5 pairings to watch out for at the 151st Open Championship in Hoylake
The 2023 Open Championship will begin on Thursday, July 20, at the historic Royal Liverpool. The tournament will feature 156 star golfers, including the LIV Golf players, to compete to earn the winner's share from the purse of $16.5 million.
The Open Championship is apparently the last major of the year. The pairing and tee times for the first two rounds have been announced. Interestingly, Brooks Koepka will team up with PGA Tour player Patrick Cantlay, whom he slammed for his slow play game during the Masters. Undoubtedly, it would be interesting to be them playing together.
Aside from them, there are some other interesting pairings for this week, which are listed below.
5 pairings to watch out for at the 151st Open Championship
#1 Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose
Rory McIlroy will tee off at the 2023 Open Championship, with reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm and English golfer Justin Rose.
McIlroy will enter the field with more confidence, having won the Scottish Open the week before and being the betting favorite this week. He won the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in 2014, so he is familiar with the course.
Jon Rahm, on the other hand, has been in excellent form in recent months. He did, however, miss the Scottish Open last week.
Justin Rose has only won one major in his career, the US Open in 2013, and will be hoping to win his maiden claret jug.
McIlroy will start his game at 9:59 am ET with Rahm and Rose.
#2 Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jason Day
Jordan Spieth and Matt Fitzpatrick both missed the cut at the Scottish Open last week. They have, however, been in good form since the beginning of 2023.
Spieth will play in the first round of the 2023 Open Championship with 2022 US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick and former World No.1 Jason Day. He will start his game at 4:03 am ET with other group members.
#3 Patrick Cantlay, Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama
Brooks Koepka and Patrick Cantlay would be the most intriguing duo at the Open Championship. During the 2023 Masters Championship, Koepka criticized Cantlay for his poor play and even asked the officials to apply penalties for slow play.
Cantlay and Koepka will compete in this week's Open Championship together. Former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama will also join them. The group will tee off at 4:36 am ET.
#4 Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Scott
The opening round of the 2023 Open Championship will include current World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, and previous World No. 1 Adam Scott.
Given his phenomenal form since the beginning of 2023, Scheffler is one of the top choices for this week. It'd be nice to see him play with Fleetwood and Scott.
The group will tee off at 4:36 am ET.
#5 Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, Tyrrell Hatton
Collin Morikawa will join forces with 2023 Farmers Insurance winner Max Homa at The Open Championship. Tyrrell Hatton will also join them.
After struggling with the game for a while, Homa has now returned to form and will be hoping to win the trophy this week.
Morikawa will tee off for the first round at 10:10 am ET with Max Homa and Tyrrell Hatton.