Expert Picks: The Open Championship at Royal Portrush

The final major championship of 2025 takes place this week at the 153rd Open Championship. Here’s who our experts like at Royal Portrush.

JASON CROOK, SENIOR DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER

Your favorite to win?

While Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm is getting a majority of the attention this week, and rightfully so, it has left the door wide open for his teammate Tyrrell Hatton to fly under the radar and claim his first major championship. Hatton has the game to win The Open, having won on links courses before, including three wins at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland. And he’s been inching closer to his first major victory, with his best-ever finish in the most recent major, a T4 where he had a legitimate shot to win down the stretch at the U.S. Open just last month. Hatton could very well lift the Claret Jug come Sunday.

Name another major winner who’ll contend Sunday.

Brooks Koepka’s form has been all over the place this season – he sits 28^th in the season-long LIV Golf individual standings. But major Brooks is a different beast, he’s won 5 of these things for a reason and he just finished T12 at the U.S. Open. He’s also got a caddie, Ricky Elliot, who grew up on the course and his best Open Championship finish (4th) came the last time it was held at this course in 2019.

Name a non-major winner who’ll contend Sunday.

Joaquin Niemann is simply too good to not start seriously contending in majors, and that will start this week at The Open. The Torque GC captain’s near-perfect ball striking and will to win has him atop the season-long LIV Golf individual standings, thanks to four victories in just 10 events. If he can bring that mentality to Royal Portrush, there’s no reason the 26-year-old star shouldn’t be there late on Sunday.

Who’ll be the biggest surprise?

It's hard to call anything Bryson DeChambeau does on the golf course a surprise, but in this case it is warranted. Outside of his T8 finish at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews, a course that favors his massive drives, his best finish at The Open is T33 (2017 and 2021). Links golf is just not a style that the Crushers captain has seemed to solve yet at this point in his career … then again, DeChambeau has proven himself to be the ultimate problem solver.

MIKE MCALLISTER, DIRECTOR, EDITORIAL

Your favorite to win?

Not exactly going out on a limb here, but it’s gotta be Jon Rahm. He’s played well in this year’s majors. He’s played well in recent Opens. He played well at Royal Portrush in 2019. And he’s overdue for a win in 2025. The Legion XIII captain is going to win the Claret Jug at some point in his career. Why not this week?

Name another major winner who’ll contend Sunday.

Patrick Reed realizes his best chance of generating Ryder Cup talk depends on how he performs at Royal Portrush. That’s plenty of motivation for a player desperate to be at Bethpage Black in late September.

Name a non-major winner who’ll contend Sunday.

Tyrrell Hatton comes off his best-ever result in a major, a tie for fourth at Oakmont. He tied for sixth here in 2019, and he’s a better player now. The last English player to win the Open was Nick Faldo in 1992. Hatton is his country’s best bet this week.

Who’ll be the biggest surprise?

Speaking of 2019, Lee Westwood tied for fourth. Perhaps he can channel some of those positive vibes six years later. If nothing else, he’s shown an improvement in form recently, with a tie for 10th in Virginia and medalist honors at the Open qualifier at Dundonald Links. He’s playing with house money this week. Be great to see him this weekend.

BRYAN MULLEN, DIGITAL PRODUCER

Your favorite to win?

Patrick Reed's juices always start flowing ahead of a major, and the 2018 Masters champion will be at a venue where he has experienced success. The 4Aces GC star finished 10th at Royal Portrush in 2019 and his recent major form has been impressive: a third-place finish at the Masters and a T23 at the U.S. Open.

Name another major winner who’ll contend Sunday.

Jon Rahm is a two-time major winner and has three top-7 finishes in the last four Open Championships. So yeah, I like his chances to contend. It’s just a matter of time before the Legion XIII captain claims another major, and if it doesn’t come this week, next season's major lineup features venues which suit his strengths.

Name a non-major winner who’ll contend Sunday.

Carlos Ortiz' confidence is brimming after a T4 at the U.S. Open and he will use the experience of being on golf’s biggest stages late on Sunday to his advantage. The Torque GC star's even-keeled demeanor is a huge positive at majors.

Who’ll be the biggest surprise?

2025 hasn’t been kind to Cameron Smith in the majors; he has missed the cut in the first three. But the Ripper GCcaptain is only one year removed from a T6 at the Masters, and the year previous he finished in the top 10 of two majors. Smith is coming off a T7 at LIV Golf Andalucia, and his short game will be a weapon at Royal Portrush.

MATT VINCENZI, SENIOR WRITER

Your favorite to win?

Jon Rahm is a fantastic links player who's won two Irish Opens: 2017 at Portstewart and 2019 at Lahinch. The Legion XIII captain said last week after charging up the leaderboard at Valderrama on Sunday that he hit the ball “better than I have in the last year and a half."

Rahm has been a reliable major championship performer this season, finishing T14, T8 and T7 at the Masters, PGA Championship and U.S. Open, respectively. He had his best LIV Golf strokes gained approach week of 2025 last week (+1.53 per round) and is peaking at the right time to win his third major and third leg of the career grand slam.

Name another major winner who’ll contend Sunday.

Sergio Garcia has a remarkable record at The Open Championship, with 10 top-10 finishes over the course of his career. The Fireballs GC captain switched drivers last week, and it paid off. After adding the Titleist GT3 to his bag at Valderrama, Garcia gained 1.58 strokes per round off the tee, which was his best result in the category of the season.

Garcia, absent from The Open since 2022, will enter the year's final major under the radar and extremely motivated.

Name a non-major winner who’ll contend Sunday.

Although the U.S. Open didn't end how Tyrrell Hatton would have liked, the fact that the Legion XIII star hit meaningful shots in the final hole of a major championship will only benefit him going forward. Hatton is one of the best links players in the world and The Open is the major that should suit him best. If the conditions are difficult and windy this week, Hatton should be amongst the favorites to get it done at Royal Portrush.

Who’ll be the biggest surprise?

Lucas Herbert hasn't played his best golf of late on LIV Golf, but I believe he's an underrate links player that will thrive in this particular test. The Australian has creativity in spades and, due to his captain on Ripper GC being one of the best around the green players in the history of golf, has an underrated short game. Herbert has gained strokes around the green in seven of his past eight starts and has gained strokes putting in nine of his 13 worldwide starts in 2025.

Herbert's caddie, Nick Pugh, grew up playing links golf at Hoylake and will be a weapon on the bag for the talented Aussie this week at Portrush.