr., John Hopkins, Scott Michaux and John Steinbreder gather once again for a virtual roundtable to discuss topics on tap this week on the Merseyside coast.
Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, plays host to its 11th Open Championship since 1954. Where does it rank among the five current rota venues outside of Scotland?
Green: I put it second behind Royal Portrush, which easily occupies the top spot on my list. Beyond those two, I put Royal St. George's third, Royal Liverpool fourth and, only because I have never been there, I put Royal Lytham & St Annes fifth.
Hopkins: It deserves its place as one of the fairest, most demanding, scenically rewarding as it winds through the dunes, and distinguished of the English clubs that host the Open. Just look at some of the winners since it made its debut in 1954 – the great, late Australian Peter Thomson, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Jordan Spieth. Need one say more?
Michaux: I’m partial to the rugged dunes of Royal Portrush and tend to find the four English venues rather bland in comparison. But Birkdale has delivered a roster of champions worthy of its royal designation. It puts on a good show.
Steinbreder: Royal Birkdale is among the best of all Open venues to me, and it has a lot to do with the quality of the tour professionals who have won there, with seven of the nine victors (Thomson, Palmer, Trevino, Watson, Johnny Miller, Pádraig Harrington and Mark O'Meara) being in the World Golf Hall of Fame. And 2017 champion Spieth may join them one day. I also like that Birkdale is as wonderful a place for recreational golfers to play as it is a championship stage for the best in the world.
Birkdale (15th hole) joins fellow royals Liverpool (17), Lytham (11) and Portrush (7-8) in building completely new holes on their storied links. Is this a good or bad thing?
Nos. 14, 15 and 16 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club
David Cannon, R&A via Getty Images
Green: When they are done well, as they were at Portrush, they make a good thing better. It’s a delicate business, tinkering with classic layouts, but the reality is the game has changed to the point that it’s sometimes necessary. Most importantly, the new holes can’t feel new.
Hopkins: I am not a fan of the new 17th at Royal Liverpool though I didn’t mind the new seventh and eighth at Royal Portrush last year. I will reserve judgment on Birkdale’s 15th until I’ve seen how the pros handle it this week and what the spectators’ verdict is. Meanwhile, Paul McGinley’s point is that golf is the only sport that adjusts the size of its competitive arena. Basketball, baseball, soccer and tennis don’t. Why does golf, he asks, and I think he has a point.
Michaux: If you’re not evolving, you’re losing against today’s modern equipment. As long as the new holes blend seamlessly into the course like Portrush’s two additions, there’s nothing wrong with an upgrade to a championship venue. That said, if the Old Course does something beyond stretching tees back onto St Andrews’ other courses and completely redesigns a single hole, there should be a worldwide rebellion like there was when they added the unsightly patio to the Swilcan Bridge.
Steinbreder: Championship golf venues, like Hollywood starlets, need nips and tucks every now and then. And sometimes that includes the addition of new holes, which is fine by me.
The 2026 majors have taken us to places with distinctive clubhouses at Augusta National, Shinnecock Hills and now Birkdale’s nautically inspired building. Thoughts on Birkdale’s unique look and how important a clubhouse is in raising a major venue’s profile to iconic?
No. 18 and clubhouse at Birkdale during the 2017 Open Championship
Richard Heathcote, R&A via Getty Images
Green: Clubhouses are nice accessories, especially at places like Shinnecock Hills and the Old Course, but they are not essential to the overall experience. Pebble Beach does just fine without a famous clubhouse while Birkdale's identity is partially tied to the unusual design of its building. Not every place, as we know, can be like Augusta National.
Hopkins: Birkdale is not as old as Golf Club Varese, north of Milan, which has a 12th century monastery as its clubhouse. Nor is it as screechingly overstated or large as Medinah’s and its locker room has none of the stylish and understated comfort of Seminole with all its competition winners on boards around the room. But Birkdale’s clubhouse, which looks like a ship that has been beached among the dunes, is striking among golf clubhouses, a worthy adornment to the golf course, and all the better for that.
