The final major of the year gets underway this Thursday when the British Open Championship takes place at the Royal Liverpool Golf Course in Hoylake. The defending champion is Cameron Smith, but the Australian is not the favorite to win again this weekend. In our golf betting picks we look ahead to the Open Championship, and tell you who we think will lift the Claret Jug aloft this Sunday.
This is the 151st edition of the British Open Championship. This year the 156 players taking part will be playing for their share of $16.5 million, with the winner taking home 3 million dollars.
The course at Hoylake in Liverpool is one of the most scenic in the UK. But if the weather is against you, it can be one of the most brutal, with winds coming in from across the Irish Sea making the Links course more difficult to negotiate.
This is the 13th time the Open Championship has been at Hoylake. The last time it was here was in 2014, and that was when a certain Rory McIlroy lifted the Claret Jug.
To date, that is the only time McIlroy has won the Open Championship. And after coming so close at St Andrew’s 12 months ago, the Northern Irishman will be as determined as ever to get his hands on one of golf’s top prizes yet again.
And it’s that man Rory McIlroy who dominates the betting. Along with World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy is the joint favorite to win the 2023 Open Championship at +800.
Behind McIlroy and Scheffler in the betting is Jon Rahm. The best online golf betting sites make Rahm +1200 to add the Open Championship to the Masters’ title he won earlier this year. Making up the top five in the betting is Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith, who are both +2000.
Seeing McIlroy, Scheffler, and Rahm at the top of the market is a shift back in the betting to how it has been for the majority of 2022 and 2023. The trio has dominated the betting markets at the golfing majors recently. But at last month’s US Open, Brooks Koepka gatecrashed the party after his win in PGA Championship saw him catapulted back into golf’s hierarchy.
For the Open Championship, it’s back to the big three again. But Koepka and his fellow LIV Golf member, Cameron Smith, are still in the top five.
| 2023 British Open Championship Winner Betting |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scottie Scheffler | +800 | +800 | +800 |
| Rory McIlroy | +800 | +800 | +800 |
| Jon Rahm | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Cameron Smith | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Brooks Koepka | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Viktor Hovland | +2200 | +2200 | +2200 |
| Patrick Cantlay | +2250 | +2250 | +2250 |
| Xander Schauffele | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
| Rickie Fowler | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
| Tyrrell Hatton | +2800 | +2800 | +2800 |
| Collin Morikawa | +3000 | +3000 | +3000 |
| Dustin Johnson | +3200 | +3200 | +3200 |
| Jordan Spieth | +3200 | +3200 | +3200 |
| Shane Lowry | +3300 | +3300 | +3300 |
| Matt Fitzpatrick | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 |
| Tom Kim | +6000 | +6000 | +6000 |
| Justin Rose | +6000 | +6000 | +6000 |
| Wyndham Clark | +6000 | +6000 | +6000 |
| Cameron Young | +6000 | +6000 | +6000 |
| Max Homa | +6500 | +6500 | +6500 |
| Tony Finau | +6500 | +6500 | +6500 |
| Ryan Fox | +11500 | +11500 | +11500 |
For more information on the bookmakers we have taken our British Open Golf odds from, please visit our best Las Vegas sportsbooks page. Here you can read about the pros and cons of all the sportsbooks, and also find out what their latest new customer offers are.
The name of Rory McIlroy is at the forefront of most tipsters’ betting picks this week. He won here in 2014 and has just won the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick.
Not only does this say that McIlroy is in form, but playing the Scottish Open the week before the Open Championship is regarded as a great way to warm up for the main event. Just ask Cameron Smith, who 12 months ago claimed playing the Scottish Open helped him with the Open at St Andrews a few days later.
Another stat to take into consideration this weekend is that the last ten Open Championship winners have all been from inside the world’s top 40, with six of them coming from the top ten.
Sometimes it feels wrong to make an obvious pick, but on this occasion, how can we not pick Rory McIlroy?
We’re going for two long-shot picks to win the Open Championship. One at not-so-long odds, and one, at very long odds.
First up, Shane Lowry. The Irishman won the Claret Jug in 2019 and knows how to handle the conditions should the weather turn against the players over the four days. Lowry is +3300 to win and we think that is a good bet. Lowry is also +400 for a top-ten finish, which we also like the look of.
Next on our list of players to follow is Ryan Fox. Yes, his form hasn’t been great this season, but last week in Scotland, Fox was T12. If he can take this form into the open with him, he is well worth wagering on at +750 for a top-ten finish or +11500 to win outright.
The most eye-catching head-to-head market is Rory McIlroy vs Scottie Scheffler. The American is -120, with McIlroy the outsider at +100. As we know, Rory has just won the Scottish Open and will be well up for it this week after his near miss 12 months ago.
Yes, we’ve picked McIlroy to win the event. But even if he falls short in his attempts to win a second Claret Jug, we still feel he will outscore Scheffler this week. We make Rory McIlroy our pick to win in the head-to-head market.
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