I've just got back from Royal Birkdale after an incredible week covering the 154th Open Championship.
Firstly, thanks to you all for reading and engaging with Golf Monthly's Open content and a massive congratulations to Ryan Fox. The New Zealander's finish will live long in the memory. That took serious guts and it was a joy to watch. Very well played.
From the burnt out links to the amazing fans and the thrilling conclusion we witnessed, the 154th Open will go down as one of the greatest in recent times.
It was my sixth Open on-site for Golf Monthly after Birkdale in 2017, Carnoustie in 2018, Royal Portrush in 2019, St Andrews in 2022 and Royal Liverpool in 2023.
They were all special and memorable for different reasons, but I'd have to say the 2026 championship was as good, if not better, than anything I've been lucky enough to witness before. My editor Neil Tappin also thinks it was one of the best Opens he has attended, too.
So, after long days covering the tournament inside the ropes, outside the ropes and from the media centre, here are some of my notes and key takeaways from the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale...
Let me know your thoughts on attending The Open or watching it on TV in the comments section below - I'd be interested to hear your views.
The Open is massive
I got chills the first day I walked through the gates, with some incredible audio from past champions blasting through the speakers and the views of the white art deco clubhouse, the iconic yellow scoreboard and 18th grandstand seen in the distance along with the various different nations' flags blowing in the wind.
It really felt like you were entering something very grand and special.
I've never been to Glastonbury festival - which actually has fewer attendees than The Open - but it felt like I was walking into a gigantic festival where the outside world didn't matter. And actually The Open probably is a festival. It's far more than 'just' a golf tournament.
It made for a spine-tingling first impression as you arrive in what is essentially a pop-up city, where everyone is there for the same reason - golf.
There were 306,000 fans on-site during the week following over one million applicants. It was the highest-attended Open of all time and it really felt like it.
There are temporary structures every which way you look, from three-storey hospitality units to the department store-sized Open shop, bridges, leaderboards, giant grandstands and other pop-up buildings.
There was a moment in the fan village where I was genuinely amazed by how many picnic benches there were - there were dozens and dozens. It must have been a huge operation just to get those in, let alone everything else!
It's truly remarkable that it's all essentially in a field, and it made me very proud to be a golf fan and in awe of the effort and work that must go in to bringing an Open Championship to life.
Can The Open get bigger? That was a question I had in my mind throughout the week. I asked my colleague, Fergus Bisset, and his friend who were both on-site if they felt it was 'too' busy and they both said it wasn't. So I guess it can get bigger.
The introduction of the Last-Chance Qualifier seemed a bit gimmicky to me at first, but I actually thought it was great, and it gave fans on Monday the chance to watch some real competition played by golfers who had all earned their spot. It also allowed The R&A's championship committee the chance to see how the course was playing.
I heard reports there were 15,000 fans there on Sunday...as in Sunday last week! How The Open gets bigger remains to be seen, as too many tickets sold would negatively impact the spectator experience, but I'm confident it will be done responsibly based on this past week.
The volunteers
The Open, and all golf tournaments, cannot be run without the help and work of dedicated volunteers, and I was extremely impressed by the people I saw and interacted with this year.
Each hole was run by a different golf club, whose name was emblazoned on the yellow posts holding up the ropes at crossing points. There were two men in particular manning the cross-walk just past the 10th tee, which was one of the busiest on-site as it was how you got from the main entrance to the fan village.
The gentlemen running it had a serious job of getting hundreds of people across at any given time, especially when the big groups featuring the likes of McIlroy, Fleetwood and DeChambeau were playing the hole.
They took their job very seriously and were working hard, and they did it with a smile on their faces and plenty of friendly chit-chat with spectators. It was the same story on the 18th hole, which again must have been quite a stressful job. If you get it wrong you could distract and upset players or cause a delay to the action.
Bravo to the hard-working volunteers who made the Open run like clockwork. It wouldn't have been possible without you.
TV does not do the world's best golfers justice
It never fails to amaze me how good the world's best golfers are, and it was the iron shots and short game shots I witnessed this past week that really live in my memory. If you attended The Open I am sure you'll agree with me.
Watching Rory McIlroy smash driver is seriously impressive but watching him crunch a 5-iron from tight links turf with a 15mph crosswind from 230 yards is truly mesmeric. On TV it would look like a very good shot, but in person it is a sensation that will live long in your memory.
It was also embarrassingly the first time I had properly watched Tommy Fleetwood in the flesh...I think...and watching him strike his irons was just remarkable.
