You’ll be able to find great value in betting on any player outside of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy ahead of the British Open at Royal Troon.
Scheffler is The clear favorite, as expected heading into the final major of 2024, while McIlroy is No. 2 after his top-five finish at the Scottish Open. Scheffler is +550 to win his second major of the season, while McIlroy is +800 to break a major drought that dates back to the 2014 British Open at Royal Liverpool.
The British Open is only Scheffler’s second tournament since the U.S. Open. At Pinehurst, he played poorly with his irons, which led to a tie for 41st at 8 over par. He bounced back the following week with a win at the Travelers Championship in a playoff against Tom Kim.
McIlroy is second in the Official World Golf Ranking behind Scheffler and has played just once since the U.S. Open. By now, you know that McIlroy missed a playoff with winner Bryson DeChambeau in brutal fashion at Pinehurst, when he missed a short putt on his 72nd hole. After taking a few weeks off from golf to reflect on the loss, McIlroy shot 68 or better in all four of his rounds at the Scottish Open, en route to a tie for fourth.
The board is stacked after Scheffler and McIlroy. PGA winner Xander Schauffele is at +1200 ahead of Ludvig Aberg at +1400 and DeChambeau and Collin Morikawa at +1600. Aberg had the lead going into the final round at the Scottish Open before slipping on Sunday.
Morikawa could be a safe bet, especially if you’re betting on him to finish in the top 10 at +150. He hasn’t finished outside the top 16 in any tournament since the Valero Texas Open in early April. That’s a streak of nine tournaments, and he’s finished in the top 15 at all three majors in 2024.
Aside from DeChambeau, the best LIV golfer on the leaderboard is neither Jon Rahm (+2500) nor Brooks Koepka (+4000). That honour goes to Tyrrell Hatton at +2200. He has better odds than Tommy Fleetwood (+2500) and Scottish Open winner Robert MacIntyre (+3300), as all of them are attempting to win their home tournament.
Tiger Woods is way down the leaderboard at +20000 and is looking to finish in his fourth tournament of the season. The British Open is Woods’ fifth event of 2024, but he had to withdraw from the Genesis Invitational earlier in the year due to illness. Woods finished 60th at the Masters in April and missed the cut at both the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open.