Michaux: Birkdale’s beached-ship motif was certainly a choice, though its brutish charm doesn’t compare to the timeless classics like Augusta and Shinnecock. Some courses stand on their own merits without needing anything else to dress it up like Pebble Beach or Portrush, but a great clubhouse that sits right on top of the course can define a major venue in our mind’s eye more than any holes like the R&A’s home at St Andrews, the blue-and-white awnings of Winged Foot’s stoned mansion, Oakmont’s distinctive green Tudor, Congressional’s Spanish Revival colossus or Merion’s classic colonial farmhouse with its bustling bar and grill adjacent the first tee that grows silent when a player steps to the ball. Great clubhouses shine.
Steinbreder: I am a fan of Art Deco architecture, which means I love the edifice that serves as Royal Birkdale’s clubhouse and appreciate its sleek and stylish lines and how different it is from those classics at Augusta, Winged Foot, Ridgewood and Shinnecock Hills.
This major season marks the first since 1989 to feature neither Phil Mickelson nor Tiger Woods in a single event. How does that hit everyone?
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods in 2018
Sam Greenwood, Getty Images
Green: It’s something we have been edging toward for a while and, rather than feel melancholy, it’s a reminder of how great it was when they were in their primes. Between them, they won 21 majors and had 18 runner-up finishes. For two decades, they were always the story.
Hopkins: I once called Phil Mickelson a chump and a silly ass on U.S. television after he had deliberately hit his moving ball on a green at the 2018 U.S. Open and I got publicly chastised for doing so. One month later I saw him in the Open at Carnoustie and apologised to him. “No need to apologise, John,” he said. “I was completely in the wrong.” For that admission alone, and taking no side in the current allegations about his behaviour, I will miss him. As for Tiger, do we really miss him still? We have got used to his non-appearances, haven’t we?
Michaux: Both careers have taken tragic turns, and that is heartbreaking for fans. While Tiger has been able to largely mend his reputation if not his body, there’s still hope he might get healthy enough to come back someday and perhaps dazzle us with a final flourish somewhere. I’m not sure there is any coming back from the dark place Mickelson’s life has gone since he was on top of the world in 2021. He’s a hero turned heel and I’m not sure the public will ever forgive him for his array of alleged sins. It wouldn’t shock me if he never played again, though I suspect he will come to Augusta and nobody will care.
Steinbreder: It feels both strange and sad not having Tiger and Phil around from a competitive standpoint this year. And I do miss them in ways. But truth be told, I have moved on, due largely to how self-induced their downfalls have been, whether from addictions and driving accidents or incessantly bad and obnoxious behavior, and find it more satisfying these days to root for those with less sullied pasts and reputations.
Let’s shake the prediction market up a bit. Excluding anyone inside the current Official World Golf Ranking top 10, who is your best bet to win this week’s Open Championship?
Alex Fitzpatrick
logan whitton, USGA
Green: I’ll go with Alex Fitzpatrick since I’m not allowed to pick his fourth-ranked brother, Matt, this time.
Hopkins: Look at who is currently 11th and look no further. I give you Jon Rahm and I would not be the least surprised to see him holding the jug on Sunday evening.
Michaux: Jon Rahm (No. 11) and Xander Schauffele (14) are conveniently perched right outside the top 10, but I’m going to go almost outside the entire top 100 and take a complete flier on world No. 100 Haotong Li. He finished third at Birkdale in his Open debut in 2017 and was fourth last year at Portrush (let’s ignore what he did in between). I’d certainly like to place an each-way bet on him at 100/1 odds.
Steinbreder: I am going with Viktor Hovland and hope he feeds off the success of Norway’s World Cup team and finally rows his way to that first major. His triumph at the Travelers Championship a few weeks ago sets him up nicely for that.
Viktor Hovland
