Seven years is a long time to wait. It has been a long time since a European golfer last won the Open Championship, the continent’s only major tournament. And if the latest betting odds ahead of the 2026 showpiece are anything to go by, that wait could be set to continue.
Scottie Scheffler arrives at the 2026 Open Championship as the clear favorite to defend the Claret Jug, with the latest odds from Lucky Rebel Sportsbook placing him as the clear 5/1 front-runner. And yet, throughout the Texan’s reign, he has cruised through three major titles this year without adding to his collection. In fact, despite entering each of the Masters, the US Open, and the PGA Championship as a dominant favorite, he never really threatened to win in any of them.
That brings us to the Open, where he is once again the favorite. But Europe’s top players, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, are both hot on his tail. So, what happened the last three times European golf dominated here? Let’s take a look.
Shane Lowry — 2019, Royal Portrush
All the pre-tournament talk leading up to The Open’s return to Royal Portrush after sixty-eight years focused on McIlroy, who had posted a legendary score here as a sixteen-year-old. He was the favorite, and Brooks Koepka, who has won four of the last ten majors, is also considered a contender. Shane Lowry came in at 33rd in the world, carrying the ghost of his 2016 US Open collapse at Oakmont – four shots clear on Sunday, nothing – and missing four consecutive Open cuts.
On Thursday, the document was destroyed. McIlroy made a quadruple bogey on the first hole and limped to a 79, while Lowry shot a quiet 67 to take the lead. On Friday, Wee Rory missed one interception and left in tears, while Lowry added another 67, joined by the unheralded JB Holmes at center. Then came Saturday – a bogey-free 63, a course record and an Open record for 54 holes, sending hundreds of thousands of spectators into delirium. Lowry entered Sunday with four shots on Tommy Fleetwood.
The last day was brutal. Umbrellas that blow in the wind; almost no one finished below the division. Lowry made bogeys, but Fleetwood consolidated his position with a double bogey on fourteen. Six shots clear of the last round, Lowry took off his cap as the home crowd chanted – closing in 72, fifteen under par, the first Sunday champion since 1996.
Francesco Molinari – 2018, Carnoustie
Defending champion Jordan Spieth dominates the pre-tournament narrative. Dustin Johnson was the best in the world. Koepka had won three of the previous six titles. Francesco Molinari has been on the fringes – ranked sixth and still undisputed, despite winning the BMW PGA at Wentworth in May and the Quicken Loans National three weeks ago by eight strokes. Even after thirty-six holes, tied at 29, the conversation had continued.
Saturday changed everything. A bogey-free 65 lifted the Italian into Sunday’s final pairing alongside Tiger Woods, who entered contention with a 66. Sunday produced one of the most chaotic leaderboards in Open history – Kevin Kisner doubled the second, Spieth got gorse at the sixth and made a double bogey, and Xander Schauffele crashed seven times.
Woods led briefly after the ninth, then doubled the eleventh and unraveled. Molinari opened with thirteen consecutive pars, birdied fourteen and eighteen, and was the only player in the field to finish Sunday without a bogey. A two-under 69 gave him eight under par, two clear, ensuring he became the first Italian to win a major. His 2019 Masters fall, he dropped two double-doubles at the twelfth and fifteenth respectively as Tiger sought a fifth green jacket, still a very good thing if.
Henrik Stenson – 2016, Royal Troon
When he was forty years old and after the first forty hundred without a win, Henrik Stenson took a special stage – he was recognized worldwide as one of the best footballers of his generation, twice in the world, but he could not close. He came very close at Muirfield in 2013, finishing second to the same man he now faces at Troon: Phil Mickelson. The veteran American opened with a stunning 63 – agonizingly missing a putt that would have been the first 62 in major history – to take the lead by three.
Stenson’s bogey-free 65 on Friday moved him to 1 over, and by the weekend, the pair were fourteen shots off the field. Saturday left Stenson one in front. The following is ranked as one of the greatest matches in the history of the championship.
Mickelson made the first birdie; Stenson immediately went back. Both eagled the fourth. They traded shots for thirteen holes before Stenson drained a 51-foot putt on the fifteenth. Mickelson needed an eagle at sixteen to make par. He missed. Ten birdies, final round 63, twenty under par – a new major by three strokes. Mickelson shot a bogey-free 65 and still lost by three.
