Diane Knox Balas
Show Bio
I was biting my nails and sitting on the edge of my couch on Sunday morning as the Genesis Scottish Open reached a dramatic climax. The prospect of having a Scottish winner in our home open was simply unbelievable, and Bob MacIntyre put together a sensational final round to post the clubhouse lead. Alas, it was Rory McIlroy who rained on his parade. But what an end to the tournament and a fabulous showcase for my native land!
It was a T6 finish for my pick of Tommy Fleetwood and I made a little money on my long shot of Ewen Ferguson, who finished in a tie for 12th.
This week, the British returns to Hoylake for the 13th time. Last time the Champion Golfer of the Year was crowned here was in 2014, and it was McIlroy who took top honors. Coming off a win in Scotland last week, it’s no surprise that McIlroy is the favorite to lift the Claret Jug yet again. This was also the scene of Tiger Woods’ 2006 victory, during which he tactfully negotiated the fairways (and avoided the perilous pot bunkers) by hitting irons off the tees and using his length to precisely play his approach shots into the greens.
The final major of 2023 sees all of the world’s best teeing it up at Royal Liverpool, with LIV golfers back in the mix amongst the PGA Tour and DP World Tour’s finest.
Rickie Fowler, fresh off his win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic a few weeks ago, finished runner-up to McIlroy here in 2014; Jon Rahm is looking to become the first player since Tiger in ’05 to win the Masters and the Open in the same year. Plus, Cam Smith will return as defending champion after fending off McIlroy, Cam Young and Viktor Hovland last year at St. Andrews.
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Royal Liverpool: What you need to know
This is links golf at its finest, with the course playing as a par 71 instead of a par 72 and measuring 7,313 yards. There have been a number of significant changes, including new tees, new and reworked bunkers and fairway alterations.
The 10th hole will play as a long par 4 instead of a 532 yard par 5.
The course routing has changed from Royal Liverpool’s usual layout, and it will be different to layouts seen at the previous iterations of the championship. One thing that’s interesting this week is the internal out of bounds on the property. The 1st and 16th holes at Royal Liverpool will play as the 3rd and 18th during the 2023 British Open. Those 2 holes wrap around the the giant tented village and is out of bounds.
The 17th is a new par 3 named “Little Eye.” That makes it sound pretty nice and tame, however if your favorite player walks off the green with a par, you’ll be happy. Like many holes here, this green is elevated (and tiny!) and surrounded by cavernous pot bunkers, one of which is 28 layers-of-sod deep. When the wind picks up, this hole is going to play a huge role in determining the winner on Sunday.
Accuracy off the tee is going to be a big factor this week, as well as patience and the urge to resist the temptation of the driver; when Tiger won in 2006 he only hit one driver all week, and that was in the opening round. The total surface area of the fairways is only 22 acres, with the fairways at LACC — host of last month’s U.S. Open — more than double.
With narrow landing areas and doglegs, tactical golf will be required to avoid the penal bunkers and thick, whispy fescue. Also, hitting the greens is one thing but keeping the ball on them is the challenge of golf here, especially with the unpredictable weather.
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Knox’s Knockout British Open Picks
Scottie Scheffler (+800 at Bet MGM)
It’s hard not to pick Scheffler this week — or any week, for that matter. The performances Scheffler is putting together week after week right now are outrageous; he has finished within the top 5 in his last 7 tournaments, and his worst finish since November 2022 is 12th. What this guy is doing is quite remarkable, and his talent warrants a pick every single week he tees it up. Odds of 8/1 actually seem quite decent for Scheffler, and I’ll happily take it. His last win came at The Players back in March, so he’ll be hungry for more silverware to add to his expansive collection.
Tommy Fleetwood (+2500 at PointsBet)
I picked Fleetwood for the Scottish and he finished in a tie for 6th. I hope he’s already erased the double-bogey on his 72nd hole from his memory. I said last week I’d been saving him for the Open, but a strong showing last week puts him in a brilliant position to win his first major. Fleetwood is from this area of England, having grown up a mere 50 miles away. His game was in great shape last week, gaining strokes on the field in all areas and more than 11% of fairways hit over the field average. He would be a very popular champion here, and with 3 top-6 finishes in his last 4 starts, his game is in a good place.
Robert MacIntyre (+8000 at Bet Rivers)
What could possibly ease the sting of being pipped to the post by none other than McIlroy at your home open? Winning the British Open the following week! Scottish hearts broke a little on Sunday when McIlroy’s putt disappeared into the hole on the 18th, as MacIntyre was warming up on the range ahead of a potential playoff. He said he didn’t need to watch the coverage; he could tell by the crowd reaction. However, the Scot put on an admirable display on Sunday, shooting -6 in difficult conditions to finish runner-up, gain special temporary membership on the PGA Tour and be in a fantastic position to make the European Ryder Cup team in September. In his previous 3 appearances at the Open he has a T6 and a T8. What a story this would be. And let’s not forget he finished runner-up at the Made in Denmark Open 2 weeks ago.
Bryson DeChambeau (+7000 at FanDuel)
Hear me out with this one…. DeChambeau enters the Open nice and fresh after a week off in England; the LIV London event was 2 weeks ago and he finished T11. That would’ve been a nice warmup for golf in the UK, and he’s had time to play some more, get used to the conditions and sharpen up for Hoylake. He’s also coming off a good stretch of results: 2nd at Valderrama at the start of the month, T20 at the U.S. Open and T4 at the PGA Championship. DeChambeau’s style of play is different to what we saw a few years ago, when distance ruled tenfold over accuracy. In fact, he gained close to 4.5 strokes on the field off the tee in the 3 majors of the year, and in the last LIV event hit 10% more fairways than the field average. I wanted to pick a LIV player who would be feeling fresh and energized having not played in the Scottish Open last week, and I really like these odds for DeChambeau — who finished in the top 10 last year at St. Andrews.
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