Tag: British Open 2021

Jon Rahm finishes T-3 at British Open, returns to World No. 1

Rahm is back on top.

Jon Rahm said he would need to play flawlessly in the final round to mount a comeback at the 149th British Open.

On a sun-soaked Sunday at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, Rahm signed for 66, but there were a few flaws along the way that he couldn’t overcome. Rahm, winner of the U.S. Open in June, finished in a tie for third with Louis Oosthuizen at 11-under 269, wrapping up an impressive major season as well as regaining the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The big Spaniard’s long-shot hopes of rallying from five strokes back at the start of the day took a big hit when he made a three-putt bogey at the second hole. He also squandered a chance one hole later to get it back, missing a short birdie putt. But there’s a lot of fight in Rahm and he canned an eagle putt at the par-5 seventh. His momentum stalled with a bogey one hole later – his second square on the card when it had to be clean – and he was even for the day through 12 holes.

British Open: Leaderboard | Prize money | Winner’s bag

“I think the main part of my game that could have been a little bit better is putting,” he said. “Not that I’m asking to make every putt, but I really struggled to make putts outside really 8 feet.”

Rahm made four birdies in a row starting at No. 13, but it was a case of too little, too late. He dug himself a hole with an opening-round 71, but bounced back with 65-68 in the next two rounds.

“Even if you take today, I did make the long one on 15, but besides that every birdie putt I had was short, and even the eagle one, right. There was a lot of chances out there that I could have made or that I know that guys out there ahead of me are making,” Rahm said.

Rahm, 26, turned in an impressive major championship season: T-5 at the Masters, T-8 at the PGA, a win at the U.S. Open and a T-3 at the British, his best career finish at the Open. Of those who made the cut in all four majors, Rahm was a cumulative 24 under, five strokes better than Morikawa and Oosthuizen. He’ll head into the Olympics in two weeks playing like the World No. 1 that he is again after Dustin Johnson bumped him for one week.

“At the end of the day, still a really good showing. Played really good golf all week,” Rahm said. “Too bad I’m going to end up just shy. Yeah, I’m still going to smile because I gave it my all. Finished really, really strong and gave myself the best chance I could.”

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How much money each player earned at the British Open

It pays to play well in major championships.

It pays to play well in major championships, folks. Just ask Collin Morikawa.

The 24-year-old from Los Angeles earned his second major championship victory in just his eighth major start on Sunday, claiming the 149th British Open at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, at 15-under-par. Morikawa, a five-time winner in just two years as a professional, overcame 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and held off three-time major champion Jordan Spieth to take home the Claret Jug and a record top-prize of $2,070,000. Spieth, who finished two shots back in second, will take home $1,198,000.

Check out how much money each player earned this week at the British Open.

British Open: Leaderboard | Best photos | Winner’s bag
Major money: Comparing major championship prize money payouts
Career earnings: PGA Tour’s top-18 money winners of all time

