30,000 Foot Update: Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger both made the cut and will stick around the weekend. Amateur Ellis did not make the cut. Koepka is right in the thick of things, sitting tied for 3rd. Berger needs to make up a lot of ground, as he enters Saturday tied for 45th. For more detailed updates on each player, see the round-by-round updates below.
Original: The Open Championship returns to Southport, England this year, home of one of fairest and stiffest tests in all of golf. Founded in 1889 and hosting its 10th British Open, Royal Birkdale Golf Club has held more championship and international events since World War II than any other course in the world.
Florida State will be well represented at this year’s Open Championship, with three ’Noles (Brooks Koepka, Daniel Berger, and Harry Ellis) among the 156 man field. As is typical for The Open, rain and wind is expected, meaning the start time for a player could take on added significance (being on the “right side of the draw” is arguably more important in The Open Championship than any other tournament).
We’ll use this tracker to update their performance as the tournament progresses.
Brooks Koepka, 11th in this week’s Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR)
- Koepka, who hasn’t played since winning the U.S. Open last month, missed the 2016 Open Championship with an ankle injury. However, he finished tied for 10th at the 2015 British Open (when he created a bit of a stir by refusing to play in the worst conditions, forcing the R&A to suspend play) and could very well add another top-10 this week. Koepka began his professional career in Europe and understands what it takes to successfully navigate links-style courses and varying weather conditions.
- Brooks tees off at 10:09 am local time on Thursday (5:09 am EDT) and 3:10 pm local time in round 2 on Friday (10:10 am EDT). He’ll play alongside Hideki Matsuyama (up to 2nd in the OWGR) and local favorite Tommy Fleetwood (14th in the OWGR).
- Round 1 update: Koepka eagled 17 from out of a green-side bunker to get to -5, where he finished. The 65 has him tied for lead with Jordan Spieth and Matt Kuchar.
- Round 2 update: A day after making 4 birdies an and eagle, BK was birdie-free Friday, carding 16 pars and a pair of bogeys for a round of 72. He had 31 putts in R2, after getting around Birkdale with just 21 on Thursday. He finds himself at -3, three behind Jordan Spieth, who holds the 36-hole lead for the 10th time in his young PGA Tour career. Koepka will play in the penultimate pairing with Ian Poulter on Saturday (tee off at 10:45 EDT).
- Round 3 update: Koepka didn’t have his best stuff (again) Saturday, but he fought his way to a 2-under 68. He carded 6 birdies, but he also had 4 bogeys, including a costly one at the last. He finds himself in a tie for 3rd, six shots behind wunderkind Jordan Spieth. BK will go off at 9:20 am EDT with 20-year old Canadian Austin Connelly.
- Round 4 update: Brooks bogeyed the 1st hole Sunday and could never get it going from there, shooting 1-over (71) with 3 birdies and 4 bogeys. He still finished T-6, a very nice showing after winning the US Open and taking a month-long break.
Daniel Berger, 20th in OWGR
- Berger, just 24 years old, has steadily climbed the world rankings during a successful 2017 season. Not only did he defend his title at the St. Jude Classic in June, he also has three other top 5 finishes this year including a runner-up finish at the Travelers Championship a few weeks ago in which he lost in a playoff to Jordan Spieth (he has 3 top-5 finishes in his last 4 starts, including T-5 last week at the John Deere Classic). However, Berger has yet to truly breakthrough on the biggest stages (only one career top-25 finish in a major: T-10 at The Masters in 2016). He missed the cut at last month’s U.S. Open and also missed the cut in his only British Open appearance in 2015. He will look to reverse his major championship fortunes this week.
- “Boog” tees off at 2:26 pm local time Thursday (9:26 am EDT) and 9:25 am local time Friday (4:25 am EDT). His playing partners are Pablo Larrazabal of Spain (102nd in the OWGR) and Yuta Ikeda of Japan (62nd in the OWGR).
- Round 1 update: Berger only hit 5/14 fairways, but was able to hit 12/18 greens in regulation. He struggled a bit on the front-nine with 3 bogeys and 2 birdies, but bounced back in a big way on the back-side with 3 birdies and zero bogeys for a round of 68 (-2). He’s currently T-12.
- Round 2 update: Berger struggled mightily (as did the majority of the early-wave) on Friday morning, but did just enough to make his first British Open cut. He started out decently enough, parring the first 6 holes. He followed that up, however, with bogeys on his next 4 holes and finished with a 76. He’s scheduled to tee it up with Charl Schwartzel at 6:45 EDT Saturday.
- Round 3 update: Berger was unable to take advantage of perfect conditions Saturday morning. He hit the ball well, only missing 1 fairway and 5 greens, but Boog couldn’t make anything once on the greens, ending up with 32 putts. He had a birdie at 17 to offset his bogey at 6 for a round of 70. He’ll tee off at 4:25 EDT Sunday alongside young American Xander Schauffele at Birkdale.
- Round 4 update: Boog played well Sunday, shooting 67 (-3) with 5 birdies and 2 bogeys. That effort catapulted him 25 spots to end in T-27.
Harry Ellis, Senior at Florida State University
- Ellis, a native of Southampton, England is one of the feel good stories of the Open Championship. The rising senior at FSU was once a golfing prodigy, becoming the youngest English Amateur champion ever at the age of 16—surpassing the previous mark held by 6-time major winner Nick Faldo. However, tragedy struck just a year later when Ellis’s mom lost a battle with cancer. It’s been a winding road for the Brit since, one in which he had several things to “grow up and learn from”. But a few weeks ago Ellis channeled his mental toughness and stunned the golf world by overcoming a four-hole deficit to win the British Amateur Championship. That victory qualified him for this week’s Open Championship, as well as The Masters and U.S. Open next year.
- Harry tees off at 9:25 am local time in Round 1 (4:25 am EDT) and 2:26 pm local time on Friday (9:26 am EDT). He’s grouped with 2011 Open Champion Darren Clarke (1025th in the OWGR) and American bomber Gary Woodland (48th in the OWGR).
- Round 1 update: Ellis struggled off the tee in the opening round, hitting just 14% of his fairways. He carded 8 bogeys and finished with a 77 (+7). He’s T-142. He’ll probably need the round of his life to make the cut tomorrow.
- Round 2 update: It didn’t go much better for the Florida State senior Friday afternoon. He only made 1 birdie against 6 bogeys, finishing with 75. For the championship, Ellis was equal to or better than PGA Tour winners: Louis Oosthuizen, John Daly, Billy Horschel, Wesley Bryan, Adam Hadwin, Sandy Lyle, Bryson Dechambeau, Brendan Steele, and Todd Hamilton.
Sunday’s Golf Channel coverage runs from 4:00-7:00 am, before switching to NBC until 2:00 pm.
Feel free to discuss your favorite player(s), who you like this week from a gambling perspective, your Open Championship viewing habits, or the event in general in the comment section (and should it be called “The Open”, “The Open Championship”, or the “British Open”?).