Heroes Classic

Scottie Scheffler picked up right where he left off at The Open – victorious.

The 2025 Champion Golfer of the Year, playing alongside Justin Rose and 2025 Women's Amateur Champion Paula Martin Sampedro, won the inaugural Heroes Classic at Royal Birkdale in front of packed grandstands and two other teams.

The new showcase event brought together some of golf's biggest names to compete alongside a host of special guests in a Texas Scramble format, and it did not disappoint.

Spectators filled the grandstands, lined the fairways and scrambled up mounds and dunes for a look at the greens, providing the backdrop to a light-hearted event ahead of the Championship.

Team Scheffler birdied all three holes, and picked up two further bonus points for team contribution, to deny AIG Women’s Open Champion Miyu Yamashita, local hero Tommy Fleetwood and rugby legend Bryan Habana by two.

"I hope this is a sign of things to come," Scheffler said.

"This was a lot of fun, and to play with Justin and Paula was great. The spectators came out and gave us great support, which was really nice."

Padraig Harrington and Jordan Spieth, the two most recent Champions at Royal Birkdale, and former G4D Open Champion Brendan Lawlor, completed the line-up and they finished on seven points, with just one birdie.

Scheffler started proceedings by returning the Claret Jug to R&A Chief Executive Mark Darbon on the 1st tee box. In five days, he will hope to hold it again.

He looked in fine touch but Rose was on fire. He hit his opening tee shot to within 70 yards of the pin, while Martin Sampedro holed the birdie putt.

The duo combined again on the 2nd, with Scheffler’s long putt also contributing.

But the event was about far more than just the golf.

Presenter Di Stewart asked every player who their hero was, and Lawlor made Harrington go pink when he said the two-time Champion was his.

Spieth made two young fans’ days by stopping to sign a golf ball for each of them, while Habana laughed, joked and soaked up all the knowledge he could from his playing partners.

The biggest roar of the day belonged to Fleetwood, who was given a hero's welcome on the 1st tee.

The local star, who grew up three miles away in Southport, had dad Pete on the bag, 28 years after they used to play a few holes while they could.

Their three here will live in the memory.