Ten Australasians to tackle Royal Birkdale
Royal Birkdale stages its 11th Open Championship – image R&A
Seven Australians and three New Zealanders will face the starter on day one of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale this Thursday, the highly regarded layout proving to be a happy hunting ground for Australians in the past, with Peter Thomson winning twice there and Ian Baker Finch winning his major championship at Royal Birkdale in 1991 in a year when Mike Harwood also finished runner-up.
Royal Birkdale was created on its present site in 1894, but it wasn’t until 1954 that it hosted its first Open Championship, won by Peter Thomson, and in 2026 it will hold its 11th Open Championship.
The Australasians in the field in ranking order are Min Woo Lee, Jason Day, Ryan Fox, Adam Scott, Lucas Herbert, Daniel Hillier, Cameron Smith, Travis Smyth, Kazuma Kobori and Cameron John.
Cameron John is the only Open Championship debutante amongst the group, having earned the right to play via his performances on the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
On the other side of things, Adam Scott is by some way the most experienced as he tees it up in his 26th Open Championship, the 2012 edition his best effort when he finished runner-up to Ernie Els, beginning a stretch of three consecutive top five finishes in that period.
Cam Smith is, of course, the only winner of the event amongst that group, his win coming four years ago at St Andrews in 2022, but in his three starts since, he has missed the cut twice and finished 33rd in the other.
Smith missed the cut at the recent US Open but did finish a very meritorious 7th at the PGA Championship in May and has played LIV Golf events for much of the year.
Min Woo Lee found form after a few indifferent efforts in recent weeks, when he finished runner-up at last week’s Scottish Open, but his record at the Open is not good, missing the cut in three of his five starts and recording a best of 21st in the other two.
In another time and place, Jason Day might have been a consideration to be in contention, and nothing would give me more pleasure than to see him do so, but his recent form is a day-to-day proposition (forgive the pun), injury issues still bothering the runner-up in all four major championships, and of course, winning the 2015 PGA Championship.
Ryan Fox has always appeared as this style of golf suits the now, two-time, PGA Tour winner, and he gets to play his 10th Open Championship. Fox played well in the Irish and Scottish Opens earlier in his career on links-style courses and has made a lot of cuts of late on the PGA Tour without really contending. He showed glimpses of his best in Scotland last week and could do well.
New Zealand Open winner Daniel Hillier seems to be at odds with his game at present, having missed his last three cuts. Hillier will play his 5th Open Championship, missing the cut in three and finishing 19th in the other.
Lucas Herbert finished runner-up to Daniel Hillier at the New Zealand Open and earned the one spot available from that event. This will be Herbert’s 6th Open Championship, his best coming in 2022 when he finished 22nd behind Cameron Smith.
Kazuma Kobori gained one of the last spots in the Open at Final Qualifying, but he has struggled to regain the sort of form in 2026 to match his brilliant season in Europe last year. He has played one Open Championship, missing the cut by a long way in 2024, but he is a much more credentialed and experienced player now.
Travis Smyth earned his place in the field by winning the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit and gets to play his second Open Championship, having missed the cut in 2023.
