The 10-player Australian contingent teeing up at the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool this week includes everything from an amateur and a 36-hole final qualifier all the way up to the tournament’s defending champion, Cameron Smith. We’ve got everything, including several solid chances at victory.
The 151st Open Championship returns to Royal Liverpool, nicknamed Hoylake after the town it’s located in, almost 10 years since Rory McIlroy claimed the 2014 edition. Adam Scott and Jason Day are the only two Australians in the field this week who have played an Open at Royal Liverpool.
Day and Scott join in-form duo Min Woo Lee and Smith as arguably Australia’s four best chances at winning the Open. Lee and Smith are coming off top-five results at the most recent major, the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club, while world No.7 Smith arrives at Liverpool having won his second LIV Golf title two weeks ago in London.
Smith has the swagger back and has been working hard on his long game, particularly the driver. In two practice rounds, including one on Monday night with Scott, Smith has struck the ball beautifully and his short game is in its usual world-class state.
Scott, despite a mixed bag of three top 10s and several mediocre results this PGA Tour season, has a solid history at Hoylake. He finished in the top 10 in both the 2006 (won by Tiger Woods) and 2014 Opens at the Merseyside course.
Five Aussies are making their Open debuts: Travis Smyth, David Micheluzzi, Haydn Barron, Connor McKinney and amateur Harrison Crowe – are making their Open championship debuts. For Smyth, Barron and McKinney it is their first appearance in a major championship. There are also dual Kiwis in the field in Ryan Fox, who tied 12th at last week’s Scottish Open, and recent Betfred British Masters champion Daniel Hillier.
TEE TIMES (in AEST)
3.57pm Ryan Fox (NZ), Lucas Herbert (Aus), Byeong Hun An (Kor)
6.14pm Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng), Jason Day (Aus)
6.47pm Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Adam Scott (Aus)
6.58pm Cameron Smith (Aus), Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark
7.42pm Dan Bradbury (Eng), Oliver Farr (Wal), Haydn Barron (Aus)
9.20pm Brendon Todd, Romain Langasque (Fra), Travis Smyth (Aus)
9.42pm Min Woo Lee (Aus), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Harrison Crowe (amateur) (Aus)
10.15pm Zach Johnson, Matt Wallace (Eng), David Micheluzzi (Aus)
12.43am (Friday AEST) Guido Migliozzi (Ita), Oliver Wilson, Connor McKinney (Aus)
Live TV coverage
Wednesday
10pm-4am Live From The Open (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)
Thursday
3.30pm-5am Round 1 (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)
Friday
5am-7am Live From The Open (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)
3.30pm-5am Round 2 (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)
Saturday
5am-7am Live From The Open (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)
7pm – 5am Round 3 (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)
Sunday
5am-7am Live From The Open (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)
Final Round 6pm – 4am (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)
Monday
4am-6am Live From The Open (Fox Sports 505/Kayo)
Australasian Profiles (provided by Tony Webeck/Australian Golf Media)
Cameron Smith
Age: 29
World ranking: 7
Best finish in 2023: Won LIV Golf London
Past Open appearances: 5
Best finish at The Open: Won in 2022 (St Andrews)
How he qualified: The Open Champions aged 60 or under on 23 July 2023
Jason Day
Age: 35
World ranking: 27
Best finish in 2023: Won AT&T Byron Nelson
Past Open appearances: 10
Best finish at The Open: T4 in 2015 (St Andrews)
How he qualified: The first 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2023
Adam Scott
Age: 43
World ranking: 39
Best finish in 2023: T5 at Wells Fargo Championship
Past Open appearances: 22
Best finish at The Open: 2nd in 2012 (Royal Lytham & St Anne’s)
How he qualified: Top 30 players from the Final 2022 FedEx Cup Points List
Ryan Fox (NZ)
Age: 36
World ranking: 42
Best finish in 2023: T11 at Ras Al Khaimah Championship
Past Open appearances: 6
Best finish at The Open: T16 in 2019 (Royal Portrush)
How he qualified: First 30 in the Final Race to Dubai Rankings for 2022
Min Woo Lee
Age: 24
World ranking: 47
Best finish in 2023: T2 at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
Past Open appearances: 2
Best finish at The Open: T21 in 2022 (St Andrews)
How he qualified: Open Qualifying Series (3rd at Australian Open)
Lucas Herbert
Age: 27
World ranking: 56
Best finish in 2023: Won ISPS HANDA Championship
Past Open appearances: 3
Best finish at The Open: T15 in 2022 (St Andrews)
How he qualified: The first 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2023
Daniel Hillier (NZ)
Age: 24
World ranking: 137
Best finish in 2023: Won Betfred British Masters
Past Open appearances: 1
Best finish at The Open: MC in 2021 (Royal St George’s)
How he qualified: Open Qualifying Series (Won British Masters)
Travis Smyth
Age: 28
World ranking: 310
Best finish in 2023: 3rd at World City Championship, Hong Kong
Past Open appearances: 0
Best finish at The Open: First appearance
How he qualified: Open Qualifying Series (3rd at World City Championship, Hong Kong)
David Micheluzzi
Age: 26
World ranking: 363
Best finish in 2023: Won Play Today NSW Open, TPS Sydney
Past Open appearances: 0
Best finish at The Open: First appearance
How he qualified: Won ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit
Harrison Crowe (a)
Age: 21
World amateur ranking: 35
Best finish in 2023: 2nd at NSW Amateur
Past Open appearances: 0
Best finish at The Open: First appearance
How he qualified: Won the 2022 Asia-Pacific Amateur
Haydn Barron
Age: 27
World ranking: 937
Best finish in 2023: T15 at Vic Open
Past Open appearances: 0
Best finish at The Open: First appearance
How he qualified: Open Qualifying Series (T4 at Australian Open)
Connor McKinney
Age: 21
World ranking: 1,140
Best finish in 2023: T5 at Kaskada Golf Challenge
Past Open appearances: 0
Best finish at The Open: First appearance
How he qualified: Final Qualifying at Dundonald Links
Australian winners of The Open
Peter Thomson (1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965), Kel Nagle (1960), Greg Norman (1986, 1993), Ian Baker-Finch (1991), Cameron Smith (2022)
