British Open Championship Stats Analysis: The Key Metrics for Success at Royal Birkdale
British Open Championship Player Blueprint: Which Players Fit Royal Birkdale?
Royal Birkdale presents one of golf’s sternest tests, demanding elite ball-striking, a sharp short game and the patience to handle changing links conditions. Based on historical trends, PGAgolfbets has identified four key performance metrics that consistently align with success in The Open Championship: Strokes Gained Approach, Strokes Gained Putting, Par 4 Scoring Average and Scrambling.
Important: This week’s stats analysis should be viewed slightly differently to a regular PGA Tour event. Nearly half of the field competes primarily on the DP World Tour or LIV Golf, meaning many leading contenders do not feature in the PGA Tour statistical rankings. In addition, some PGA Tour members—including Rory McIlroy—have not recorded enough measured rounds this season to qualify for these statistics. As a result, this analysis should be used as one piece of the puzzle, alongside current form, Open Championship pedigree and links golf experience.
| # | Player | Mes Rds | SGAPR | SGP | Par 4 Sco | Scr | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scottie Scheffler | 50 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| 2 | Russell Henley | 48 | 52 | 29 | 8 | 2 | 91 |
| 3 | Eric Cole | 53 | 48 | 8 | 15 | 27 | 98 |
| 4 | Wyndham Clark | 51 | 16 | 25 | 15 | 47 | 103 |
| 5 | Akshay Bhatia | 50 | 38 | 3 | 4 | 67 | 112 |
| 6 | Jacob Bridgeman | 64 | 36 | 4 | 8 | 64 | 112 |
| 7 | Sam Burns | 52 | 40 | 5 | 3 | 73 | 121 |
| 8 | Matt Fitzpatrick | 54 | 2 | 94 | 4 | 21 | 121 |
| 9 | Xander Schauffele | 49 | 45 | 47 | 15 | 19 | 126 |
| 10 | Cameron Young | 51 | 22 | 84 | 8 | 12 | 126 |
| 11 | Jake Knapp | 35 | 42 | 2 | 35 | 50 | 129 |
| 12 | Patrick Cantlay | 43 | 21 | 93 | 4 | 14 | 132 |
| 13 | Tom Kim | 55 | 11 | 102 | 15 | 8 | 136 |
| 14 | Viktor Hovland | 46 | 17 | 65 | 15 | 61 | 158 |
| 15 | Chris Gotterup | 61 | 44 | 28 | 15 | 74 | 161 |
| 16 | Tommy Fleetwood | 50 | 56 | 58 | 45 | 4 | 163 |
| 17 | Shane Lowry | 46 | 19 | 62 | 15 | 77 | 173 |
| 18 | Si Woo Kim | 63 | 3 | 104 | 2 | 65 | 174 |
| 19 | Alex Smalley | 59 | 30 | 37 | 8 | 99 | 174 |
| 20 | Rickie Fowler | 56 | 76 | 42 | 15 | 43 | 176 |
| 21 | Ryan Gerard | 59 | 14 | 31 | 15 | 118 | 178 |
| 22 | Ben Griffin | 62 | 108 | 19 | 35 | 20 | 182 |
| 23 | Kurt Kitayama | 55 | 4 | 111 | 8 | 60 | 183 |
| 24 | Harris English | 53 | 118 | 6 | 15 | 45 | 184 |
| 25 | Nicolai Hojgaard | 53 | 28 | 51 | 69 | 55 | 203 |
| 26 | Hideki Matsuyama | 59 | 28 | 76 | 69 | 33 | 206 |
| 27 | Collin Morikawa | 42 | 1 | 74 | 8 | 123 | 206 |
| 28 | Maverick McNealy | 57 | 104 | 19 | 45 | 39 | 207 |
| 29 | Matt Wallace | 40 | 43 | 78 | 61 | 25 | 207 |
| 30 | Ludvig Aberg | 49 | 11 | 57 | 35 | 105 | 208 |
| 31 | Justin Rose | 42 | 15 | 70 | 15 | 113 | 213 |
| 32 | Robert MacIntyre | 54 | 120 | 11 | 15 | 69 | 215 |
| 33 | Alex Noren | 50 | 106 | 10 | 45 | 58 | 219 |
| 34 | Ryan Fox | 50 | 71 | 64 | 15 | 72 | 222 |
| 35 | Min Woo Lee | 50 | 70 | 87 | 35 | 38 | 230 |
| 36 | Nick Taylor | 62 | 62 | 66 | 69 | 40 | 237 |
| 37 | Bud Cauley | 63 | 34 | 118 | 69 | 28 | 249 |
| 38 | Sahith Theegala | 71 | 64 | 71 | 61 | 53 | 249 |
| 39 | Jordan Spieth | 64 | 78 | 54 | 69 | 49 | 250 |
| 40 | Gary Woodland | 51 | 79 | 61 | 15 | 97 | 252 |
| 41 | Pierceson Coody | 62 | 75 | 44 | 61 | 80 | 260 |
| 42 | Keith Mitchell | 65 | 55 | 98 | 35 | 75 | 263 |
| 43 | Adam Scott | 45 | 6 | 107 | 89 | 63 | 265 |
| 44 | Max Homa | 49 | 114 | 41 | 61 | 51 | 267 |
| 45 | Jackson Suber | 42 | 18 | 112 | 69 | 71 | 270 |
| 46 | John Parry | 49 | 23 | 115 | 69 | 66 | 273 |
| 47 | Aaron Rai | 42 | 26 | 83 | 45 | 120 | 274 |
| 48 | Ryo Hisatsune | 75 | 39 | 100 | 15 | 124 | 278 |
| 49 | Harry Hall | 54 | 109 | 34 | 89 | 54 | 286 |
| 50 | Michael Kim | 63 | 103 | 23 | 89 | 79 | 294 |
| 51 | J.J. Spaun | 51 | 5 | 128 | 45 | 117 | 295 |
| 52 | Matt McCarty | 57 | 69 | 59 | 61 | 108 | 297 |
| 53 | Haotong Li | 39 | 36 | 117 | 45 | 110 | 308 |
| 54 | Dan Brown | 34 | 50 | 106 | 69 | 84 | 309 |
| 55 | Brian Harman | 57 | 67 | 86 | 89 | 68 | 310 |
| 56 | Daniel Berger | 54 | 11 | 108 | 69 | 127 | 315 |
| 57 | Sami Valimaki | 32 | 83 | 53 | 124 | 56 | 316 |
| 58 | J.T. Poston | 58 | 81 | 63 | 69 | 106 | 319 |
| 59 | Jordan Smith | 47 | 35 | 135 | 45 | 107 | 322 |
