Last week turned out to be quite interesting for world golf.
The two biggest tournaments on the men’s and women’s circuit – the Genesis Scottish Open (co-sanctioned by the PGA and the DP World Tour) and the Amundi Evian Masters (a major for the ladies) were both won by young Korean stars – Tom Kim and Haeran Ryu.
But more interesting was the fact that it also turned out to be a week when the reigning No1 in both the men’s and women’s rankings failed to make the cut.
After nearly four years and 78 straight weeks of making it to the weekend, Scottie Scheffler decided to spend the weekend as normal people do – by not going to the office. It’s the first time he missed the cut since August 2022 (FedEx St Jude Championship). That’s a duration of 1,428 days, and the fifth-longest streak in history. More incredible is the fact that he did not finish outside the top 25 since the 2024 BMW Championship – a stunning run of 37 tournaments.
Equally surprising was Korda’s missed cut. Although her stats are not as jaw-dropping as Scheffler’s, she is the benchmark in women’s golf. And let’s not forget that she won the first two major championships of the season.
A day after Korda lost the battle to stay in the cut line, Ryu showed why she is the new superstar of the sport. On Saturday, the 25-year-old shot a 60 at Evian Resort Golf Club – the lowest round in major championships across gender. Coincidentally, the lowest round in men’s major is a 62, first shot by Branden Grace at the 2017 Open Championship in Royal Birkdale, which is the host venue again this year.
Having said that, it would take a magical round to post a 62 this week. Royal Birkdale is already looking baked. With the mercury soaring in the UK this year, the R&A did not have to work hard to turn the course brown and as dry and hard as a bone.
As we head to the final men’s major of the season, here are some of the best storylines to follow…
Scottie Scheffler… Because the world No1 and the defending champion must be hot under his collar right now after missing the cut in last week’s Genesis Scottish Open.
Rory McIlroy… Looked good for three of the four rounds at the Scottish Open. His high ball flight will be a big advantage on fairways and greens that are expected to be much firmer than those the players usually face. He may have declared himself to be “so bad” after one errant shot at Renaissance, but don’t take him at face value.
Tommy Fleetwood… The man from Southport, winner of the inaugural DP World India Championship, finally ended his title drought on the PGA Tour, and it would be nothing short of a fairy tale if he now won his first major title in front of doting home fans.
Jordan Spieth… No Birkdale story is complete without the mention of Spieth’s win in 2017. It took him 22 minutes and 20 seconds to play the 13th hole that Sunday, en route to the remarkable win. Spieth is nowhere near that form, but he is slowly trending in the right direction.
My outside picks this week:
From world No1 to world No10: I am going with statistically the worst player in the lot – Justin Rose. But just because he is the world No10 does not mean he will not be up there on Sunday. The man is a relentless force and somehow seems to get the best out of himself in the majors.
From world No11 to world No50: I am sticking with one of my picks the last couple of years – Tyrrell Hatton. Again, just like Rose, the majors seem to bring out the fighter in him. Actually, I would not be surprised if he finally wins his maiden major title this week.
From world No51 to world No100: I will back two from this lot – world No56 Ryan Fox and world No70 Michael Thorbjornsen. Fox hasn’t had a great season so far, including spending time in the hospital for a kidney stone surgery, but he is an amazing links player. As for Thorbjornsen, he finished tied seventh in Scotland, and I am a sucker for momentum in golf.
