The fourth and final golf major of the year will be played this weekend as the Open Championship takes centre stage from Royal St. George’s in England. As always, we have you covered with a full preview and betting tips for the action below!
The Open Championship Betting Tips
Thursday 15th - Sunday 18th July, Royal St. Georges GC, England
It might be the last of the majors for the season, but there is still plenty of fantastic golf action to come after the Open Championship. The best golfers in the world will head to Tokyo following the major for the Olympic Games while later in the year, we will witness the FedEx Cup finals and the Ryder Cup! Strap yourselves in for a massive few months of golf.
With The Open being cancelled last year due to COVID-19, Irishman Shane Lowry will finally get the chance to defend his title after a long two-year wait. As you'd expect for the major championship, the field is absolutely stacked full of talent, including a healthy mix of in-form European Tour players.
The Field
Just one of the top 30 ranked golfers in the world will be teeing it up in England this week, with the one exception being Korean Sunhjae Im. Im has sighted a commitment to winning a medal at the Olympics his reasoning for missing the event. The top two players on the FedEx Cup Standings, Patrick Cantlay and Harris English come into the tournament in great form, both of them hunting their first major title.
The OWGR to p10 headline the field in Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Xander Scauffele, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Cantlay, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and Tyrrell Hatton. Rory McIlroy is the big name that sits outside the top 10, a one-time winner of The Open and someone that is desperate to lift another major trophy.
Outside of Rahm, Hatton and McIlroy, the European contingent that will be teeing it up at Royal St. George will all fancy themsevles in home conditions, lead by the likes of Matt Fitzpatrick, Paul Casey, Lee Westwood, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia.
The Course
Royal St. George’s Golf club is one of the most well-known clubs in the world and is one of the regular venues in The Open Championship rotation. It has held the event on 14 different occasions, with the most recent coming back in 2011, won by Northern Irishman Darren Clarke.
Royal St. George’s has proven to be an incredibly tough course to score on across the modern era of Open Championships. Just once in history has a score of –10 or better won The Open Championship at Royal St. George’s, back in 1993 when Greg Norman lifted the trophy.
High winds, dreary weather and trying conditions are usually the standout feature of an Open Championship at Royal St. George’s and this year promises to be no different. The Europeans have a built-in advantage here, having grown up playing on links style courses and better being able to handle the conditions.
Betting Tips
Love the look of the Englishman this week. One of the top putters in the world and a proven links course performer. Fitzpatrick brings some really good form into the tournament with a strong T2 at the Scottish Open last week and nine top 25 finishes from 17 PGA Tour events played this season. Fitz will be one of the hometown favourites this year and he is my favourite pick to lift his first major championship.
Fitzpatrick Win/Top 20
$41/$2.50
I think Spieth relishes The Open conditions this week. Throughout his struggles over the last few years, his main weakness has been accuracy off the tee, this won’t be as important this week, with no trees lining the course and wider fairways to target. He will be able to utilise his strengths around the greens and with the short-stick to pick up strokes on the field. Back him to have a strong performance.
Spieth Win/Top 20
$19/$1.90
