2025 Open: Time for the Range
Posted on July 15, 2025
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Royal Portrush with its tweaks and hollows, bumps and mounds, coupled with the irresistible charm that surrounds these Northern Ireland lands, is ready to host The Open Championship with fans and players pouring in through the gates.
Its wet, its muddy, but nothing can stop what is sure to be a repeat of 2019 - an absolute humdinger. The crowds will make it very loud!
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Keep an eye open for the majorpunter changes introduced last year, with a no-subs option, adding a 6th pick and the addition of another wildcard. See the updated RULES on the site, which also include a no-sympathy approach to players withdrawing once the first tee shot has gone off.
The course is expected to be heavy, with lots of rain throughout the week. The greens are in great condition, much smoother than in Scotland. The rough is up, juicy even, with the fescue playing extremely penal to wayward shots. With its clever winding between dunes and mounds, this is going to be a beast!
X is defending this week, and he will be pleased to even be considered a possible even after his 2-major year year of 2024. He seems to be past his injury woes and found some form in Scotland last week.
Stat Attack
Sadly Royal Portrush has not hosted enough Opens through the years to provide good indicators, but there is lots of good data on links players.
Key pundits point to Royal Portrush being an extreme ball striking test. Look at the leading contenders from 2019, all are great iron players with Lowry, Tommylad, BK, The Phenom & Westie all considered much better ball strikers than putters.
A few other considerations:
1. The best 5 players on cumulative strokes gained on Links courses since 2015: MadHatter, TommyLad, Rory, Jordan & BK, but that stat favours more rounds
2. The best 5 players on average strokes gained on Links courses since 2015: Jordan, X, JDay, Scottie & The Phenom
3. Rahmbo is on the biggest performance trend, with 3 top 10s over 4 years - the best in the field. As expected he has the best score to par in that period too
4. Scrambling is going to be key this week, Opens always need the creativity to get your hands on the claret jug, with unconventional shots required. The avg rank for the past few champions is top 7
majorpunter Favorites
Any major presents so many potentials, obviously littered with favourites of proven top end players and The Open can do that more than most with its skew bounces and bad weather, just extra nuances to an already challenging task.
The course will be a ball striking test and the players know this. The top dogs will be licking their lips, though it won’t be plain sailing with an extensive list that MC’d in 2019, including local favourite Rory.
The Big Boys: are on everyone’s lips. Rory, Scottie, X & Rahmbo are all on the march, all recent major winners and they feel they can win at any time. Its great to see this group of gladiators dominating, but there are others in with a chance.
Hatton: a really good consistent performer the last few years in the big events, nearly won at Oakmont until calamity struck on 17. Feels very comfortable on Links courses having won at The Dunhill a few times. Now’s his chance to finally land a 1st major!
The Hov: Showed really nice form in Scotland as he continues to knock on the door. Another great iron player, who picked up a win in 2025. His chipping always needs work, but perhaps the bump and run nature of a Links, brings his ball striking into play.
The Challengers
The DATA GOLF RANKINGS have a few surprises, but Scottie does keep ranking at the top of all.
The top 10 is littered with top, high performing talent: Scottie, Rory, Rahmbo, JT, X & BDC are all multiple major winners. Thats 7 of them! Thats a ton of pedigree and form to boot - so it’ll be a tough pick.
But what of the rest who are not on everyone’s radar?
Jordan: Has no real form compared to what his extended resume has. Its been 8 years since his last major at Birkdale, but is a proven links player with a scrambling game to match!
TommyLad: too many postive vibes for this man, was good here in 2019, has good form in 2025 and always looks at home at a Links!
JT: Has been in good form throughout 2025, returning to the winners circle. Loves Links golf, who doesn’t, though he screams it from the hills.
For an in-depth analysis of the top candidates, check out GOLF DIGEST for this Open Championship examination.
Beyond Scottie & Rory, there are some stars who are stepping up at the The Open with serious history and credentials behind them. X has a cracking recent record at this major including last year’s win and Rahmbo is back and produced in the majors in 2025.
Your Picks
The DATA GOLF RANKINGS are an interesting mix and determine our mixed pots for PICKS.
The Top bucket: Its always a tough pick, with so much proven match winners. Bet against The Big 3 at your peril. All are definitely back to their best. But what about Sepp as an outlier?
The 2nd bucket: Perhaps its time for the near-miss Mr Burns or the MadHatter who both looked so good at Oakmont. Otherwise, pick any one of the the great iron players like Jaco, Collin, Corey or The Hov as potential outliers.
The 3rd Bucket: The much-heralded Aberg has slid to 21st on the list, with a pretty average record outside of Augusta. He did have moments of joy in Scotland, so could be a good fit. Surely some money on the experienced crew of Scotty, Jordan, Lowry & JDay who both have had moments at The Open and of late.
The Bottom Bucket: There could be a gander for an open tournament specialist like Foxy, but a smarter play might be for JRose, Other Cam or Davis T or perhaps one of the last qualifiers Hojgaard, who could carry some form.
Head over to DATA GOLF RANKINGS to find your team and make those PICKS.
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