We are just one day away from the start of the much-awaited 2021 Open Championship. This year, Royal St. Georges Golf Club in Kent, England plays hosts, a tough links course that will no doubt test the skills and limits of players.
As we look over the list of players in the field this week in an attempt to make a few picks, one thing has become apparent. The Open Championship is typically won by experienced players, who have been around for a bit. You would probably have to go back to Louis Oosthuizen's win at St. Andrews back in 2010 for the last "relatively inexperienced" player (at the time) to win in.
Why does this appear to be the case though? As I eluded to in my Open Championship article, links golf is tough. It requires players to do so much more that just swing the clubs. That, plus all the pressure of being a major tournament, can perhaps overwhelm many rookie players. It's a battle, and from the looks of it, takes a bit of experience and time on tour to overcome.
With that said, here are our picks for the 2021 Open Championship:
1) Louis Oosthuizen
2) Paul Casey
3) Ian Poulter
I really do think that Louis can get it done this week. The wave of momentum, and second place major finishes, that he's had recently can't be overlooked. It doesn't hurt either that he's won it before. In a similar position is Paul Casey, who is also familiar with links courses and has played well in majors past too. Is this finally the week that Casey gets his first major win? Let's hope so. Finally, rounding out our picks is Ian Poulter. Poults' career has really been trending in the right direction these past few years after being injury-plagued earlier. He finished T4 at the Scottish Open last week, maybe he can go the way of Phil Mickelson back in 2013 and take the Claret Jug this week? What an achievement that would be for him; a jewel on top of an already stellar career.
We'll be checking in midway to see how the tournament is progressing and how out picks are doing. Stay tuned!
-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews
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