Open Championship Wrap-up: Takeaways, predictions and more

The 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush brought all the best players in the world together and showcased LIV Golf's consistent presence among the world's best. Here are six takeaways that highlight the tournament's impact from a LIV Golf perspective:

1. Bryson DeChambeau may have figured out links golf

Prior to 2024, Bryson DeChambeau struggled at Augusta National, with many wondering if the Masters was a puzzle that he simply couldn’t solve. After failing to record a top 20 finish in each of his first seven trips to Augusta National, he finished T6 in 2024 and T5 in 2025, demonstrating he may have cracked the code. We may be witnessing the same type of progression for DeChambeau at The Open. Prior to this week, DeChambeau had only one top-10 finish at The Open Championship, which came at the bomber-friendly St. Andrews in 2022. In his six starts outside of 2022, the Crushers GCcaptain had three missed cuts with his next best finish being a T33 in 2021 at Royal St. George’s.

At Royal Portrush, he opened with a 7-over 78 in the first round, but charged back to finish T10. It’s evident that when he’s given enough time, Bryson can figure out just about anything on the golf course. He may have just cracked the code on links golf as well.

2. Bryson’s mystery ball

Over recent months, DeChambeau has teased the development of a custom-designed golf ball tailored specifically for him. At Royal Portrush, he repeatedly referenced this mystery ball.

On Friday, after completing his second round, he spoke about why he believes he needs a new ball.

"I'm working with somebody that is going to get me a ball that works better for my speeds," he said. "Hopefully, there are some more improvements to be made there. That's something I hope to complete in the next year.

"I need help out here. I hit it way too high. I've tried to lower my flight, but I compress down on it really hard and the thing just—I spin it like crazy, and then on my wedges, I don't spin it. It launches high with no spin.

"I'm working on a few things that'll help get that launch down while controlling the spin so it's more predictable out of my wedge shots. That's what I was working on and seeing if there was a more stable ball in windy conditions early in the week. There isn't. But I'm working with somebody that I've already seen improvements with. It's just not ready to be released, unfortunately. They can't make enough as quickly as they'd like. But it's coming; it'll be here, worst-case scenario September, but an iteration of it in the next couple weeks."

On Saturday, DeChambeau mentioned the ball again.

"This offseason, I’m confident I’ll have the resources and technology to get exactly what I need for next year’s major season," DeChambeau said. "I wasn’t fully prepared this year. I tried, but it didn’t come together."

On the timeline for the new ball, he hinted, "I think we’ll have a strong chance of being ready for the Ryder Cup, which would be incredible. We’re aiming for early September to have everything finalized."

DeChambeau continues to innovate with his equipment, and it looks like the golf ball is next in line.

3. Will LIV Golf rivals prevent Scottie Scheffler from winning the career grand slam?

Scottie Scheffler put forth a convincing victory at Royal Portrush. The win earns him his fourth major championship and third leg of the career grand slam, with only the U.S. Open left to conquer.

To become the 7th player in the history of golf to win the career grand slam, he’ll need to beat three LIV Golf players that are arguably three of his biggest major rivals. Bryson DeChambeau (2020 and 2024), Brooks Koepka (2017 and 2018) and Jon Rahm (2021) have all won the U.S. Open and have won at least two legs of the career grand slam.

4. Potential Ryder Cup dynamic duo

Speaking of both Scheffler and DeChambeau, I think it’s extremely likely that we will see the two stars play alongside each other at Bethpage Black in September. DeChambeau spoke about getting a personal message in his locker this week from U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, who confirmed that DeChambeau will be on the team in a text to Sports Illustrated.

“Bryson is going to be a very important piece to us winning the Ryder Cup…. He brings so much. He brings energy, passion but most importantly, he’s one of the best players on the planet.”

In 2021, Scheffler and DeChambeau played together in the U.S. team’s walloping of Europe at Whistling Straits, 19-9. In their first match, they tied the European – and now Legion XIII – duo of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, securing a half point. In their second match, they defeated Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland 3&1. Both players won their singles matches (Scheffler defeated Rahm and DeChambeau defeated Sergio Garcia) and ended the week with 2.5 points apiece.