| 60 | Jason Day | 43 | 142 | 55 | 89 | 46 | 332 |
| 61 | Brooks Koepka | 36 | 9 | 103 | 103 | 132 | 347 |
| 62 | Rasmus Hojgaard | 37 | 88 | 48 | 69 | 147 | 352 |
| 63 | Nico Echavarria | 55 | 92 | 72 | 69 | 125 | 358 |
| 64 | Keegan Bradley | 55 | 90 | 92 | 89 | 101 | 372 |
| 65 | Sepp Straka | 47 | 52 | 96 | 136 | 89 | 373 |
| 66 | Sam Stevens | 61 | 67 | 116 | 45 | 146 | 374 |
| 67 | Justin Thomas | 42 | 89 | 73 | 118 | 95 | 375 |
| 68 | Corey Conners | 56 | 26 | 126 | 89 | 139 | 380 |
| 69 | Sungjae Im | 48 | 144 | 43 | 124 | 76 | 387 |
| 70 | Kristoffer Reitan | 51 | 101 | 82 | 103 | 115 | 401 |
| 71 | Adrien Saddier | 33 | 123 | 89 | 89 | 100 | 401 |
| 72 | Billy Horschel | 55 | 63 | 81 | 118 | 150 | 412 |
| 73 | Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen | 35 | 99 | 51 | 136 | 135 | 421 |
| 74 | Max Greyserman | 47 | 105 | 69 | 136 | 114 | 424 |
| 75 | Andrew Novak | 58 | 72 | 138 | 124 | 104 | 438 |
| 76 | Michael Brennan | 46 | 82 | 121 | 103 | 144 | 450 |
| 77 | Marco Penge | 29 | 129 | 125 | 136 | 112 | 502 |
| 78 | Angel Ayora | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 79 | Sam Bairstow | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 80 | Matthew Baldwin | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 81 | Jose Luis Ballester | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 82 | Bard Bjoernevikl Skogen | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 83 | Dan Bradbury | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 84 | Jack Buchanan | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 85 | Laurie Canter | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 86 | Eugenio Chacarra | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 87 | Tiger Christensen | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 88 | Stewart Cink | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 89 | Darren Clarke | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 90 | Martin Couvra | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 91 | MJ Daffue | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 92 | Alejandro De Castro Piera | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 93 | Bryson DeChambeau | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 94 | Thomas Detry | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 95 | Alistair Docherty | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 96 | Hennie Du Plessis | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 97 | David Duval | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 98 | Alex Fitzpatrick | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 99 | Stuart Grehan | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 100 | Liv Grinberg | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 101 | Jeong Woo Ham | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 102 | Padraig Harrington | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 103 | Tyrrell Hatton | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 104 | Lucas Herbert | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 105 | Kazuki Higa | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 106 | Daniel Hillier | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 107 | Michael Hollick | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 108 | David Howard | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 109 | Mason Howell | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 110 | Casey Jarvis | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 111 | Cameron John | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 112 | Matthew Jordan | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 113 | Kota Kaneko | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 114 | Naoyuki Kataoka | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 115 | Kazuma Kobori | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 116 | Frederic LaCroix | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 117 | Joakim Lagergren | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 118 | Fifa Laopakdee | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 119 | Francesco Laporta | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 120 | Jack McDonald | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 121 | Rory McIlroy | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 122 | Tom