This week will be golf’s fourth and final major. The Open Championship, or The British Open, as most Americans call it, used to be the third of four majors, but as you remember, the PGA Championship is now played in May.
This is the 148th British Open, and it will be played at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. This is the second time it has been played at this course. The first time was in 1951, when Max Faulkner won his only major.
This par 71 course will be difficult, especially with the forecast calling for rain for much of the tournament. There are 156 players who will try to win the Claret Jug, and four of them are former Bulldogs. Brian Harman (added on Monday), Kevin Kisner, and Keith Mitchell will all be attempting to win their first ever major while Bubba Watson will be going for major number three. Russell Henley would have qualified if he'd won last week at the John Deere; unfortunately, he finished second.
In the 2018 British Open, Kisner almost won as he led or co-led after each of the first three rounds. He ended up as the runner-up, and it was the best-ever finish at this event by a former Dawg. Check out this list:
Here is a deeper look at the four former Georgia golfers, as they take part of this prestigious event.
As I mentioned above, Brian Harman was a late add on Monday when Charles Howell III withdrew. Harman hasn’t had the best of all seasons, making just 14 of 26 cuts this season, and has three top ten finishes. However, two of the three top ten’s have occurred in his last four starts. The lefty finished tied for eighth at The Travelers Championship in late June, and earlier this month finished tied for seventh (his best season finish) at The 3M Open.
His only other top ten finish happened tied for eighth at The Players Championship. Last December. He, along with Patton Kizzire, did pair up to win the QBE Shootout (a non-PGA Tour event). He has been playing well as of late as he has shot even par or better in the last 13 rounds he has played. On the Official World Golf Rankings, Harman sits at 91st place. This is Harman’s fifth career British Open.
Here are his career stats at this major, plus how he has done in the majors this season.
Kevin Kisner probably has been the most consistent of all the former Bulldogs over the last few seasons. This season, Kisner has made 17 of 20 cuts and made the top 25 in eight of them. Last March, he won the WGC-Dell Tech Match Play for his third career PGA Tour win. His next best finish this season in a PGA Tour event was when he finished tied for fifth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last March. Kisner has made the cut in two of three majors this season. He is currently 20th in the FedExCup Standings list this season and is 27th on the Official World Golf Rankings. This is Kisner’s fifth career British Open. Here are his career stats at this major as well as how he has done in the majors this season.
Keith Mitchell has been a pleasant surprise for fans of Georgia golfers. Mitchell has made the cut in 14 of 22 events this season and has three top 10s and six top 25s. He won the Honda Classic for his first ever PGA Tour win back in March. A week later he finished tied for sixth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Then in May, Kisner finished tied for eighth at the Wells Fargo Championship. This season, he has played at each major for the first time and made the cut at The Masters. He is 33rd in the FedExCup Standings list this season and is 66th on the Official World Golf Rankings. As I mentioned, Mitchell will be making his British Open debut, so here is a look at how he has fared in other majors this season.
Also, since I mentioned the rain above, check out what Mitchell said earlier this week as he prepared for the event.
Bubba Watson is still the only former Georgia player with a win at a major (and he has two, both Masters). Overall he has struggled at the British Open, but has made the cut five times. This season he has made the cut in 12 of 16 PGA Tour events this season. He has two top 10’s. Watson finished tied for fourth at both the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the Valspar Championship. He still ranks 21st in the Official World Golf Rankings list, but is 82nd on the FedExCup list. This is his 11th career British Open. Here are his career stats at this major as well as how he has done in the previous three majors this season.
Here are the tee times for the first round for the former Georgia golfers and whom they are playing with.
