Golf Glance: Royal Troon hosts 2024’s final major

Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.

PGA TOUR

LAST TOURNAMENT: Scottish Open (Robert MacIntyre)

THIS WEEK: The Open Championship, Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland, July 18-21

Course: Royal Troon (Par 71, 7,385 Yards)

Purse: $17M (Winner: $3.1M)

Defending Champion: Brian Harman

FedEx Cup Leader: Scottie Scheffler

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: Thursday-Friday: 1:30-4 a.m. ET (Peacock), 4 a.m.-3 p.m. (USA), 3-4:15 p.m. (Peacock); Saturday: 5-7 a.m. (USA), 7 a.m.-3 p.m. (NBC); Sunday: 4-7 a.m. (USA), 7 a.m.-2 p.m. (NBC)

Streaming: The R&A controls all digital streaming and broadcast rights.

X: @TheOpen

NOTES: The field includes 49 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, the top 30 in the FedExCup standings and 19 past Open champions. … Royal Troon is hosting The Open for the 10th time, with Henrik Stenson winning the most recent in 2016, when he famously outlasted Phil Mickelson. … Scheffler is already just the fourth player with at least six wins in the same season since 1983 and the first since Tiger Woods in 2009. Woods in 2007 is the last player to win at least seven times in a single season. … Woods will make his fifth start of the season, with his only made cut coming at the Masters (60th). He finished T24 in the 1997 Open Championship played at Troon and T9 in 2004. … Justin Rose went through Final Qualifying to earn a spot in this week’s field. At No. 75 in the FedEx Cup standings he has only three weeks remaining to get inside the Top 70 that will qualify for the first leg of the playoffs. … Xander Schauffele has the longest active streak with 51 consecutive cuts made on the PGA Tour. Scheffler is second with 40. Hideki Matsuyama owns the longest consecutive cuts made in majors streak at 17. Adam Scott leads all active players as he will play in his 93rd consecutive major.

BEST BETS: Scheffler (+500 at DraftKings) had his best finish at The Open three years ago with a T8, but this has also been a year of shattering previous standards for the world’s No. 1-ranked player. In addition to his wins at the Masters and Players, Scheffler has claimed four signature event victories. He leads the field at the book with 16 percent of the total bets backing him to claim his first Open title this week. … Rory McIlroy (+850) returned from his post-U.S. Open meltdown break to post a T4 at the Scottish Open. McIlroy has a final opportunity to break his decade-long major drought this year. He is second to Scheffler with 9 percent of the total bets backing him, but McIlroy does lead the field with 18 percent of the money. … Schauffele (+1200) wasn’t able to successfully defend his title at the Scottish Open, but he did produce his 10th consecutive top-20 finish. That includes a win at the PGA Championship, a T2 at the Masters and a T7 at the U.S. Open. … Ludvig Aberg (+2000) showed his inexperience in blowing the 54-hole lead with a 73 on Sunday at the Scottish Open. He does have a solo second at the Masters and a T12 at the U.S. Open on his 2024 resume already. Aberg is third with 8 percent of the money backing him to win his first major at Royal Troon. … Collin Morikawa (+1400) hasn’t found the winner’s circle since last fall, but the 2021 Open champion continues to knock on the door. That includes a T4 last week — his sixth top-10 in his past nine starts, a streak that includes no finishes lower than T16. … Bryson DeChambeau’s (+2000) major record this year includes a T6 at the Masters, second at the PGA and his win at the U.S. Open. A ninth-place finish at Andalucia on Sunday was underwhelming against LIV’s smaller fields, and his best Open finish was a T8 two years ago.

THIS WEEK: Barracuda Championship, Truckee, Calif., July 18-21

Course: Tahoe Mountain Club, Old Greenwood (Par 71, 7,480 Yards)

Purse: $4M (Winner: $720,000)

Defending Champion: Akshay Bhatia

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: Thursday-Sunday, 5-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

X: @CudaChamp

NOTES: There are only three weeks and four events remaining before the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, where only the top 70 players will qualify for the first event. There are 26 players in this week’s field with an opportunity to move into the Top 70 with a win. … This is the only PGA Tour event to use the Modified Stableford scoring system. Players earn eight points for a double eagle, five for an eagle and two for a birdie. No points are earned for a par, while a bogey is minus one point and a double bogey or worse is minus three points. … Bhatia will not defend his title as he competes in The Open Championship. The field does include 50 players from the DP World Tour courtesy of the strategic alliance between the tours. … The winner will earn a PGA Tour exemption through 2026 if a current member of the tour, or through 2025 if a current member of the DP World Tour. … Erik Van Rooyen holds the tournament scoring record of plus-50 set in 2021.

NEXT TOURNAMENT: 3M Open, Blaine, Minn., July 25-28

LPGA Tour

LAST TOURNAMENT: Evian Championship (Akaya Furue)

THIS WEEK: Dana Open, Sylvania, Ohio, July 18-21

Course: Highland Meadows Golf Club (Par 71, 6,666 yards)

Purse: $1.75M (Winner: $162,500)

Defending Champions: Linn Grant

Race to the CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: Thursday-Friday, 12-3 p.m. ET (Golf Channel/Peacock); Saturday, 2-5 p.m. (Peacock), 8-10 p.m. (GC — Tape Delay); Sunday, 1-2 p.m. (GC), 2-4 p.m. (CBS)

X: @danaopenlpga

NOTES: This is the 39th playing and 40th anniversary of the event, which Highland Meadows has hosted since 1988. … Friday will be “Lexi Thompson Day” and will feature fans, players and tournament staff wearing pink, the favorite color for Thompson, who announced this will be her final year playing a full LPGA Tour schedule. … Linnea Strom is the only one of 12 winners on tour this year (ShopRite LPGA Classic) in this week’s field, which does include 20 of the 26 rookies in 2024. … Se Ri Pak holds the tournament scoring record of 261 set in 1998.

NEXT TOURNAMENT: CPKC Women’s Open, Calgary, July 25-28

PGA Tour Champions

LAST TOURNAMENT: Kaulig Companies Championship (Ernie Els)

THIS WEEK: OFF.

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Els

NEXT TOURNAMENT: The Senior Open Championship, Carnoustie, Scotland, July 25-28

LIV Golf League

LAST TOURNAMENT: Andalucia, Spain (Individual: Sergio Garcia; Team: Fireballs GC)

THIS WEEK: OFF.

2024 Leaders: Players, Joaquin Niemann; Team, Crushers GC

NEXT TOURNAMENT: LIV Golf United Kingdom, England, July 26-28

–Field Level Media