It’s the final men’s major championship of the year – with the world’s best heading back to Royal Portrush after a triumphant return in 2019, the first since 1951.

The weather is set to be fairly typical Open Championship weather – look for rain in the forecast and a sweeping breeze off the North Atlantic – we are in for an all-time test for the claret jug.

There is, of course, no shortage of storylines for this year’s Open.

Here’s everything else you need to know from The Open, the final major of the season on the PGA TOUR.

FIELD NOTES: What more can we say about Rory McIlroy? After a pedestrian finish at the PGA Championship, McIlroy rallied to make the cut at the U.S. Open to finish inside the top 20. He returns across the pond as the Masters champion in a major for the first time to, essentially, his hometown in Northern Ireland. McIlroy finished tied for second last week at the Genesis Scottish Open but is looking to avenge his effort at Royal Portrush in 2019 when he missed the cut. McIlroy also missed the cut at The Open last year but went 3-T6 the two years’ prior … Scottie Scheffler has been playing out of his mind – in the best of ways – through 2025 and continues to be a model of consistency. He won the PGA Championship in May and comes into The Open on a run of 10 straight top 10 finishes (including two other victories). His best finish at The Open came last year when he finished T7 … Xander Schauffele returns to defend his claret jug title and is looking to become the first man to go back-to-back at The Open since Padraig Harrington in 2007-08 (in fact, Tiger Woods also went back to back the two years’ before, in 2005-06). Schauffele has three straight top 20s at The Open (and top-20 results in every major but one since the 2022 PGA Championship). He finished T41 at Royal Portrush in 2019 … Although the two heavyweights in McIlroy and Scheffler have three wins apiece so far this year, there is a fine collection of players on the PGA TOUR with two wins looking to potentially take a major across the line – Sepp Straka, Ryan Fox, Brian Campbell and Ben Griffin all have two wins. And Griffin comes into The Open after top 10s at both the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open … Shane Lowry returns to Portrush as the "defending champion" at the club, having won the claret jug in 2019. Lowry finished sixth at The Open last year and has had a consistent enough body of work through 2025 with nine top 20s … The man who finished runner-up to Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, is still on the hunt for his first major title but has been as constant a presence on the leaderboards of The Open as anyone lately, with four top 12s in his last six appearances.

NOTABLE QUALIFIERS: Genesis Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup punched his ticket to The Open thanks to his victory in Scotland along with Nicolai Højgaard and Matti Schmid courtesy the final three spots of The Open Qualifying Series … Amongst the other qualifiers via various tournaments around the world through 2025 include TOUR winners Corey Conners (Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard), Rickie Fowler (the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday), Matt McCarty and Kevin Yu (RBC Canadian Open) along with Cameron Young from the TPC Toronto site … There were 20 spots available via Final Qualifying and amongst the qualifiers was TOUR winner Harry Hall, who has notched four top 10s so far this season.

COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 UPDATES: Justin Thomas and Russell Henley swapped spots, with Thomas moving up to No. 4 after finishing T22 at the Genesis Scottish Open and Henley not playing … Harris English also moved up one spot to No. 8 after finishing T22, along with Thomas, in Scotland … Tommy Fleetwood jumped into the ninth spot after finishing T34 at the Genesis Scottish Open, while Keegan Bradley was bumped to No. 10 as he did not play last week … The winner in Scotland, Chris Gotterup, moved from No. 88 to No. 39 in the standings while the ISCO Championship winner, William Mouw, moved up 75 spots.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 750 FedExCup points.

COURSE: Royal Portrush, par 71, 7,381 yards. When The Open visited Royal Portrush in 2019, it was the first time the championship had been contested outside of England or Scotland since 1951 – and it was worth the wait. Long considered one of the finest layouts in the world, the Dunluce Links course is set along sheer bluffs that overlook the North Atlantic, while the holes memorably wind through impressive dunes and the greens (and the green complexes) force players to think plenty. The Old Tom Morris design was re-worked by Harry Colt in the 1930s. Architect Martin Ebert added new seventh and eighth holes as the best in the world prepared for a return in 2019 (along with five new greens, eight new tee boxes, and 10 new bunkers). McIlroy famously had the course record (a 61 that he shot as a 16-year-old), but McIlroy’s long-time pal, Lowry, shot the "new" course record en route to lifting the claret jug in 2019, an 8-under 63 in the third round.

72-HOLE CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD: 264, Henrik Stenson (2016 at Royal Troon)

18-HOLE CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD: 62, Branden Grace (Round 3, 2017 at Royal Birkdale).

LAST TIME: After getting the major monkey off his back at the PGA Championship, Schauffele won his second major of the year at The Open after a final-round 65. Schauffele defeated Justin Rose and Billy Horschel by two shots at Royal Troon – with both Rose and Horschel also holding a share of the lead in the final round at one point. Schauffele, whose 65 matched the low round of the week, played bogey-free on a windy final day and pulled away with three birdies in a four-hole stretch early on the back nine to go from two shots back to leading by as many as three. With the victory, Schauffele became the first golfer since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to win his first two majors in the same season. Thriston Lawrence – who was also part of the group that had part of the lead Sunday after he shot a 4-under 32 in his front nine – finished solo fourth, while Henley finished solo fifth.

The last time The Open was at Royal Portrush was in 2019, and it was Shane Lowry who won his maiden major title by an incredible six shots over Fleetwood. Lowry finished solo sixth last year at Royal Troon after a final-round 68.

How to follow (all times ET):

Television:

• Thursday-Friday: 1:30-4 a.m. (Peacock), 4 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (USA, NBC Sports App)
• Saturday: 5-7 a.m. (USA, NBC Sports App), 7 a.m.-3 p.m. (NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports App)
• Sunday: 4-7 a.m. (USA, NBC Sports App), 7 a.m.-2 p.m. (NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports App)

Radio: Championship broadcasts will begin on SiriusXM (Channel 92) and on the SXM App on Thursday and Friday at 2 a.m.

• Thursday-Friday: 2 a.m.-3 p.m.
• Saturday-Sunday: 4 a.m.-3 p.m.

Online: Various feeds available via TheOpen.com/watch.

Editor's note: The R&A, which owns and operates The Open Championship, controls all digital streaming and broadcast rights to this event. PGA TOUR LIVE coverage will resume next week at the 3M Open.