The 2022 PGA Tour Season Will Bring A Star-Studded Field To The Open
The 2022 PGA Tour Season Will Bring A Star-Studded Field To The Open. The next big tournament of the 2022 PGA Tour season has already started and it will bring a star-studded field.
The Open is the only PGA Tour major that is not held on U.S. soil. It is always part of a global event, and this year the tournament will be returning to St. Andrews– one of the oldest golf courses ever.
The world’s top 50 golfers, who are on par with the best golfers in the world, will be playing this week. Foremost Daniel Berger is the only player set to not attend The Open, who has a back injury.
Over the rest of the field, defending champion Collin Morikawa will be aiming to win The Open in as prestigious a venue as possible and players like Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schaffele and more will all be trying to win it for the first time.
However, Rory McIlroy will be looking to win this one for Northern Ireland and also win his first major since the 2014 season, during which he also won The Open.
Here’s how the 2018 Open Championship is shaping up, with a review of the top projected players in the field.
Ranking the top 25 players in the Open Championship field from 2022. The 2022 Open Championship is being played at St. Andrews’s Old Course, which is, fittingly, one of the oldest golf courses ever. It is a links golf course, as it’s located along the coast of Scotland, contains within it numerous elevation changes, ridges and valleys and is composed of sandy soil.
Links golf courses are considered tricky to play. While the game is easy to start, unpredictable bounces off the land make it harder to get shots to stop on the green. While playing unorthodox shots and putts around the green are necessary, you can’t rely on them alone in most cases.
But this upcoming golf tournament will be quite challenging with the 7,305 yard length.
In light of these conditions, keep track of a few key stats this week. First and foremost, strokes gained off the tee (SG:OTT) and strokes gained on approach (SG:APP) will be most indicative of how players are performing. Why? Accuracy off the tee will help players avoid unforgiving rough while better approach games can adjust to hit the necessary green and greenside landing area from similar distances with accuracy.
Scrambling and putting will be important, as golfers often have mishits on links courses that result in recovering shots. Since much of the greens are not too hard, it may seem challenging to hit fairways and get off the rough during this hot and dry week in Scotland. Scrambling and putting around the green is also crucial because many balls give up after hitting poorly.
Finally, I want to note that fast greens will make for some tough putts this week. If a golfer is able to avoid GC and play safe, it dramatically improves his chances of making a putt. That said, players will be focused on three-putting this week to improve the chances of birdies rather than four-putting.
Below is a breakdown of the top 25 golfers with the highest odds to win, courtesy of Sports Interaction.
1. Rory McIlroy
2. Xander Schauffele
3. Justin Thomas
4. Tony Finau
5. Jon Rahm
6. Matt Fitzpatrick
7. Scottie Scheffler
8. Will Zalatoris
9. Jordan Spieth
10. Patrick Cantlay
11. Shane Lowry
12. Collin Morikawa
13. Sungjae Im
14. Hideki Matsuyama
15. Cameron Smith
16. Joaquin Niemann
17. Sam Burns
18. Louis Oosthuizen
19. Dustin Johnson
20. Tommy Fleetwood
21. Viktor Hovland
22. Brooks Koepka
23. Billy Horschel
24. Seamus Power
25. Tiger Woods