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The 148th British Open is just around the corner.
This year’s event will be held at Royal Portrush Golf Club in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Rory McIlroy, one of the best golfers in the world, is from Northern Ireland and has thus been tabbed as a possible favorite for the tournament.
On Monday, Michael Breed, host of Sirius XM’s “A New Breed of Golf," joined Mike Francesa to preview the upcoming Open. Breed explained why he thinks McIlroy has such a great shot at winning this major.
“I think Rory will have an advantage this week,” said Breed. “The reason why I think he’s the favorite this week is because when you play over in Ireland or Scotland, because of all the wind, they can’t have really fast greens. So, what that does is that tends to take players that are not great fast-green putters and make them better putters … that favors Rory … I just think the whole thing adds up to a Rory McIlroy (victory).”
In June, McIlroy won the RBC Canadian Open in a landslide seven-stroke victory. His only win at the British Open came in 2014 when he won by two strokes at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
USA TODAY Images Breed thinks that McIlroy’s putting will be the attribute that helps him overcome the rest of the field this coming weekend.
“This guy (McIlroy) is putting so much better, he’s got a confidence that is so much higher and also he’s playing on familiar ground in a familiar piece of the world. I just think that there are places that you go to where you remember good things. There are golf courses that these players play where they go ‘every time I go here I putt well.’ If you have these positive memories, when Rory is growing up in this area and he’s making putts around here, that stuff gets stuck in your mind. I just think that all of this adds up to Rory McIlroy having an excellent putting week.”
Click on the audio player above to listen to Mike Francesa's full interview with Michael Breed.