British Open returns to a new Royal Birkdale and an old chase for the claret jug

The Claret Jug trophy which will be presented to the winning golfer on display at the driving range ahead of the British Open Golf championships at Royal Birkdale golf club, in Southport, England, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

SOUTHPORT, England — Matthew Baldwin teed off at Royal Birkdale, just as he has done countless times as a member of the century-old links who grew up a short walk away. What made Thursday different was having a full grandstand surrounding him and a shiny claret jug reminding him what’s at stake.

Baldwin hit the opening tee shot at the 154th edition of the British Open, an iron that split the middle of the brown fairway and was approved by a cheering crowd.

James Nicholas was in the first group for the second straight major. The New York native was first off at Shinnecock Hills last month in the U.S. Open, hitting his opening tee shot in fog so thick he couldn’t see it land in the fairway. This shot at Birkdale didn’t go so well, pulled into the thick grass and leading to an opening bogey.

And with that began the longest day in golf, part of what makes this major stand out from the others — 15 hours of golf along the Irish sea, summer daylight seemingly endless.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler was among those playing early, along with Jordan Spieth, the last Open champion at Royal Birkdale in 2017.

But it’s different now. The course was green and the rough was lush when Spieth won. A heat wave across Europe, and a forecast of sunshine, has left the course brown and baked, conditions that make for the best brand of links golf because the ball rolls and tumbles and bounces.

“The ball is just going to run forever,” Scheffler said.

The course also has an entirely new 15th hole, a par 3 at 241 yards, and four other holes that have gone through significant changes.

Scheffler is coming off a missed cut at the Scottish Open — his first in nearly four years — and will try to become the first repeat winner of the British Open since Padraig Harrington in 2007-08. He also is trying to win for the first time since January.

He will be alongside Bryson DeChambeau, who has missed the cut in every major this year.

Baldwin is among 21 players from England in the field, and hopes have never been higher for an English links to produce an English champion for the first time since Tony Jacklin in 1969.

Tommy Fleetwood, the FedEx Cup champion, grew up in Southport. Justin Rose is still among the top 10 in the world at age 45, having first made his mark at Royal Birkdale when he tied for fourth as a 17-year-old amateur in 1998. Matt Fitzpatrick is No. 3 in the world, and his three victories this year are more than Scheffler and Masters champion Rory McIlroy combined.

McIlroy played in the afternoon, the back-to-back Masters champion who last won the British Open in 2014 down the coast at Royal Liverpool.

Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press