SOUTHPORT, England — It’s crunch time at the Open Championship. With 18 holes to play, it would seem there are any number of contenders in the mix. But who will do the grabbing at Royal Birkdale?
If history is any indicator, the soon-to-be champion golfer of the year will be somebody within three shots of the 54-hole lead (only 13 times has somebody come back from four or more, the last being Cameron Smith at St. Andrews in 2022). Yet history also says the Open winner will be inside the top-four heading into Sunday’s final round (only 13 times has a player outside that spot on the leaderboard gone on to win, the last being Francesco Molinari at Carnoustie in 2018).
And the biggest comeback of all time? Well that was Paul Lawrie, who found himself 10 shots back of the lead starting the final round at the 1999 Open at Carnoustie, only to win in a playoff after Jean Van de Velde’s 72nd hole collapse.
They won’t announced Sunday’s final-round tee times until the conclusion of the third round on Saturday. Come back after play ends to see who’ll be paired together for the last round of the 2026 men’s major season.
Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. But since many United States golf fans continue to refer to it as the British Open, and search news around the event accordingly, Golf Digest continues to utilize both names in its coverage.