By admin 
Golf does not conduct major championships by applause, nostalgia or neat endings. Royal Birkdale will make its selection with firm turf, deep bunkers, unpredictable bounces and 72 holes of consequences.
Read more Will Alabama Lose to an Inferior Opponent in 2026? The Joe Gaither Show
That is how it should be.
Still, certain champions change the temperature of the sport. Their victories reach beyond the usual golf audience, awaken dormant fans and give everyone something better to discuss than money, schedules and organizational politics.
The 154th Open begins Thursday at Royal Birkdale, which is hosting the championship for the 11th time. The tournament already carries a collection of compelling competitive questions, but four possible Sunday outcomes stand apart for their ability to deliver a distinctly positive jolt.
This is not a prediction list. Two of the four require a rather generous imagination. Each, however, would produce the kind of ending people would still be discussing when The Open returns to St Andrews next year.
Royal Birkdale | Sunday Scenarios
Four Endings That Would Electrify Golf
Two plausible contenders and two extraordinary long shots offer four very different paths to an unforgettable final round.
Hometown Coronation
Tommy Fleetwood
A first major championship at the course he grew up around would turn Southport into the center of the golf world.
The Birkdale Sequel
Jordan Spieth
Nine years after his unforgettable 2017 victory, Spieth could end his winless stretch where his last major was secured.
History at 54
Padraig Harrington
Another Birkdale victory would make Harrington the oldest Open champion and oldest men’s major winner.
Last In, Last Standing
Joe Dean
The former grocery delivery driver won the final field position Monday and will marry his caddie two days after the championship.
Tommy Fleetwood Wins the Major Everyone Wants for Him
Southport would not sleep.
Tommy Fleetwood was a 7-year-old spectator when The Open visited Royal Birkdale in 1998. Nearly three decades later, his face is painted across his hometown, his likeness has been crocheted onto a postbox and almost every local reference to this championship eventually arrives at the same question:
Could Tommy actually win it here?
Fleetwood experienced the weight of hometown expectation when Birkdale last hosted in 2017. He opened with a 6-over 76 before recovering to finish tied for 27th. This time, he arrives with one significant burden removed. His victory at the 2025 Tour Championship was his first on the PGA Tour and earned him the FedExCup, finally ending years of questions about whether one of the game’s most consistent players could close.
The remaining omission is considerably larger.
Fleetwood finished second at the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush and fourth at St Andrews in 2022. He has spent enough Sundays around major-championship contention to understand the difference between participating in the moment and controlling it.
“I would definitely much prefer to have a major or two or three on my resume by the time my career is over,” Fleetwood said Monday.
A maiden major anywhere would alter the way Fleetwood’s career is remembered. Winning it at Royal Birkdale would create one of the great collisions of player, place and timing in modern Open history.
Hometown stories are sometimes inflated by proximity. This one has earned its emotional weight. Fleetwood grew up on these links, has carried enormous public affection without becoming consumed by it and has endured enough competitive disappointment to appreciate every step of the final walk.
Should he reach the 18th green Sunday with the lead, the roar might arrive before his golf ball does.
Jordan Spieth Produces the Birkdale Sequel
Royal Birkdale has already given Jordan Spieth one of the defining performances of his career.
His final round in 2017 appeared to be unraveling when his drive on the 13th disappeared into the dunes and forced a lengthy ruling near the practice area. Spieth somehow escaped with a bogey, then nearly holed his tee shot at the 14th, made eagle from roughly 40 feet at the 15th and added birdies at Nos. 16 and 17.
He defeated Matt Kuchar by three shots and lifted the third major championship trophy of his career.
Nine years later, Spieth returns as a considerably different player. He is 32, has not won a PGA Tour event since the 2022 RBC Heritage and has not added to his major total since that afternoon at Birkdale.
Spieth maintains that his recent ball-striking has been better than his results suggest, with inconsistent putting preventing good golf from becoming winning golf. His return to the place of his last major victory has also provided a useful reminder.
“It’s more to remind myself that I can do it,” Spieth said.
A second Birkdale victory would not be a rewind to the fearless 23-year-old who negotiated his way through equipment trailers, dunes and almost every emotion available.
It would be something more interesting: proof that the current version of Spieth, shaped by injuries, putting struggles and nine additional years of competitive scar tissue, can still solve a major championship.
Golf is a different viewing experience when Spieth is involved late Sunday. His rounds become conversations, negotiations and occasional arguments with himself, his caddie and the golf course. Nothing ever feels settled.
A fourth major and second Claret Jug would also revive his pursuit of the career Grand Slam. The PGA Championship would remain the final piece, but that chase would suddenly feel alive again.
Birkdale already owns the greatest Spieth story. A sequel might be even harder to explain.
Padraig Harrington Wins at 54 and Breaks Two Records
Of these four scenarios, this is the one that would force the record book open before the trophy ceremony.
