The Open 2024 Preview, Picks & Analysis

Despite everything he has achieved in 2024, if Scottie Scheffler ends the year with only one major to his name he is surely going to be disappointed.

He won The Masters in April for a second time, tied eighth at the US PGA and was a lowly tied 41st at the US Open. He has also won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Players, the RBC Heritage, the Memorial and the Travelers.

After he won The Travelers, Matt Fitzpatrick tweeted: "Why do we even bother?" 

With six wins before the end of June, Scheffler has produced a spell of golf we haven’t seen since Tiger Woods was in his prime. Dominant? Just a bit. He was pretty damn good in 2023 too but he will know all too well that it could all disappear in an instant. And that is why he will want to pick up the Claret Jug at Royal Troon on Sunday. Because he really doesn’t know if he will ever get another chance.

But there is some encouraging news for his rivals - in three previous starts he has finished no better than tied eighth (in 2021). He was tied 21st in 2022 and tied 23rd last year. That should give his rivals some hope, other than the fact that he has now improved the one area of his game where he was struggling - he is now not only a fabulous ball striker but has also become a world-class putter.

• Must Read Content
• Tournament Winners
• The Course
• Form Guide
• Picks to Win
• Players to Follow
• Outsiders to Watch
• Sky Sports TV Schedule
• BBC TV Highlights

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Rory McIlroy will, of course, be the centre of attention after his heartbreaking failure in the US Open at Pinehurst as he once again tried to end a major drought stretching back 10 years. McIlroy is a resilient character but he has suffered many battle scars in recent years and it will be fascinating to see how he copes with the vagaries presented by Royal Troon, a course with plenty of humps and hollows. The very nature of links golf means that perfect golf shots sometimes end up in knee-high rough if they get the wrong sort of kick and it is essential that the four-time major champion does not get down on himself if he is to have any chance at all of delighting a massive crowd who will all be willing him to succeed.

His record in The Open is pretty good. Apart from his victory at Royal Liverpool in 2014, he has had six top-six finishes. And here is something that might be worth holding on to - he followed his horrendous final-round collapse at The Masters in 2011 with an eight-shot victory at the US Open in his very next major start. What he wouldn’t give for a repeat of that performance.

Xander Schauffele finally broke his major duck when he held off Bryson DeChambeau to win the US PGA Championship at Valhalla. It was a victory that should have surprised nobody. The current Olympic champion, who will defend his title in Paris, has been making cuts for fun. More than that, he seems to contend just about every time he competes. He does not hit the ball miles but he does find a lot of fairways, is a glorious iron player and can putt the lights out on his day. 

Nobody has done better in the majors in 2024 than DeChambeau. He finished seventh at The Masters after finally seeming to accept the fact that Augusta National is not a course that can be bullied. He then finished second to Schauffele at Valhalla, winning an army of new fans with a display of passion that was reminiscent of the likes of Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods in their prime. And he displayed a huge amount of class by waiting by the 18th green to warmly congratulate Schauffele, even though he later admitted that he was gutted to lose.

Pinehurst is not a course that should have suited DeChambeau but, with more than a little help from McIlroy, he then stunned the golfing world by winning the US Open. We are seeing a different DeChambeau these days. He now seems to have accepted that trying to use brute force to bring courses to their knees is not enough. Yes, he still hits the ball vast distances and yes he still misses a lot fairways. But he won at Pinehurst because he displayed a sublime touch on and around the greens. Who would ever have thought it? And once again, he engaged with the galleries.

Links golf is a totally different challenge, and it will be fascinating to see whether he can cope but of one thing you can be absolutely certain - watching him try will be entertaining. Very entertaining.

My tip for an outside bet is Scotland’s very own Robert MacIntyre. Born in Oban, he knows how to play in the wind and will be praying that it blows on the west coast of Scotland this week. Just over 12 months ago he went head to head with McIlroy and narrowly missed out on winning the Scottish Open and he has taken his game to a different level in 2024 by winning the Canadian Open and then brilliantly completing his dream by returing to East Lothian and winning the Scottish Open on Sunday. He is one of the best putters on the planet but if he does have a weakness it is with his temperament - and that can never be a good thing when you are playing links golf.

