🏌🏻Who Are Favorites To Win The Open?

Good morning! Round 2 of the Genesis Scottish Open and the Amundi Evian Championship are in progress - Ludvig Aberg currently leads the men’s event at the Renaissance Club.

Meanwhile, World No 1 Nelly Korda continues to struggle in the LPGA Major. You can watch all the action live on Golf Channel and Peacock.

Fun Fact: Round 1 @ Scottish Open was Justin Thomas' 12th PGA Tour round of 62 or lower - three more than any other player since the beginning of 2015.

⛳ This day in history: On this date in 1930, Bobby Jones won a record-tying fourth US Open, at Interlachen, two strokes ahead of Macdonald Smith. This was part of Jones’ epic Grand Slam season.

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ALBATROSS
JT Leads Scottish Open, Rory In Contention

Justin Thomas rolled in eight birdies and claimed the solo lead at the Scottish Open with a first-round 62 at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick. Thomas stands one shot clear of South Korea's Sungjae Im (63), who bogeyed the first and 17th holes on his opening 18.

Thomas posted his best first-round score since the 2017 Sony Open as part of a rebound season that includes five top-10 finishes in 14 starts on tour this season.

📌Putter Change Helps JT: Swapping out his putter before the fortnight in Scotland, Thomas saw immediate dividends in Round 1. Prior to the Scottish Open, he put in play a new flatstick, the Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.2 Prototype, and he one-putted 10 of his first 13 holes during a benign first day.

This is the first time Thomas has held the lead after any round on the PGA Tour since his victory more than two years ago at the PGA Championship.

🎯Who are the biggest Challengers? Defending Champion Rory McIlroy posted an opening-round 5-under 65 and is inside the top 10 - all eyes will be on Rory especially since this tournament comes just a week ahead of the Open.

Meanwhile, Ludvig Aberg is in contention once again thanks to a 6-under that has put him just two shots behind Thomas.

🚩Stars Sweating Cutline: The projected cutline after two rounds is 3-under 137. Stars like Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark, Will Zalatoris, and Jordan Spieth, among others are in danger of missing the weekend.

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Rory's Ryder Cup Rejection Mirrors Tiger

Ryder Cup captaincy has been turned down by both Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, although they've rejected the opportunity for different reasons. A McIlroy vs. Woods showdown as captains for Team Europe and Team USA respectively would be a dream for golf fans, but it's not going to happen as things stand.

McIlroy was offered the chance to captain the European team for the 2027 Ryder Cup, but turned it down stating that the added responsibility might affect his performances. McIlroy has represented Europe in seven editions of the Ryder Cup - winning five times and losing only twice in 2016 and 2021.

⛳️ Tiger and Rory Decline For Different Reasons: Woods declined an offer to become Team US captain for the upcoming Ryder Cup as he didn't think it would be practical given his commitments elsewhere. McIlroy on the other hand was a top candidate to be Team Europe player-captain for the Ryder Cup in 2027 or 2029, but he rejected the opportunity due to "too much work" being required.

Being around Luke Donald in the build-up to the 2023 Ryder Cup gave McIlroy an insight into the huge amount of work that goes into being a captain.

While Woods' days as a player at the Ryder Cup are behind him at this stage of his career, McIlroy simply does not want to jeopardize playing in the competition.

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What else is making news

LPGA Tour: Patty Tavatanakit, Gemma Dryburgh and Ingrid Lindblad each carded a 7-under-par 64 to reside in a three-way tie for first place at the Evian Championship in Evians-les-Bains, France.

ISCO Championship: Pierceson Coody racked up 11 birdies, including six in a row, to shoot a bogey-free 61 and snag the first-round lead at the ISCO Championship.

Lawsuit: The University of Alabama filed a trademark lawsuit on June 30 against LIV Golf, citing similarities between their scripted “A” and the logo for the 4 Aces Golf Club — the team captained by two-time major winner Dustin Johnson.

Seniors' Major: Defending champion Steve Stricker is tied with Duffy Waldorf atop the leaderboard at the Kaulig Companies Championship after Thursday's first round at Firestone Country Club.

New Launch: Titleist launches new golf ball fitting app - click here to check out the details.

BIRDIE
These Golfers Are Favorites To Win The Open

The countdown to the Open has well and truly begun with less than a week to go before the world's best golfers tee off at Royal Troon.

As a part of our buildup to the sport's oldest Major, we take a look at the top five contenders to win the prestigious title in Scotland.

🏌️Scottie Scheffler: Scheffler has played in three Opens, with his best finish of T-8 coming in his debut at Royal St George's in 2021. He has either wins and runners-up finishes in the other three Majors, so currently The Open is his worst Major.

But he travels to Royal Troon as the bookmakers' overwhelming tribute, who are backing him to win his second Major of the year and third overall.

🏌️Rory McIlroy: McIlroy won the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool in 2014 and nearly claimed it again at St Andrews in 2022. He has plenty of Open experience and a great record so all the signs point to him being able to bounce back from his Pinehurst agony and claim a fifth Major.

🏌️Bryson DeChambeau: US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau notched his only Open top-10 at St Andrews in 2022. His other five starts in the Major are underwhelming but he is far and away the best player in the three big men's events so far this year.

The LIV Golf star has the third highest odds to win the tournament.

🏌️Xander Schauffele: Schauffele has made the cut in each of the six Opens he's played in, and he may well go on to challenge this year now he has the added confidence of being a Major champion.

The American was T-2 at Carnoustie in 2018 while he has two top-20s over the last two years.

🏌️Collin Morikawa: Morikawa won The Open in his debut at Royal St George's in 2021 but has gone on to miss the cut in his next two starts.

His game looks very much back to its best this year, though, with T-3, T-4 and T-14 finishes in the three Majors in 2024 so he could definitely go on to win a second Claret Jug.

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DRIVING RANGE
Hit Longer Drives

In today's video, we share three drills for golfers to improve their drives and utilize ground force more effectively.

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