We’ve already reached the final major of 2023 and if it resembles what we saw at the first three we should be in for another entertaining showcase of the sport’s best.
This year’s tournament begins early Thursday and returns to the Royal Liverpool Golf Club for the first time since 2014. The challenging links course, ranked tied for the 77th-best course worldwide according to Golf Digest, will play as a par 71 at more than 7,300 yards. It’s comprised of 11 par 4s, three par 5s and four par 3s, including a new hole at No. 17 that didn’t exist the last time The Open was held there.
Narrow fairways speckled with some deep bunkers means accuracy off the tee should be rewarded and sloppy drives punished.
Notable groupings for Round 1 and Round 2:
Rory McIlroy – Jon Rahm – Justin Rose
Scottie Scheffler – Tommy Fleetwood – Adam Scott
Viktor Hovland – Tony Finau – Justin Thomas
Collin Morikawa – Max Homa – Tyrrell Hatton
Patrick Cantlay – Brooks Koepka – Hideki Matsuyama
Jordan Spieth – Matt Fitzpatrick – Jason Day
Cameron Smith – Xander Schauffele – Wyndham Clark
Shane Lowry – Rickie Fowler – Robert MacIntyre
Sahith Theegala – Emiliano Grillo – Dustin Johnson
Jon Rahm won The Masters at +900 odds, Brooks Koepka the PGA Championship at +2000 and Wyndham Clark the U.S. Open at +6000. Who will take home the Claret Jug at the final major of 2023 and how much value will they present to bettors?
Let’s look at the odds:
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FAVOURITES & FRONTRUNNERS
Those in this top group are the only 12 golfers with odds shorter than 30/1 and no one has momentum on their side like Rory McIlroy.
Coming off a thrilling win at the Scottish Open this past weekend, McIlroy returns to the course at which won his most recent of four career majors. The 34-year-old edged out Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia by two strokes nine years ago when The Open last took place at Royal Liverpool. McIlroy has four top-five finishes at The Open since his 2014 win. His victory in Scotland saw him leapfrog Rahm for the No. 2 spot on the official world golf ranking.
There’s no reason to think world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler won’t be in contention on the weekend. Scheffler has placed top 10 in all three majors this year with a T10 at The Masters, T2 at the PGA and third-place finish at the U.S. Open.
Fleetwood is also having a great 2023 season despite a tournament win eluding him. With three top-six finishes in his past four tournaments he’s fittingly among the favourites, just like Fowler who boasts 12 top-20 finishes this year including a recent win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Lowry, the 2019 Open winner, has finished in the top 20 in all three majors in 2023 (his top-20 odds are +130 and his top-30 odds are -130, so there’s some value on both of those props as well).
Colin Morikawa is among this second tier of contenders. The 2021 Open champion is having a quietly solid 2023 and remains an elite irons player. He is fourth on the PGA Tour in strokes gained tee-to-green behind Scheffler, McIlroy and Rahm. Between his accuracy off the tee and approach game, not to mention losing in a playoff at the Rocket Mortgage Classic earlier this month, Morikawa could be a nice dark horse pick this week.
There are 16 golfers from LIV Golf in this week’s field, including defending Open Championship winner Cam Smith and fellow past Open winners Henrik Stenson, Phil Mickelson and Louis Oosthuizen. Another LIV star, Brooks Koepka, won the PGA Championship in May after finishing T2 at the Masters and is looking for his first Claret Jug. Koepka has four top-10 finishes at The Open since 2015.
At DraftKings, you can bet on which LIV golfer will have the lowest score at Royal Liverpool with Smith and Koepka the two favourites.
TOP CANADIAN
There’s not much Canadian content at this tournament compared to 2023’s other majors with Corey Conners and Nick Taylor the only Canucks set to compete at Royal Liverpool.
Conners to win outright: +8000
Taylor to win outright: +35000
Conners’ top-20 odds: +280
Taylor’s top-20 odds: +700
Conners is a -200 favourite over Taylor at +150 to finish as the top Canadian if you choose to place a wager on that unofficial matchup. Conners finished T12 at the PGA but missed the cut at the Masters and U.S. Open. Taylor, meanwhile, missed the cut at the PGA and U.S. Open and didn’t compete at the Masters.
(Odds above via Bet365 unless otherwise noted as of Tuesday afternoon and subject to change)