The final major of the 2019 golf season is here: The Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
As we do with every tournament — for what it’s worth, we hit on two of the three winners thus far — we make our best picks based on the odds. Could it be Brooks Koepka again? Will Gary Woodland carry the momentum from his U.S. Open win?
As a reminder: We pick one player with short odds (up to 20/1), medium odds (21/1 to 99/1) and we dive deep to take one longshot (100/1 and above) who could come out of relative obscurity and win.
All odds courtesy of PointsBet:
Short odds
Rory McIlroy, 9/1
I know I’m being boring by taking the favorite, and it may be a little naive to still have confidence in a guy who hasn’t won a major in five years (though he’s been really good this season), but McIlroy’s experience with the course is just too hard to ignore. He recently told Carson Daly (Carson Daly!) that he broke the Royal Portrush course record at the tender age of 16. That’s enough to sway me. I’m all-in on Rory! — Steven Ruiz
Justin Rose, 20/1
Disclaimer: I think Rory McIlroy has the best chance to win the tournament, but Justin Rose might be the best value among the top-line favorites at Royal Portrush. Rose has never won the Open in his career, but he posted a T2 last year, and has finished in the top 12 in four out of his last seven majors. Rose has not played since his T3 at the U.S. Open, but he’s been consistently excellent all season long. — Nick Schwartz
Brooks Koepka 10/1
He’s in it at every major (including two top-10s at the British Open), that he only practices golf before majors and that his caddie has played Royal Portrush a billion times. This is a no-brainer especially at 10/1. — Charles Curtis
Medium odds
Matthew Fitzpatrick 66/1
No, I cannot pick Matthew Fitzpatrick out of a lineup, but he’s an English dude who has performed well at similar courses and is playing good golf this season. At the very least, I expect Fitzpatrick to be in contention over the weekend, which is good enough for me at 66/1 odds. — SR
Matt Kuchar, 33/1
Man, what a year he’s having on the course. He won at the Sony Open and put together five other top-10 finishes. And his recent Open Championship history is encouraging: Second in 2017 and T9 in 2018. Maybe this is finally his first major at age 41. — CC
Tyrrell Hatton, 70/1
27-year-old Englishman Tyrrell Hatton hasn’t had an outstanding year on Tour, with two top-10s to his name, but I always favor European players at the Open, where they crowd the leaderboards more than any other major. Hatton’s biggest issue is his below-average putting – his strokes gained putting average is negative – but he’s in fine form entering the weekend, having just shot 17-under at the Scottish Open. — NS
Long Odds
Lee Westwood, 100/1
That’s right: I’m going with all Brits! This could backfire, but Westwood always seems to play well at the Open Championship. He’s finished in the top-10 five times, and the tour vet is due for one of those out-of-nowhere performances. — SR
Romain Langasque, 200/1
Romain Langasque only has two major championship starts under his belt, so his nerves will be tested this weekend, but he’s just a few days removed from a third-place finish at the Scottish Open with a score of 20-under par. When Langasque is on form, he’s got the ability to be brilliant – but he’s a very feast-or-famine player. His last seven finished: 3, MC, MC, MC, 3, MC, T5. Still, at 200/1, you could do worse. — NS
Kevin Kisner, 100/1
A runner-up finish last year tells me that he can more than hang at the Open Championship. He’s been a bit all over the place this year, including a missed cut at the Scottish Open last week. But at 100/1 you get that glimmer of hope he can finish what he started last year. — CC
