British Open preview

With the 145th Open Championship taking place at Royal Troon, I’ve decide to pick out and highlight the players I think will be in contention come Sunday.

Rory Mcllroy
In his first return to the Open since 2014, Mcllroy is a great chance to avenge his title after injuring his leg in 2015.

With a first, tied fourth, missed cut and solo third in his last four professional starts and extra practice days at Royal Troon, Mcllroy is primed to revisit his ‘Summer of 2014′ form and claim the Claret Jug.

A solid form line that is not peaking and a considerable amount of practice around a course are great signs that a golfer is going to have a solid week. Currently ranked first for driving and second for birdie average on the PGA tour in 2016, Mcllroy is ready to take charge on the windy fairways and slick Greens of Royal Troon.

The key to winning an Open Championship is driving and the ability to keep the ball in play. Is there a better driver of the golf ball in the world of golf then Mr Mcllroy?

Sergio Garcia
Every year we ask ourselves, will Sergio ever win a major? Could this year be his year? Statistically the Open is Garcia’s best performing major, with two second place finishes in 2007 and 2014.

Garcia drives the ball exceptionally well and hits his approach iron shots with a piercing trajectory – great for links golf! His unique but elegant swing provides a repeatable action with a great balance of consistency and power. If Garcia gets his putter working and holes a reasonable about of putts inside ten feet, then there is no doubt he will be in contention come Sunday. It’s only a matter of time for Garcia!

Jason Day
Can we ever count the great man out? Solid in every aspect of his game. my only concern is his lack of preparation and recent experience playing links style golf courses. Who am I kidding, he’s Jason Day right, need I not say more? He’ll be somewhere there on Sunday.

Shane Lowry
After a disappointing capitulation at the US Open a few weeks back, Lowry will be fired up to come out and put a solid weeks work in. He had one hand on US Open trophy following his early finish of round three on Sunday morning but let his chances slip with a cluster of errors in the final round.

Lowry is possessed with great tempo allowing him to hit a wide variety of shots with a piercing ball flight.

Although the stat I feel that hurts his chances the most at the 145th Open Championship is his current 2016 European Tour scoring average of 72.63. It’s a little high compared to other world-class players.

Although possessing a lack of solid form coming into the Open Championship I feel that his performance at the US Open a few weeks back was a big indicator into the great golf that the Irishman can play.

Forget the big names, recent prior winners of the Open at Royal Troon include the ‘One hit wonders’ Mark Calcavecchia, Justin Leonard and Todd Hamilton. My smokey to win the Open this year is Matthew Fitzpatrick.

Although not lacking talent, he is purely a smokey and flies under the radar. On the European Tour in 2016, Fitzpatrick impressively posts a 62.50 per cent in driving accuracy, 73.89 per cent green in regulation percentage and an average of 30 putts per round.

These stats indicate a solid young player looking to break through for a first win. He is the future of English golf and he has to break through at some stage right? My only concern is his lack of distance off the tee.

Is that a problem at the Open? Short in the fairway or long in the rough, what is better?

If either of these golfers come through, I’ll happily take the credit, if they don’t we can all just forget this was ever written.