The Open Championship is coming home, returning to St. Andrews for the 150th incarnation of golf’s oldest major. This is also the final major of 2022, with Scottie Scheffler taking home the Masters, Justin Thomas the PGA Championship, and Matt Fitzpatrick the U.S. Open.
As expected this is a star-studded field and some experts are saying that this could be the lowest scoring Open Championship of all-time as the Old Course may not be built for the modern game. Of course the wind and weather conditions on the Scottish coastline will ultimately determine if that holds true.
Either way, expect some pretty high-ranked OWGR players to be near the top of the leaderboard on Sunday. Here are the favorites:
Rory McIlroy 9/1
McIlroy already has one Claret Jug, winning the Open at 2014 at Royal Liverpool. He has a solid links golf game, and being fifth in the PGA in driving distance should give him an edge on one of the whopping 14 par-4’s on the Old Course.
McIlroy won the RBC Canadian Open and had a top five at the U.S. Open before finishing 18th at the Travelers Championship playing on three straight weekends. McIlroy should now be refreshed and ready to contend.
Xander Schauffele 14/1
Schauffele is coming off a win at the Scottish Open so his links game is in top form as well. Schauffele has now won the last two tournaments he’s been in, also taking home the Travelers Championship on June 26th. Schauffele might be the hottest golfer on the Tour, finishing in the top 20 in each of his last six starts.
Jon Rahm 14/1
Rahm can put another notch in his quest for the career grand slam with his first Open Championship victory. He’s won the U.S. Open and has a top five finish at the Masters and PGA Championship in 2018 and finished third at the open last year.
Rahm definitely has the game to be a contender at the Old Course. He’s first on the Tour in shots gained off the tee and is third in driving distance.
Scottie Scheffler 16/1
Scheffler missed the cut last week at the Scottish Open, but at least he got a weekend to get used to the weather conditions and may have been more focused on fine-tuning his equipment for St. Andrews. Prior to last weekend in North Berwick though Scheffler had finished in the top 20 in four straight tournaments including runner ups at the U.S. Open and Charles Schwab Challenge.
Jordan Spieth 16/1
Spieth has a Claret Jug from his win at the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. He played well at the Scottish Open last week until a double bogey and two other bogeys over the final five holes dropped him to 10th.
Spieth was the runner up at the 2021 Open Championship, finishing two strokes back from winner Collin Morikawa. He’s got the skill set to be in the running at the Old Course this weekend and will be a popular betting choice.