British open prize money

Position Player Score Earnings
1 Collin Morikawa -15 $2,070,000
2 Jordan Spieth -13 $1,198,000
T3 Jon Rahm -11 $682,500
T3 Louis Oosthuizen -11 $682,500
5 Dylan Frittelli -9 $480,000
T6 Brooks Koepka -8 $386,500
T6 Mackenzie Hughes -8 $386,500
T8 Dustin Johnson -7 $255,250
T8 Robert MacIntyre -7 $255,250
T8 Daniel Berger -7 $255,250
T8 Scottie Scheffler -7 $255,250
T12 Viktor Hovland -6 $181,083
T12 Emiliano Grillo -6 $181,083
T12 Shane Lowry -6 $181,083
T15 Tony Finau -5 $143,062
T15 Paul Casey -5 $143,062
T15 Marcel Siem -5 $143,062
T15 Corey Conners -5 $143,062
T19 Sergio Garcia -4 $109,000
T19 Brandt Snedeker -4 $109,000
T19 Brian Harman -4 $109,000
T19 Aaron Rai -4 $109,000
T19 Webb Simpson -4 $109,000
T19 Kevin Streelman -4 $109,000
T19 Justin Harding -4 $109,000
T26 Xander Schauffele -3 $79,821
T26 Byeong-Hun An -3 $79,821
T26 Ian Poulter -3 $79,821
T26 Matthew Fitzpatrick -3 $79,821
T26 Jason Kokrak -3 $79,821
T26 Cameron Tringale -3 $79,821
T26 Andy Sullivan -3 $79,821
T33 Bryson DeChambeau -2 $60,143
T33 Benjamin Hebert -2 $60,143
T33 Tommy Fleetwood -2 $60,143
T33 Talor Gooch -2 $60,143
T33 Lanto Griffin -2 $60,143
T33 Danny Willett -2 $60,143
T33 Cameron Smith -2 $60,143
T40 JC Ritchie -1 $45,417
T40 Max Homa -1 $45,417
T40 Justin Thomas -1 $45,417
T40 Dean Burmester -1 $45,417
T40 Daniel Van Tonder -1 $45,417
T40 Matt Wallace -1 $45,417
T46 Jazz Janewattananond E $33,679
T46 Harris English E $33,679
T46 Adam Scott E $33,679
T46 Johannes Veerman E $33,679
T46 Rory McIlroy E $33,679
T46 Justin Rose E $33,679
T46 Joel Dahmen E $33,679
T53 Rickie Fowler 1 $29,417
T53 Chan Kim 1 $29,417
T53 Billy Horschel 1 $29,417
T53 Marcus Armitage 1 $29,417
T53 Jonathan Thomson 1 $29,417
T53 Christiaan Bezuidenhout 1 $29,417
T59 Ryosuke Kinoshita 2 $27,929
T59 Joaquin Niemann 2 $27,929
T59 Chez Reavie 2 $27,929
T59 Abraham Ancer 2 $27,929
T59 Bernd Wiesberger 2 $27,929
T59 Lee Westwood 2 $27,929
T59 Matthias Schmid 2 —
T59 Antoine Rozner 2 $27,929
T67 Brendan Steele 3 $26,900
T67 Richard Bland 3 $26,900
T67 Jack Senior 3 $26,900
T67 Sam Horsfield 3 $26,900
T67 Ryan Fox 3 $26,900
72 Padraig Harrington 4 $26,375
73 Kevin Kisner 5 $26,250
T74 Richard Mansell 6 $26,125
T74 Yuxin Lin 6 —
T76 Poom Saksansin 8 $25,938
T76 Sam Burns 8 $25,938

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Collin Morikawa overcomes Louis Oosthuizen, holds off Jordan Spieth to win British Open

Morikawa overcame the 2010 Open champion and held off a three-time major winner to earn his second major.

Collin Morikawa etched his name into golf history on one of the game’s biggest stages on Sunday.

The 24-year-old overcame a one-shot deficit to 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and then held off three-time major champion Jordan Spieth with a 4-under 66 to win the 149th British Open at 15 under. Morikawa is the first player to win two different majors in his first attempts and joins Bobby Jones as the only players to win two majors in their first eight tries.

Just two years into his professional career, Morikawa already has five wins, two of which are majors: 2019 Barracuda Championship, 2020 Workday Charity Open, 2020 PGA Championship, 2021 WGC-Workday Championship and now the 2021 Open.

British Open: Leaderboard | Best photos | Winner’s bag

Morikawa got off to a steady start with six consecutive pars before closing out his front nine with three consecutive birdies. He added another on the par-5 14th along with eight more pars for a bogey-free round of smooth, stress-free golf.

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Check the yardage book: Royal St. George’s for the British Open

Large undulations and blind shots might drive players a bit mad at Royal St. George’s in the British Open. Check out the hole-by-hole maps.

Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England, will host its 15th British Open this week, presenting the kind of wild, undulating and hopefully bouncy test that tends to drive some of the best players in the game a little crazy. That craziness is in part fueled by numerous blind shots as players must hoist balls into the sky over the dunes.

The club, on the coast of the English Channel about 80 miles southeast of London, has seen such varied and sometimes unexpected winners as Darren Clarke (2011), Ben Curtis (2003), Bill Rogers (1981) and Reg Whitcombe (1938), for example. But it hasn’t been all surprises, as Greg Norman won there in 1993 and Walter Haden triumphed there twice (1922 and ’28). The first Open held at Royal St. George’s was won by J.H. Taylor in 1894.