Scheffler and DeChambeau grew up on the Texas golf scene and have a great deal of familiarity with each other, as DeChambeau alluded to after his final round at Royal Portrush on Sunday.

“In college, [Scheffler] was a good player, but not that good,” he said with a smile. “I beat him quite a bit. He’s stepped up his game for sure. It’s impressive to watch; he’s setting a benchmark that we all aspire to be at. I got to work a lot harder on my game.”

With the United States Ryder Cup team hungry for revenge, a Scheffler/DeChambeau pairing at Bethpage Black would certainly provide some firepower for the red, white and blue.

5. Hatton with a strong major season

In the end, no one other than Scheffler truly had a chance to win The Open Championship over the last round and a half, but for a time, Tyrrell Hatton was part of the conversation. The Legion XIII star finished T16, adding another strong major performance to his T14 at the Masters and T4 at the U.S. Open.

Hatton was one of two LIV Golf players to make the cut in all four major championships along with his Legion XIII teammate, Jon Rahm. After gaining experience of being in the mix at multiple majors in 2025, Hatton will be a serious contender come major season in 2026.

6. Surprising statistics

Bryson DeChambeau ranked 2nd in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (+1.30) and 5th in Greens in Regulation (4%) for the week. Typically, that wouldn’t be all that surprising, but given the fact that he was 7 over after his first round, his climb up the statistical ranks is remarkable.

Dustin Johnson ranked 3rd in Strokes Gained: Putting (+1.80 per round) for the week, which is interesting given how finicky he’s been with the putter of late. The 4Aces GC captain has always been indecisive when it comes to his putters, but he’s switched out his flatstick quite often over the past few months, even for him. This season, he’s used the LAB OZ.1, the LAB Golf DF3 as well as his trusty black TaylorMade Spider. He used the Spider for his T7 finish at Valderrama and this week at Royal Portrush. While it’s fair to assume the solid stretch with this putter makes it likely he’ll finish out the season with it, you can never be sure with Johnson.

Lee Westwood ranked 1st in Fairways Hit (73.2%) and 3rd in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (+1.29). This season, the Majesticks GC tri-captain has lost strokes off the tee in seven of his 10 LIV Golf starts. His driving accuracy has been off this season, so the fact that he led a major championship in fairways hit is quite astounding.

Way too early 2026 major championship predictions

Cameron Smith became the only golfer to compete in all four majors this season and miss the cut in each, a surprising outcome for the former Open Championship winner. I believe the 2025 major failure will act as motivation for the Ripper GC captain in 2026. Smith can still finish the LIV Golf season strong and go into the offseason with his eyes set on a resurgent major season next year. Smith has five top 10’s at Augusta National and I predict he will kick off major season in April with another top 10 at the Masters.

Jon Rahm will win a major

To be fully transparent, I expected Rahm to win a major championship in 2025. Although he was one of two LIV Golf players to make the cut in all four majors, he wasn’t able to earn his third major win. I think that changes in 2026. The Legion XIII captain is simply too talented and motivated to not win another major soon. It happens in 2026.

DeChambeau finishes top 5 at the Masters

As I mentioned earlier, Bryson DeChambeau has figured something out at Augusta National. Last year, he found himself entering the final round of the Masters in the last pairing alongside Rory McIlroy. It didn’t go his way that Sunday, but it now feels inevitable that it soon will.

David Puig will qualify for majors and make a significant impact

David Puig of Fireballs GC is one of the most talented young players in the world and is poised for a breakout campaign. The Spaniard is incredibly gifted off the tee and has gained strokes in that department in nine of his 10 2025 LIV Golf starts. Puig hits it long and straight, which is the most important skill for both the U.S. Open and the recent stretch of PGA Championship’s. At 23 years old, Puig still has some raw parts of his game that need refinement, but his time is coming, and it’s coming soon.