Padraig Harrington is 54. He has won three major championships, including consecutive Opens in 2007 and 2008, and has added 11 PGA Tour Champions victories to a career built around curiosity, preparation and a persistent willingness to challenge accepted ideas.
His 2008 Open victory came at Royal Birkdale, where severe wind pushed the winning total to 3 over. Harrington beat Ian Poulter by four after striking a remarkable 5-wood into the par-5 17th, setting up the eagle that effectively secured his second straight Claret Jug.
A victory this week would shatter two of men’s golf’s most enduring age marks.
Old Tom Morris remains the oldest Open champion, having won in 1867 at 46 years and 102 days. Phil Mickelson holds the men’s major record after winning the 2021 PGA Championship at 50 years, 11 months and 7 days. Harrington would clear both marks by several years.
The idea is wildly improbable, but Birkdale has seen an older player challenge history before. Greg Norman was 53 when he held the 54-hole lead in the 2008 Open before Harrington passed him during the final round.
Links golf also offers experienced players a different competitive equation. Raw distance still matters, but trajectory control, imagination, wind management and knowing when not to attack can narrow portions of the physical gap.
Harrington remains a relentless worker and a dangerous links player. He tied for fourth in the 2021 PGA Championship at age 49 and has continued winning senior majors.
Should he somehow create another Sunday opening at Birkdale, every shot would carry two timelines: what he was attempting in the moment and what it would change historically.
At 54, no one would need an explanation of why it mattered.
By the Numbers
What a Padraig Harrington Victory Would Rewrite
54
Harrington’s age at the 2026 Open
46 years
Old Tom Morris’ standing Open age record
50 years
Phil Mickelson’s men’s major age record
2008
Harrington’s four-shot Birkdale victory
A third Claret Jug would make Harrington the oldest winner in Open history and the oldest men’s major champion.
Joe Dean Turns the Last Chance Into Golf’s Best Wedding Gift
From Qualifier to Wedding
Joe Dean’s Remarkable Eight Days
Monday, July 13
Wins the Last-Chance Qualifier
A 2-under 68 earns Dean the 156th and final place in The Open field.
Thursday, July 16
Begins His Third Open
Dean tees off with former champion Henrik Stenson and Max Homa.
Sunday, July 19
The Dream Finish
The final qualifier attempts to become the final player standing at Royal Birkdale.
Tuesday, July 21
Marries His Caddie, Emily
The couple’s two dogs are scheduled to serve as ring bearers.
Then there is Joe Dean, whose week already sounds slightly over-written.
Dean earned the 156th and final place in the field Monday by shooting a 2-under 68 in The Open’s inaugural Last-Chance Qualifier. His eagle at the par-5 14th proved decisive, sending the 32-year-old Englishman into his third Open Championship.
He entered the week ranked No. 268 in the world. His fiancée, Emily Lyle, carried his bag during the qualifier and will caddie for him in the championship.
They are getting married next Tuesday.
Dean, who once delivered groceries for Morrisons while attempting to rescue his professional career, initially faced another immediate problem after qualifying. Most of Southport’s hotels were full, prompting him to joke that he might need to sleep in his car or pitch a tent near the putting green.
“A week off would have made the wedding a bit easier but The Open is a good excuse to liven things up a little bit,” Dean said.
He should not be treated merely as comic relief. Dean has made the cut in both of his previous Open appearances, finishing tied for 70th at Birkdale in 2017 and tied for 25th at Royal Troon in 2024. He also recorded a third-place finish at the KLM Open this season.
Winning the Claret Jug remains an enormous leap from those accomplishments.
That is also what makes the possibility irresistible.
The final player admitted into the field becoming the final player standing would introduce Dean to millions of people who could not identify him Tuesday morning. Add the delivery-driver history, the fiancée on the bag, the accommodation scramble and a wedding scheduled two days after the final round, and the story would escape golf’s usual borders.
One way or another, the wedding speeches would write themselves.
Sunday owes the sport no sentimental finish. A favorite could separate from the field, an unfamiliar contender could play the week of his life or Royal Birkdale could dismantle every tidy narrative placed upon it.
Each would be legitimate.
Sports endure longest, however, when result and meaning arrive together. Fleetwood carrying Southport, Spieth rediscovering Birkdale, Harrington defeating the calendar or Dean stretching a last-chance Monday into Claret Jug Sunday would each give golf something rare: a result requiring no promotional campaign.
Royal Birkdale will produce a worthy champion without any of them.
One of these four would produce a Sunday night nobody would be eager to end.
PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent “The Starter” on R.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile.
Read more ‘Outside Noise’-Folarin Balogun Reveals How Red Card Chaos Impacted USMNT
Related: 2026 Open Championship Guide: What to Know at Royal Birkdale
Related: Bridgestone’s Open-Inspired Kit Is Built to Be Played
Related: The U.S. Adaptive Open Delivers Golf’s Most Powerful Message
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 9:57 AM.