Open Championship 2025: Preview, prediction and how to watch as McIlroy and Scheffler aim to deny Lowry repeat

Open Championship 2025 overview

Irish eyes were smiling in 2019 when Shane Lowry delivered a hugely popular home win at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Six years on from that triumph, there is considerable hope that the fans who pack the grandstands on the Northern Irish coast will be able to toast another home triumph.

The Open returns to Portrush this week, and many will surely be expecting Rory McIlroy to cap off an already historic season by claiming his second Claret Jug.

McIlroy, who ended his long wait for a Masters title with a play-off win over Justin Rose at Augusta that saw him complete the career Grand Slam, won his only Claret Jug way back in 2014 with a two-shot win at Hoylake, but he enters the 153rd Open in excellent form.

He finished tied-second at The Scottish Open as American Chris Gotterup won by two strokes. Despite missing out, McIlroy declared following his third round at the Renaissance Club that he is “pretty close to being back to the level I was at going into The Masters”.

That kind of statement could set the stage for a mouthwatering battle with world number one Scottie Scheffler. 

Rory has arrived at Royal Portrush. pic.twitter.com/1eYP04WtiE

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 14, 2025

Scheffler entered the final round at Royal Troon last year just two shots off the pace, but was unable to produce the final day charge he needed to add the Claret Jug to his voluminous list of honours.

But the Texan has been in outstanding form since May after shaking off an uneven start to the year, and believes he is nearing the level he needs to contend for his first Open Championship win and his fourth major title following another top-10 showing at The Scottish Open.

“I feel like I did some good stuff this week. It was unusually warm this week. We’ll see what the weather is like next week but overall, I could have played a little bit better this week,” Scheffler said. “But overall, pleased with how I played the last couple days.

“I feel like I’m really close. I feel like I was close to playing some really good golf. Just got to get some momentum.”

With a T8 finish at the Genesis Scottish Open, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has now finished inside the top 25 in all 15 starts this season, including 10 consecutive top-10 finishes.

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) July 13, 2025

He’ll hope to use that momentum to dethrone his countryman Xander Schauffele, who claimed his second major crown last year with a two-stroke win over Billy Horschel and Rose. 

Injuries curtailed the momentum he built in 2024, but Schauffele has still finished inside the top 15 in two of the three majors so far this season, and he too can enter this championship with a sense of optimism after a tied-eighth finish at The Scottish Open.

The likes of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau will be hopeful of making an impression after strong performances on the major circuit this year, but the romantic pick would be for a repeat performance from Lowry, who says he is a “better golfer” than in 2019.

But Lowry has an interesting theory on what he needs to do to put himself in position to emerge victorious.

“Sometimes, honestly, I’m my own… Sometimes when everything is going really well I get complacent,” he told a media conference. 

“Then all of a sudden before I know it, I’m like three-over through five and you start to have a panic because you feel like you’re going to do well.

“I feel like when things are not going well is when I’m at my best, or when I don’t feel like things are going well.

“Like, go back to 2019 here, I had a meltdown on the Wednesday because I thought I wasn’t going to go out and play well, but then that focuses me in a little bit more. If I can keep my complacency away and my expectation down, that’s when I’m at my best.

“I’m feeling great the last two days, so that’s not great. No, honestly, I’ve had a great week. I’ve had a great week of practice. I just need to play s*** for the next couple of days, and I’ll be all right.”

Open Championship 2025 odds: How the bookmakers see it:

Scottie Scheffler +450
Rory McIlroy +700
Jon Rahm +1200
Bryson DeChambeau +2000
Xander Schauffele +2500
Ludvig Åberg +2800
Tommy Fleetwood +2800
Collin Morikawa +3000
Viktor Hovland +3000
Shane Lowry +3000
Tyrrell Hatton +3300
Robert MacIntyre +3500
Sepp Straka +5000
Joaquin Niemann +5000
Justin Thomas +5000
Matt Fitzpatrick +5500
Jordan Spieth +5500
Brooks Koepka +5500
Patrick Cantlay +5500
Russell Henley +6500
Corey Conners +7500
Justin Rose +7500
Patrick Reed +8000
Adam Scott +8000
Cameron Young +8000
Hideki Matsuyama +8000
Sam Burns +8000
Ben Griffin +9000
Ryan Fox +9000
Jason Day +9000
Chris Gotterup +9000
Keegan Bradley +10000
Harry Hall +11000
Cam Smith +11000
Harris English +11000
Min Woo Lee +11000
Si Woo Kim +11000
Aaron Rai +12000
Tony Finau +12000
Maverick McNealy +12000
Brian Harman +12000
Wyndham Clark +12000
Daniel Berger +12000
JJ Spaun +12000
Taylor Pendrith +15000
Bud Cauley +15000
Tom Kim +15000
Tom McKibbin +15000
Akshay Bhatia +17000
Max Greyserman +17000
Rasmus Højgaard +17000
Louis Oosthuizen +17000
Sergio Garcia +17000
Carlos Ortiz +17000
Sungjae Im +17000
Dustin Johnson +17000
Michael Kim +17000
Dean Burmester +17000
Rickie Fowler +17000
Nicolai Højgaard +17000
Thomas Detry +20000
Nick Taylor +20000
Marco Penge +20000
Jordan Smith +20000
Aldrich Potgieter +20000
Thorbjørn Olesen +22000
Lucas Herbert +22000
Kevin Yu +22000
Matt Wallace +22000
Thriston Lawrence +22000
Byeong Hun An +22000
Andrew Novak +22000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +25000
Denny McCarthy +25000
Lucas Glover +25000
Niklas Norgaard +25000
Davis Thompson +25000
Chris Kirk +27000
Marc Leishman +27000
J.T. Poston +27000
Daniel Brown +30000
Padraig Harrington +35000
Nico Echavarria +35000
Matthew Jordan +35000
Matti Schmid +35000
Mackenzie Hughes +40000
Tom Hoge +40000
Phil Mickelson +40000
Jesper Svensson +40000
Martin Couvra +40000
Brian Campbel l+40000
Kristoffer Reitan +40000
Jhonattan Vegas +40000
Sahith Theegala +40000
Matteo Manassero +40000
Laurie Canter +40000
Stephan Jaeger +40000
Matt Mccarty +50000
Haotong Li +50000
Antoine Rozner +50000
Matthieu Pavon +60000
Adrien Saddier +60000
Lee Westwood +60000
John Parry +60000
Daniel Hillier +60000
John Catlin +75000
Shaun Norris +75000
Stewart Cink +75000
Jason Kokrak +75000
Rikuya Hoshino +75000
Henrik Stenson +75000
Romain Langasque +75000
Takumi Kanaya +75000
Zach Johnson +75000

How to watch The Open Championship 2025: TV and online stream

In the USA, the 2025 Open Championship will be available on both NBC and, for the first two rounds, on streaming service Peacock.

The final two rounds will be broadcast entirely on NBC.

Prediction for The Open Championship 2025

While he often hasn’t been at his brilliant best in 2025, Scheffler will remain the man to beat going into any major until results and form prove otherwise.

Scheffler hasn’t finished outside the top 25 in any tournament this season, while his tied-eighth finish at The Scottish Open showed he is ready for the test of links golf and marked his 10th successive top-10 finish.

It is, therefore, no surprise that he is a comfortable favorite to lift the Jug, though McIlroy’s performance at The Renaissance Club served as an ominous demonstration of what he can do when at his brilliant best. 

Alongside McIlroy, there will obviously be a lot of attention on Lowry as he seeks a repeat of the home win that sparked joyous scenes six years ago. 

But Lowry hasn’t found the necessary consistency on the major circuit this year, and a more viable European hope is Rahm as he seeks to move a step closer to the Grand Slam.

Rahm has finished in the top 15 at every major in 2025 and was tied-11th at Portrush in 2019. The Spaniard has top-10 finishes in three of his last four appearances at The Open since and, with the course clearly to his liking, Rahm is excellently placed to end his wait to hoist the Claret Jug.