Ludvig Aberg continues stun everybody who watches him play. A professional for barely a year, this will be his first Open Championship but after claiming victories on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour and making his Ryder Cup debut before he had even played in his first major, he has already nearly won The Masters. Aberg possesses a wonderful temperament, playing the game with a smile on his face and taking everything in his stride. There have been a couple of minor stumbles but he always comes back stronger, and nobody would be surprised to see him hoist the Claret Jug.

This could be a decent week for LIV Golf. Apart from DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Tyrrell Hatton will believe they have the tools in their bag to win at Troon. Koepka always saves his best for the majors and would dearly love to add The Open to his collection. If he keeps the ball in play and putts as well as he can then he will surely contend.

For Hatton it is all about keeping his cool. He makes no secret of the fact that he finds golf a frustrating game and, as we all know, is not afraid to show his emotions. There are times when he behaves like a spoilt child but don’t be fooled - the Englishman is a world-class golfer and if he can take the good with the bad at Troon he just might be Britain’s next major champion.

But your correspondent's pocket money will be going on Collin Morikawa this week. He won the US PGA in 2020 and claimed The Open the following year before enduring a fallow period that lasted almost two years before he won the ZOZO Championship in some style. And his form this year has continued on an upward spiral. Morikawa is a golfer who plays his best on tough courses and has this year finished tied third at The Masters, tied fourth at the US PGA and tied 14th at the US Open. He is ready to add to his two major titles - and relishes links courses.

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Tournament Winners:

It was won in 2015 by Zach Johnson, in 2016 by Henrik Stenson, in 2017 by Jordan Spieth, in 2018 by Francesco Molinari, in 2019 by Shane Lowry, in 2021 by Collin Morikawa, in 2022 by Cameron Smith and last year by Brian Harman. There was no tournament in 2020 because of the pandemic.

The Course:

Royal Troon is a classic links course. It is a par 71 and measures 7,175 yards. It features a number of iconic holes, none more so than the Postage Stamp, a tiny par three that is fraught with danger. If the wind blows then we will see some big scores.

Form Guide:

This could be another classic, with Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau all looking to win a second major of the year. And it would surprise nobody if those three were in contention on Sunday. But keep an eye on Collin Morikawa, who adores links golf and has shown some very positive signs in 2024. The former Champion Golfer of the Year has odds of 14/1 on Betway.

To Win:

Collin Morikawa. Ready for third major win (14/1)

Each Way:

Bryson DeChambeau. Hard to ignore (12/1)

Each Way:

Xander Schauffele. A top-five machine (14/1)

Five to Follow:

Collin Morikawa. Back to his best (14/1)

Bryson DeChambeau. Having the season of his life (12/1)

Xander Schauffele. Does everything so well (14/1)

Robert MacIntyre. New Scottish Open champion (20/1)

Ludvig Aberg. A certain major winner (11/1)

Five Outsiders to Watch:

Thorbjorn Olesen. Underrated Dane (300/1)

Ryan Fox. Can win anywhere (100/1)

Dominic Clemons. World-class amateur (400/1)

Thriston Lawrence. Great short game (500/1)

Corey Conners. Incredibly consistent (66/1)

Sky Sports TV Coverage

Monday, July 15

Live at The Range, 9am, Sky Sports Golf

Tuesday, July 16

Live at The Range, 9am, Sky Sports Golf

Wednesday, July 17

Live at The Range, 9am, Sky Sports Golf

Thursday, July 18

First Round, 6.30am, Sky Sports Golf

Friday, July 19

Second Round, 6.30am, Sky Sports Golf

Saturday, July 20

Third Round, 9am, Sky Sports Golf

Sunday, July 21

Final Round, 8am, Sky Sports Golf

BBC TV Highlights

Wednesday, July 17

Preview, BBC2, 7pm

Thursday, July 18

Highlights, BBC2, 8pm

Friday, July 19

Highlights, BBC2, 9pm

Saturday, July 20

Highlights, BBC2, 8pm

Sunday, July 21

Highlights, BBC2, 8pm

This 2024 Open preview article was written in collaboration with Betway.