Royal St. George’s opened in 1887 with a Laidlaw Purves layout that has been renovated and restored several times, most recently by Martin Ebert, who has worked on several British Open layouts including Royal Portrush before the 2019 Open. Royal St. George’s ranks No. 9 on Golfweek’s Best list of top courses in Great Britain and Ireland.

The course will be set up at 7,189 yards with a par of 70 for this year’s Open.

Thanks to yardage books provided by Puttview – the maker of detailed yardage books for more than 30,000 courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges that players will face this week. Check out each hole below.

British Open 2021 fantasy golf power rankings

Feeling lucky this week? Check out the fantasy golf power rankings for the 2021 British Open at Royal St. George’s in England.

The 149th British Open takes place this week at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England. Below, we look at the fantasy golf power rankings and odds for the 2021 British Open.

The British Open returns to the schedule after the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s the 15th time the Open is being held at Royal St. George’s, with the most recent being in 2011. The course measures a little over 7,200 yards and plays to a par of 70.

Jon Rahm, sitting atop the Golfweek/Sagarin world ranking, is the betting favorite for the final major of 2021 after winning the U.S. Open in San Diego.

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Odds last updated Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Fantasy golf power rankings

20. Viktor Hovland (+3000)

Has two PGA Tour victories, but the biggest win of his career was just a few weeks ago at the European Tour’s BMW International Open against a very strong field. He’s fifth among qualified golfers with 1.93 total strokes gained on the field per round for the 2020-21 season.

19. Will Zalatoris (+6600)

Though he has cooled off of late, he’s still sixth among qualified golfers with 0.81 Stokes Gained: Approach per round for the season. We’re getting higher than usual odds following his rare missed cut at the U.S. Open, but he bounced back with a T-26 at the abrdn Scottish Open last week.

18. Matt Fitzpatrick (+3300)

Lost in a playoff in last week’s Scottish Open in his follow-up to a T-55 finish at the U.S. Open. He made the cut in each of the last four majors and finished T-20 in the 2019 British Open.

17. Tyrrell Hatton (+3000)

Was seemingly well poised to make a run at the Claret Jug last year before the season was suspended and the tournament canceled. He has four international wins since 2019 and six career wins on the European Tour.

16. Collin Morikawa (+3300)

The winner of the 2020 PGA Championship tied for eighth in his defense, and for fourth at the 2021 U.S. Open. He leads all golfers by a sizable margin in SG: Approach per round. The only knock is that the California native has never played in a British Open.

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15. Justin Rose (+5000)

Has played rather sporadically while battling a couple of injuries in 2021, but he still has three top-10 finishes through 11 international events, including a seventh-place showing at the Masters. He’s just 133rd in sand save percentage but is better used to his native pot bunkers.

14. Tommy Fleetwood (+4000)

Once ranked as high as ninth in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), he has tumbled to 35th entering this week but showed much better form in a T-26 finish at the Scottish Open last week. His iron play is well-suited to the rolling fairways of links courses.

13. Lee Westwood (+5000)

The veteran’s 58 career rounds played in the British Open are tied for the second-most in this year’s field, and he has averaged 1.66 strokes gained on the field per round in the tournament. The 48-year-old missed the cut at St. George’s in both 2011 and 2003 but has played great golf in 2021 with two runner-up finishes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.

12. Scottie Scheffler (+4500)

Tied for 12th at the Scottish Open in a rare European Tour appearance ahead of his first British Open. He finished T-8 or better in three of his last five majors.

11. Jordan Spieth (+1800)

Three top-10 finishes and six straight made cuts since returning to the winner’s circle at the Valero Texas Open. His last major win was at the 2017 Open Championship. He’s 12th on the PGA Tour in par 4 efficiency from the key distance of 400-450 yards.

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10. Bryson DeChambeau (+3000)

His usual advantage off the tee won’t carry as much weight at Royal St. George’s, but it’s a good opportunity for his underrated putting and short game to shine at inflated odds.

9. Justin Thomas (+1800)

Seventh among qualified golfers in SG: Approach and sixth in total strokes gained on the field per round. Tied for 11th at the 2019 British Open for a career-best finish in the tournament.

8. Webb Simpson (+6000)

Tied for first on Tour through 57 measured rounds in par 4 efficiency from the key distance of 400-450 yards and leads all golfers in scrambling and sand save percentage. Enters the week 19th in the Golfweek rankings and is a tremendous value bet at these odds.

