The final major of the season, The Open Championship, is set to tee off Thursday at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England.This season has seen the rise of players like Chris Gotterup, whose three wins have helped him climb to No. 6 in the official World Golf Ranking, and Cameron Young, who notched six top-10 finishes, including two wins, in seven consecutive starts at one point this year.It’s also seen the resurgence of players like Matt Fitzpatrick, who will be mentioned shortly, and Wyndham Clark, who hasn’t finished worse than T13 since winning the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in May. There are several players with a chance to win this weekend.With that in mind, here are my pool picks, which involving selecting one player from each tier of 10 in the Official World Golf Rankings top 50.
Tier 1 (1-10): Matt FitzpatrickAs mentioned earlier, Fitzpatrick has enjoyed an impressive return to form this season. After spending parts of 2024 and 2025 ranked outside of the top 50 in the WGR, he has picked up three wins, five other top-10 finishes and hasn’t missed a cut in his 17 starts this season.The 31-year-old is the pick here because of how he has gotten to those finishes.This course should reward players in this week’s field who hit good approach shots. Statistically, that’s been the strongest part of Fitzpatrick’s game this year.His +1.01 true strokes gained on approach this season are second only to Collin Morikawa’s +1.03, according to Data Golf. And his +2.08 true strokes gained from tee to green are second only to World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (+2.22).
