As it currently stands, Woods’ ability to defend the title he won in 2006 remains highly questionable, as the former world No. 1 has already exited the PGA Championship and the US Open as he continues to recover from ankle surgery. It was in April just days after he dropped out of the masters program.
Even at the age of 47, Woods’ absence was keenly felt in the Majors, but it would be even more so a loss for the place where he triumphed in such stunning fashion – albeit almost two decades ago. Whether he recovers in time or not, the world continues to turn, and the 156 contenders who finally make the lineup won’t have too much to worry about because there’s a Claret Jug to win, and a $15 million prize fund to battle for, with or without the living legend in attendance. .
As with all the big ones these days over the past decade or so, McIlroy finds himself at the top of the bookies at 8-1, despite his long drought at pro golf’s biggest events, but it will be the spunky bookie who Extending his odds now that he’s back on winning soil, albeit a long time ago. Rory’s fans’ patience has been stretched to the limit lately, with the 34-year-old racking up no fewer than 18 top-10 finishes in the last 31 majors he’s entered since 2014, including the top five. in four of its last six openings.
Only he knows what he needs to do to drag himself over the line, but his tendency to appear in a poor run at the start or end of a tournament has certainly cost him dearly lately. Attempts to treat the majors as just “regular” events have clearly failed, and I fear for his sanity if he finishes out of frame this time.
These days, the lowest odds are also reserved for John Rahm (8-1), who has scored seven top-10s in his last 17 majors and is coming off the finish after winning the Masters in April. Although his ludicrous form has subsided recently, the reckless Spaniard cannot be left out of action on a course that suits his style of play. A brilliant setter, he must fully control his Callaway ball on Hoylake’s dry fairways, and have a hot week with the bat, if he is to claim the third Grand Slam title of his career, but he can be guaranteed to leave nothing out.
My other big fantasy is Victor Hovland (25-1), Norway’s second-best sporting export behind Erling Haaland, who is expected to make as much of an impact in golf as his compatriot does in soccer. His recent victory at the Memorial, on the back of second-place finishes at the PGA Championship and seventh-place finish at the Masters, indicates a man who has become more comfortable on the game’s biggest stages. He’s been unlucky in the PGA, with a bad lie in the bunker ruining his chances in his fight against Brooks Koepka, but he’s got the match to win on any course and a relaxed temper that borders on Zen.
Then there’s the defending champ, Cameron Smith (20-1), who is only being offered at such generous odds because he’s been plying his trade on the LIV golf course after winning St Andrews 11 months ago. Otherwise, he would definitely compete for patronage. With no recent form to last in the 72-hole events and a 9th-place finish at the PGA Championship and 34th at the Masters Championship, Smith is like a dark horse despite his formidable and well-known talent, and the 20-1 looks like an both-way steal. The win at last week’s LIV event in Centurion shows he still has a competitive fire in his stomach, and will go all out to try and become the first player to retain the Claret Jug since Tiger Woods in 2005-6.
And you can’t ignore the chances of Scotty Scheffler’s winning machine. The 25-year-old American has gone from zero to six wins on the PGA Tour in 15 months, won his first major title at the Masters last year, and is now routinely among the favorites in every discipline. The current world No. 1 can travel just about anywhere and that includes golf links, as he showed when he finished 8th at Royal St George’s and 21st at St Andrews in his first two attempts at The Open. Can he knock on the door of another pioneer in 2023? You bet he can – at odds of 10-1.
As for the Hoylake course itself, the world’s elite will find many changes to the layout Rory tamed in 2014, including an all-new hole – par 3 17 – on a course that’s just 29 yards longer than it was nine years ago, par 7312 yards to 7,341. As with 2006 and 2014, the R&A has rearranged the normal order of the holes so that the final hole is the 16th, with the original 17th and 18th holes used as the first and second holes for the duration of the tournament. The reason for the re-routing is because, as spectators of the 1967 Open will remember, the 560-yard, 5-foot-16 always had the potential to be a classic finishing hole, going out of bounds all the way to the right-hand side of the dogleg to present opportunities for disaster and eagles. On an equal footing.
Although not one of the taller layouts on the Championship Rota, Hoylake has plenty of other defenses to protect its counterpart, especially if the wind picks up, which can be done along the Lancashire coast.
The setting will ensure that whoever comes out on the 18th with a claret jug under their arm will be a worthy hero and join an exceptionally holy company.