7. Louis Oosthuizen (+2800)

The 38-year-old is playing the best golf of his career with back-to-back runner-up finishes at the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. His lone career win on the PGA Tour was at the 2010 British Open. His putter is a greater advantage at the shorter major venues.

6. Patrick Cantlay (+2800)

Meets a lot of the same criteria as Simpson this week but at half the odds with two victories on the 2020-21 PGA Tour season. He’s second in scrambling and T-1 in par 4 efficiency: 400-450 yards. He tied for 12th at the 2018 Open Championship.

5. Dustin Johnson (+2000)

Back to No. 1 in the OWGR despite not playing on either side of the Atlantic last week. Not typically considered as a big threat for the British Open, but he has three career top-10 finishes, including a T-2 at Royal St. George’s in 2011.

4. Xander Schauffele (+1600)

Tied for second at the 2018 British Open but finished just T-41 in 2019. He’s second to Rahm in total strokes gained on the field per round this season, but he has been experimenting with his putting style of late.

3. Jon Rahm (+750)

The only real argument to be made against the betting favorite and top-ranked player in the Golfweek rankings is that no one has gone back-to-back at the U.S. Open and British Open since Tom Watson in 1982. The courses and conditions aren’t comparable, but there isn’t an international venue that has seemed to have much defense against Rahm.

2. Brooks Koepka (+1400)

Leads all golfers with an aggregate score of minus-84 in majors since 2016, but he’s on record as saying Royal St. George’s isn’t his “favorite venue” on the British Open rotation. He has three top-10 finishes in his last four appearances at the British Open, and he finished in the top five of the last two majors this year.

1. Rory McIlroy (+1800)

The 2014 Open champion previously tied for 25th at Royal St. George’s in the 2011 British Open. He returned to form this year with victory at the Wells Fargo Championship, and he tied for seventh at the U.S. Open. The shorter venue should allow him to play more conservatively off the tee and avoid some recent trouble he has had.

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Zach Johnson, who won at St. Andrews, and two more players withdraw from 2021 British Open

Three more players have withdrawn from this week’s 149th British Open at Royal St. George’s Golf Club.

The R&A announced on Monday morning that three more players have withdrawn from this week’s 149th British Open at Royal St. George’s Golf Club, including 2015 champion Zach Johnson.

Johnson, who won at St. Andrews six years ago, tested positive for COVID-19, according to the R&A, and will be replaced in the field by England’s Sam Horsfield.

The other two players who will not be playing this week are America’s Ryan Moore and South Africa’s Louis de Jager.

Moore, who has had a back injury throughout much of 2021, played the last three PGA Tour events. He said at last week’s John Deere Classic, where he finished T-2 to earn a spot in the field at the British Open, that in addition to having a sore back, he had a family vacation planned for this week. Moore informed the R&A on Monday that he would not take the special exemption. He is being replaced in the field by Adam Long, who is also from the United States.

Louis de Jager tested positive for COVID-19 and is being replaced by Dylan Frittelli from the United States.

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On Sunday, Bubba Watson withdrew from the 2021 British Open after revealing that while he is fully vaccinated, he had been in close contact with someone who tested positive. Hours before, 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama also withdrew because he continues to test positive for COVID-19 even though he has no symptoms. Matsuyama first tested positive two weeks ago at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.

Two-time major champion Martin Kaymer replaces Kevin Na in field for British Open

His best finish at the Open is a T-7 in 2010.

Martin Kaymer is getting another shot at the title of Champion Golfer of the Year.

The winner of the 2010 PGA Championship via a playoff against Bubba Watson and the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 will replace Kevin Na in the field for the 149th British Open next week at Royal St. George’s in England. Na, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, withdrew due to international travel requirements.

“It was a tough decision but for my family and me it is best to skip The Open this year,” said Na in a release from the R&A. “I will be back next year, it is one of my favorite weeks and I would love to hold the Claret Jug one day.”

Cam Davis, who recently earned his first win on Tour at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, is the first reserve but is unable to travel, which opened the door for Kaymer. The next three reserves are Andy Sullivan, Antoine Rozner and Troy Merritt.

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