Open Championship 2026: How important is being on the ‘right side’ of the draw? What the stats say

Every year around Open Championship week fans and players alike obsess over the draw and the weather that comes with it. But does teeing off early or late actually decide the outcome? We looked at two decades of major championship data to measure just how much the luck of the draw really matters at golf’s oldest major, and why Padraig Harrington’s 2008 win at Birkdale might be the greatest example of overcoming it.

The 10 steps to ‘becoming’ Jordan Spieth at Royal Birkdale in 2017

Some finishes fade with time. This one hasn’t. Nine years after Jordan Spieth’s extraordinary final round at Royal Birkdale, we look back at the bizarre, brilliant 13th hole sequence that could have ended his 2017 Open dream and instead ignited the most electric run of his career. From a horror drive into the dunes to a 22-minute rules odyssey and a heroic bogey, it remains one of the strangest and most captivating stretches in major championship history.