After it was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 campaign, the British Open (or the Open Championship, as it is known outside of North America) returns for its 149th edition. The event will be held at Royal St Georges in Sandwich, England. It returns there for the first time since Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke won in 2011. Who will be atop the British Open odds heading into this tournament?
Royal St Georges is a par-70 that tips out around 7,211 yards. It will be a stern links-style test for the world’s best golfers. There doesn’t seem to be a flat lie on the course and if you get stuck in one of the bunkers, you’re in trouble. So, in other words, your typical British Open setup.
To watch the British Open, you can check it out on the Golf Channel on Thursday and Friday from 4:00 AM ET to 3:00 PM ET, due to the time change. On Saturday, you can watch on the Golf Channel from 5-7 AM ET, then over to NBC from 7:00 AM ET to 3:00 PM ET. On Sunday, you can start with the Golf Channel from 4-7 AM ET, and then NBC takes over for the rest of the day.
All golf betting odds courtesy of Bovada.
British Open Odds – Favorites
Jon Rahm (+750)
The world’s #2 player battled to a solo seventh at the Scottish Open to prepare for this tournament. He had a poor start to his putting in the third round that likely sealed his fate. However, Rahm has finished in the top eight in three of his last four starts, including his win at the US Open, and the outlier was his forced withdrawal from the Memorial Tournament when he was leading by six. Rahm finished T11 at the 2019 British Open, won by Ireland’s Shane Lowry.
Brooks Koepka (+1600)
Koepka has three top-fives in his last four starts. It should come as no surprise that two of those came at the US Open and the PGA Championship. Koepka gets up for the majors like nothing else, and he has three top-10s at the British Open. He was T4 at Royal Portrush in 2019. Again, it’s the majors. There aren’t many better in the big tournaments than Koepka right now.
Rory McIlroy (+1600)
McIlroy had to deal with a spectator getting past security and then taking a couple swings with his driver at the Scottish Open, and then missed the cut. He never really had it at the Renaissance Club, but McIlroy, who won the 2104 Open Championship, has been solid at this tournament. He missed the cut in 2019, but McIlroy has five top-fives at the British Open.
Other Favorites: Dustin Johnson (+1800), Jordan Spieth (+1800), Justin Thomas (+1800), Xander Schauffele (+1800)
British Open Odds – Contenders
Viktor Hovland (+2800)
Hovland will be making his debut at the Open Championship. His most recent start resulted in a victory at the BMW International Open on the European Tour. Hovland has risen to 14th in the world rankings. The young Norwegian doesn’t seem to be intimidated at any tournament or course.
Louis Oosthuizen (+2800)
Oosthuizen, who won the 2010 Open Championship, has quietly moved up to 13th in the world rankings. He finished T42 at the BMW Championship, but he had gone T8-T2-T18-2 at four tournaments prior to that. Two of those finishes came at the US Open and the PGA Championship. His brilliant putting will keep him in the mix at Royal St Georges.
Matthew Fitzpatrick (+3300)
Fitzpatrick (and Thomas Detry) lost to Min Woo Lee in a playoff at the Scottish Open. Still, it was Fitzpatrick’s sixth top-10 in 2021 and he has a couple other results in the top 20. He finished T20 (tied with Oosthuizen) at the British Open in 2019.
Other Contenders: Bryson DeChambeau (+2500), Tyrrell Hatton (+2800), Collin Morikawa (+3300), Patrick Cantlay (+3300), Patrick Reed (+3300), Lee Westwood (+4000), Shane Lowry (+4000), Tommy Fleetwood (+4000), Paul Casey (+4000)
British Open Odds – Longshots
Scottie Scheffler (+5000)
Scheffler finished T12 at the Scottish Open ahead of his British Open debut, and he has been awesome at the majors in 2021, going T18 at the Masters, T8 at the PGA Championship and T7 at the US Open. He was ranked outside of the top 100 the last time the Open Championship was held and it doesn’t seem like he should have the game to win, but don’t be surprised if Scheffler is near the top of the leaderboard on Sunday.
Ian Poulter (+6600)
Poulter finished T4 at the Scottish Open, another solid finish in a good season for the veteran Englishman. The Open Championship has been a mixed bag for Poulter, who has four top-10s, but he has also missed seven cuts. But if he can carry his form from the final round on Sunday, when he shot a 63, into this tournament, Poulter could make a splash here.
Rickie Fowler (+6600)
Fowler is now 100th in the world rankings after a T32 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and he has been up and down as of late, going T17-MC-MC-T8-T11-MC-T32 in his last seven starts. But Fowler finished T6 at the British Open in 2019, which was his third top-10 in this tournament and things are looking much better for the popular American as of late.