Yet you go back and watch the highlights and it just looks like a pro golfer hitting the green from 180 yards. TV does not do the world's best players justice in the slightest.
The sound of the strike is thunderous, and I tried to remind myself of that every time I watched him hit a shot on the broadcast in the media centre. These guys absolutely flush it, which is sometimes difficult to truly appreciate when watching on TV.
It's the same around the greens. Scottie Scheffler's chip on the 17th hole on day one from a downslope in the rough to a slightly raised green with a tucked pin was unbelievable.
I thought he'd struggle to get it to within 20ft but he nipped it so perfectly...and then missed the four-footer.
I saw the shot later on in the highlights package and it just looked like any other Scottie Scheffler chip shot. Again, it's really hard to picture just how good these shots are when watching from an elevated TV tower's perspective and without being there to really hear the perfection of the strike.
The British fans are the absolute best
Shout out to spectators at the 154th Open, you were a huge reason for why it was such a great week.
From cries of 'Come on Tommy Lad' to 'Up the Toffees' (that one was really making me smile) and then even 'Come on Foxy Lad', the British fans were incredible.
There were undoubtedly one or two locals who had quite possibly had one too many Singhas but on the whole, the crowds were absolutely fantastic and incredibly respectful of the players.
The UK golf fans are regarded as the best in the world, and the 154th Open was another example of that.
As I was walking around on Sunday, I was trying to imagine the likelihood of a spectator shouting 'Get in the bunker' or cheering a player, who they didn't want to win, hitting a bad shot. It just simply wouldn't happen.
The scenes at the US Open last month were shocking, and it made me very proud to see The Open fans do nothing but respect the players.
Granted, I did hear a 'Cheat' remark shouted at Bryson DeChambeau but that was boo'd by the fans. You're always going to get one or two people cross the line when there are crowds of tens of thousands but bad behavior was very rare in my experience.
Players need to speak to the media
I was in the mixed zone when Bryson DeChambeau walked past all of us and it really did not sit well with me.
DeChambeau is certainly not the first golfer to decline media duties and he is well within his rights to - as there is nothing that says they are mandated to speak to the press.
He is a polarizing figure who does regularly get bad press, so can you really blame him for not wanting to talk to us when he can instead speak directly to his fans on social media?
I don't blame him at all, but I don't think it should be allowed to happen.
I think the Major organizers and the tours need to get players to tick a box when they enter an event or join as a member to agree they must speak to the gathering media if requested.
This would create more news articles, videos, social media posts and more in-depth and interesting coverage of the tournaments, so players speaking to the press benefits the tours and the tournaments.
It only takes them 10 minutes and I believe it is part of the job as an athlete who is able to earn millions in prize money and endorsements.
Why do they earn so much money? Because fans tune in by purchasing tickets and TV subscriptions.
The fans deserve to hear the players' thoughts on their experience or how they saw things from the round, respond to fair questioning and discuss newsworthy talking points.
The Open really should be on free-to-view TV in the UK
This kind of fits with the point of The Open being massive.
It is the oldest championship in golf. Last year it was the fourth-most attended sporting event in the UK, behind the British GP, Wimbledon and Royal Ascot - according to research from Full Circle.
Looking at this year's numbers of 306,000, it surpassed Royal Ascot this time around so the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale is likely going to be the third-most attended sporting event in the UK - mightily impressive considering Wimbledon is on for two weeks as well.
The R&A's duty is to grow the game of golf, and this incredible and extremely important championship sitting behind a paywall in the UK just feels a bit wrong. The R&A needs money to deliver on its promise of guiding the sport's future, but with record attendances and some controversial ticket price increases next year, surely they can still do everything they need to do without the UK TV money from Sky.
Yes, the BBC show highlights of the golf each day but I think The R&A is missing potential golfers by not reaching as many people and households with live coverage as possible.
The R&A will argue that changing consumer habits and The Open's reach across free channels like YouTube and social media is an example of huge reach, but only people who like golf will find it. I'm not really a tennis fan but I'll watch Wimbledon every year because it is on the BBC and BBC iPlayer. If it was behind a paywall on Sky I would actively have to go out and seek it, which is definitely a barrier.
The Open is so good that non-golf fans and their children can stumble across it and get engrossed in it on free-to-air TV and then potentially start becoming fans or golfers themselves.
This is absolutely no slight on Sky Sports by the way. Its coverage is excellent, and I am very grateful for the work they do in showing the golf every single week. I would be lost without it and they are best in class.
Sky just bought ITV, so perhaps that deal will allow them to eventually show The Open for free? That would be fantastic.