McKibbin | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 123 | Francesco Molinari | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 124 | Ryutaro Nagano | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 125 | Keita Nakajima | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 126 | James Nicholas | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 127 | Joaquin Niemann | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 128 | Shaun Norris | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 129 | Louis Oosthuizen | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 130 | Marcus Plunkett | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 131 | David Puig | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 132 | Mateo Pulcini | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 133 | Jon Rahm | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 134 | Patrick Reed | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 135 | Antoine Rozner | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 136 | Nevill Ruiter | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 137 | Jayden Schaper | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 138 | Thomas Sloman | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 139 | Cameron Smith | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 140 | Travis Smyth | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 141 | Matthew Southgate | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 142 | Henrik Stenson | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 143 | Andy Sullivan | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 144 | Caleb Surratt | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 145 | Jesper Svensson | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 146 | Austen Truslow | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 147 | Peter Uihlein | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 148 | Scott Vincent | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 149 | Tim Wiedemeyer | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 150 | Bernd Wiesberger | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 151 | Jiho Yang | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| 152 | Ren Yonezawa | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
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Key Takeaways from the British Open Championship Stats Analysis
🟢 Scottie Scheffler Sets the Standard Once Again
Scheffler tops this week’s statistical model by a significant margin, ranking 1st in both Par 4 Scoring and Scrambling, while also sitting 8th in SG Approach and 12th in SG Putting. It’s the complete all-round profile historically associated with major championship success.
🎯 Short Game Could Separate the Contenders
Open Championships are rarely won with ball-striking alone. Russell Henley (2nd in Scrambling), Tommy Fleetwood (4th), Cameron Young (12th) and Patrick Cantlay (14th) all possess the recovery skills needed when Royal Birkdale inevitably asks difficult questions.
🔥 Balanced Profiles Stand Out
Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young and Tom Kim all feature prominently by ranking well across multiple key metrics rather than dominating just one category. That consistency is often a hallmark of players capable of handling the unpredictable demands of links golf.
🟡 Approach Play Remains the Foundation
Elite iron players continue to feature strongly. Matt Fitzpatrick (2nd), Si Woo Kim (3rd), Kurt Kitayama (4th), Tom Kim (11th) and Collin Morikawa (1st) all rank among the best on Tour in SG Approach and could generate the birdie opportunities needed to contend if the putter cooperates.
Final Thoughts
Winning The Open Championship requires far more than one standout statistic. Precision iron play, scrambling under pressure, solid putting and disciplined Par 4 scoring have consistently formed the blueprint for success on links courses.
While Scottie Scheffler heads this week’s statistical rankings, it is important to remember that this model represents PGA Tour data only. With a significant portion of the field coming from the DP World Tour and LIV Golf—and players such as Rory McIlroy absent due to insufficient qualifying rounds—the statistics should be combined with course fit, current form and links pedigree before making your selections.