2026 The Open pool picks: anchors, links fits, and Royal Birkdale risk

The Open starts Thursday, July 16, at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England. ESPN lists the championship setup as a par 70, and Golf Pools Pro had a 152-player field from the PGA TOUR source when this guide was prepared Monday morning. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Wyndham Clark, and the rest of the main field were already available for pool picks.

Royal Birkdale is not returning unchanged from 2017. ESPN's course preview notes an extended par-3 fourth, a shorter and potentially drivable fifth, a new 602-yard par-5 14th, and a 241-yard par-3 15th. That mix puts a premium on control, approach play, and handling a round when the wind changes. A card full of aggressive scorers can work, but it needs enough players who can stay out of the thick rough and keep all four rounds useful.

Jordan Spieth won the most recent Open at Birkdale in 2017. Padraig Harrington won here in 2008, and Mark O'Meara won in 1998. Course history is a tiebreaker, not the whole pick sheet, but the list is a good reminder that this venue can reward patience as much as raw power.

Scottie Scheffler remains the first anchor even after missing the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open. ESPN notes that it was his first missed cut in nearly four years, but he is also the defending Open champion and has never finished outside the top 25 in five Open starts. One bad week is worth noticing; it is not enough to throw away that floor.

Rory McIlroy is the other clean first-tier choice. He won The Open in 2014, tied for fourth at Royal Birkdale in 2017, and remains one of the strongest wind-and-links profiles in the field. If your pool allows both Scheffler and McIlroy, I would rather use them together and find separation farther down the card than fade one just to look different.

Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood are strong second anchors. Fitzpatrick entered the week near the top of ESPN's field ranking after a three-win season, with approach, short-game, and driving-accuracy numbers that fit Birkdale. Fleetwood returns to his native Southport with steady all-around form. The home attention will be heavy, but the pick still makes golf sense.

Wyndham Clark is the ceiling anchor. He won the 2026 U.S. Open and had six straight top-11 finishes entering this week, according to ESPN. He carries more fairway concern than the first four names, so I would pair him with control players instead of stacking the entire entry with power.

Russell Henley is the middle pick I like most for a pool. ESPN had him first on the PGA TOUR in driving accuracy and noted back-to-back top-10 finishes in The Open. Robert MacIntyre has three top-10s in his past six Open starts and arrived with consecutive top-10 finishes. Neither needs to be your first pick, but both can give a strong card a different shape.

Collin Morikawa, Tyrrell Hatton, and Aaron Rai fit the same broad job in different ways. Morikawa brings elite approach play and an Open title, although his short game is the concern. Hatton has a strong links record through his three Alfred Dunhill Links wins. Rai, the 2026 PGA Championship winner, was second on tour in driving accuracy in ESPN's preview. Those are useful pool traits when missed fairways can turn into a long Friday.

Tom Kim is no longer hidden after winning the Genesis Scottish Open on Sunday, but he still belongs in this tier. He also finished second at The Open in 2023. Justin Rose has real Birkdale history after finishing fourth as the low amateur here in 1998, and his 2026 major results make him more than a nostalgia pick.

For bigger pools, J.J. Spaun and Sam Burns are reasonable final-slot options. Spaun's iron play and fairway finding fit the course. Burns has been strong in majors this season even though his Open record is thinner. Use one as an edge pick after the top eight or nine slots are sound, not as a reason to rebuild the whole entry.

Cameron Young has enough Open history and 2026 upside to win the week, but ESPN noted that he finished tied for 43rd or worse in his past three starts. Chris Gotterup has won three times this season and played well in links events, but he entered last week 129th in driving accuracy. Both are good upside picks; neither is a floor pick at a course with penal rough.

Xander Schauffele is still one of the best major performers in the field, and he won The Open in 2024. The nervous part is immediate form: he finished tied for 51st at the Travelers and missed the Scottish Open cut. I would keep him in the pool conversation, but I would not use him as the only safe name on the card.

Viktor Hovland won the Travelers Championship but missed the cut at both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, and his last two Open results were a missed cut and a tie for 63rd. Jon Rahm has four top-11 finishes in his past six Opens but missed this year's U.S. Open cut. Ludvig Åberg has the talent to lead a card and less Open evidence than the older anchors. These are format calls, not automatic fades.

Patrick Reed and Nicolai Højgaard are deeper nervous names. Reed's recent results have been uneven, while ESPN flagged Højgaard's driving accuracy as the concern despite two top-25 Open finishes in the past three years. One can make sense in a large field. Using both starts to make the bottom of the card fragile.

For a standard Golf Pools Pro Open Picks pool with 12 golfers and the best eight scores counting, start with three or four anchors. Scheffler, McIlroy, Fitzpatrick, and Fleetwood are the clean version. Clark or Schauffele can replace one if you want more ceiling.

Then take four or five from Henley, MacIntyre, Morikawa, Hatton, Rai, Tom Kim, and Rose. That leaves two or three places for pool-size strategy. Spaun and Burns keep the last slots defensible. Young, Gotterup, Hovland, Rahm, Åberg, Reed, or Højgaard add more separation but also more ways to lose a counted score.

Do not make all 12 picks from the first names on the sheet, and do not force six long shots into the entry. The useful middle is where you avoid a fully duplicated card without giving away the made-cut floor.

Hosts should open the pool now, send the invite link, and put the pick deadline in plain view. The Open starts early for U.S. players, so a Thursday-morning reminder can arrive after someone has already teed off. If you use Tiered Picks or Clubhouse Chaos, review the fresh field before groups lock and make sure late withdrawals are not left in a group.

Entrants should check the field and tee times one more time before lock. Build around golfers you trust to play four rounds, then use only the last few slots to chase a different card. If your rules use OB or missed-cut stand-ins, keeping eight useful scores alive matters more than landing one clever name.

Hosts and entrants should also read the pool rules before Thursday. Confirm how many picks count, how missed cuts are handled, and when picks close. That takes five minutes and prevents the usual Friday argument after the cut line starts moving.