British Open Preview (Bulldog Edition)

Golf’s third major is this week and there are four former Bulldogs in the field. Not only has a former Georgia player not won The British Open (The Open Championship), a former Georgia player has not finished in the top ten. This is the 147th British Open and the eighth time it will be held at Carnoustie Golf Links. The last time Carnoustie hosted the British Open was in 2007 and that year there were zero former Bulldogs in the field.

Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Kevin Kisner, and Bubba Watson will try to win the Claret Jug this week, and before they play, we'll take a look at their British Open careers and more.

Earlier I mentioned no former Dawg has finished in the top ten. Last season, Bubba Watson had the best finish by a former Georgia player, as he finished tied for 27th at Royal Birkdale. Here are the best finishes by a former Dawg…

Here's a breakdown of the four Dawgs:

Brian Harman is currently ranked 26th on the Official World Golf Rankings. He has played 19 PGA Tour events this season, making the cut in 17 of them. He has eight top ten finishes this season including a third place finish last January at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. The lefty was tied for 44th at The Masters and tied for 36th at The U.S. Open this year. This is his fourth career British Open and here are his career stats at the third major.

Russell Henley is 48th on the Official World Golf Ranking list. He has played 18 PGA Tour events this season and has made the cut in 14 of them. He has three top ten finishes, including two in his last two events. His best finish was at the Travelers Championship last month, when he finished tied for sixth. The last eight rounds Henley has played all have been under par. In the two majors this year, he has finished tied for 15th at The Masters and tied for 25th at the U.S. Open. This will be Henley’s sixth career British Open appearance at here are his career stats at this prestigious event.

Kevin Kisner is 33rd on the Official World Golf Ranking list. He has made 12 cuts of the 18 PGA Tour events he has played this season. He has three top tens, and was the WGC-Dell Tech Match Play runner-up (to fellow Bulldog Bubba Watson). At The Masters this year, he finished tied for 28th, but missed the cut at the U.S. Open. This is Kisner’s fourth British Open, and here are his career stats at the big-time tournament.

Bubba Watson is having the best season of all the former Bulldogs on tour. He is currently ranked 13th on the Official World Golf Rankings, but has earned the third most money on the PGA Tour this season. He has made 16 of 18 cuts this season. He was three times this season (Genesis Open, WGC-Dell Tech Match Play, Travelers Championship) and has finished in the top ten two other times. The three PGA Tour wins is the most the lefty has ever had in one season. He has 12 PGA Tour wins in his career. Watson finished tied for fifth at The Masters while missing the cut at The U.S. Open. He is competing in his tenth British Open. He has not fared very well there as you can see.

Here is when they will tee off on Thursday, and with whom. The Carnoustie Golf Links are in Angus, Scotland, which is a five-hour time difference compared to Eastern Standard Time.

*** Cover Photo by Golfweek.com