2024 The Open Championship Betting: Picks, Odds, Predictions and Best Bets

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Updated on July 22, 2024 9:17AM EST

The Open Championship Betting Preview

The 152nd Open Championship heads to Royal Troon for the final major of the year. A second straight event in Scotland following Robert MacIntyre's win at last week's Genesis Scottish Open, Royal Troon is hosting for the first time since Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson's epic duel as they lapped the field in 2016 that saw Stenson ultimately win by three strokes. The storylines are plentiful – can Rory McIlroy bounce back from his devastating U.S. Open finish and end his 10-year winless major drought? Will Bryson DeChambeau's stellar year continue across the pond? And will Scottie Scheffler be in contention at the major he's had the least success in? Last year, longshot Brian Harman (125-1 odds) coasted to a six-shot victory over Jason Day, Tom Kim, Jon Rahm and Sepp Straka for his first major victory.

A par-71 at just under 7,400 yards, Royal Troon may have been easy for Stenson (-20) and Mickelson (-17) last time out, but they were both over 10 shots better than the rest of the field. The back-nine is significantly more difficult than the front, as only the par-5 16th hole played under-par on the back in 2016. The most well-known hole on the course is the short par-3 eighth hole known as 'The Postage Stamp' that plays into the wind into a small green and is surrounded by pot bunkers. As with all Open Championship venues, this is a links style golf course that will test all facets of one's game. Pot bunkers require accuracy off the tee as well as approach iron shots, and typically very windy conditions benefits those that have experience overseas. I'll also be targeting players with quality short games due to the difficulty of the course.

All odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 12:30 PM ET Wednesday

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Open Championship History

These five players have the lowest scoring average at Open Championship venues since 2019.

Young has enjoyed Open Championship setups as he finished runner-up by one shot to Cameron Smith in 2022 and followed it up with a top-10 at Royal Liverpool last year in which he led the field in both SG: Off-the-Tee and approach. Coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes entering the week, he looks to be a great value at 60-1 odds. Another player that's enjoyed success at Open setups is Hovland, who has finished no worse than T13 over his three appearances. He's elevated his game at majors in general with four top-10s over his last eight, although he did miss the cut at The Masters and U.S. Open this year. At 30-1 odds, Hovland is more boom-or-bust than some of the top options, but it's hard to bet against him given his past success at Open Championships.

Best Ball-Strikers

These five players, on a per-round basis, gained the most strokes from tee to green over their last 20 rounds.

Scheffler enters the week once again as the tournament favorite, albeit at slightly worse odds than we're used to seeing at 5-1. He last played at the Travelers Championship, winning in a playoff over Tom Kim and elected to skip the Scottish Open after taking T3 there last year. The Open historically has been his worst major, although he's managed a top-25 in all three of his appearances. Maybe the most surprising player on this list is Finau, who is somewhat under the radar despite playing very solid golf over the last three months. Across his last nine starts he's recorded seven top-20s, including back-to-back top-5s. With four top-20s and a best result of solo third at Open venues, he's a quality value at 45-1 odds.

Open Championship Bets: Outright Picks

Collin Morikawa (14-1)

There's not much to say that I haven't already said about Morikawa this year. 10 consecutive starts with a top-25 with a whopping five top-5s in that stretch, but some are starting to question if he can win similar to Xander Schuaffele prior to the PGA Championship - and we know how that played out.

Tommy Fleetwood (25-1)

Fleetwood's recent Open Championship history is impressive with three top-10s over his last four, including a runner-up at Royal Portrush. It would be fitting for his first PGA Tour win to come at The Open.

Tom Kim (50-1)

Kim tied for the lowest final round at last year's Open to finish in a share for second, and with his steady all-around game, there's no reason he can't compete here. His ball striking has been in excellent form over the last couple months, helping lead to a runner-up at the Travelers.

Open Championship Bets: Top-10 Wagers

Wyndham Clark (5-1)

Coming off a top-10 with Sahith Theegala last week, I'll start these wagers off with Clark, who tends to miss the cut or find himself in contention as he's missed four cuts this year but also has six top-10s, including in back-to-back weeks. He's made both of his Open cuts but hasn't putted well either time, usually a strength for him.

Alex Noren (7-1)

The Swede has a long history playing on links golf and it shows in his Open Championship resume with five top-20s across 11 appearances. The 42-year-old is still playing some of his best golf, coming off a top-10 last week and his short game prowess will be needed around Royal Troon.

Tom McKibbin (11-1)

Switching over to some youth here as McKibbin is half of Noren's age, and the Northern Irisman has had a stellar year on the DP World Tour with three consecutive top-10s. It'll be just his second major following a T41 finish at Pinehurst.

Open Championship Bets: Head-to-Head Matchups

Akshay Bhatia (-115) over Davis Thompson

The hype train is in full effect with Thompson, but Bhatia has been playing excellent golf himself being in the final pairing come Sunday in his last two events. This will be Thompson's eighth tournament over a nine week stretch, and he was a mediocre T46 in his first taste of links golf last week. Bhatia is also the superior ball striker of the two.

Louis Oosthuizen (-120) over Corey Conners

Oosthuizen will be making his first major appearance of the year, and the former Champion Golfer of the Year has had quite the resurgence lately, winning a pair of DP World Tour events in December and has had three top-5s on LIV including a T4 in Spain last week. Conners' best finish of T15 in Open Championships is the worst of the four majors for him, so I'll fade him this week.

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