Lee Westwood qualifies for The Open - who's the early favourite?

Lee Westwood was one of eight golfers to secure places in The Open, being held at Royal Portrush from 17-20 July. Westwood carded a seven under par total score, with round scores of 70 and 67, to top the leaderboard at one of four final qualifying events. 

In the other events, Ian Poulter and his 21-year-old son Luke both finished one under par at Royal Cinque Ports, just missing out on a spot in the final major of the year. However, amateur Richard Teder, ranked 91st in the world, became the first Estonian to qualify for The Open, although he made hard work of it during the last few holes. 

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Having been five under par after 17 holes in the second and final round, Teder double-bogeyed the 18th, forcing him to compete in a four-way playoff for the last two available spots. He holed an 80-yard eagle on his way to bagging a place in one of the biggest golfing events of the year. 

Westwood also hailed the upcoming event, saying: “I’ve always said it’s the greatest championship in golf. As a British player, you get phenomenal support and I really enjoyed Portrush last time.”

Westwood was forced to come through qualifying, having joined the breakaway LIV Golf foundation. LIV players can’t qualify by virtue of their tour performances, which means they must go through the open qualification process. 

Westwood hasn’t competed in the past two years, and said of his absence: “I haven’t tried to qualify for the last couple of years for one reason or another. Royal Portrush is a fantastic golf course and I played well there last time, finished fourth in 2019, so that was another reason to come and play.”

At 52, Westwood won’t be entering as one of the tournament’s favourites. According to bookmakers Ladbrokes, world number one Scottie Scheffler is the most likely to win the event, at odds of 5/1. 

Scheffler most recently competed in the Travelers Championship, where he finished tied for sixth on 12 under, with his most recent win coming at the Memorial Tournament a couple of weeks earlier. World number ones rarely win The Open – Tiger Woods is the only player to have achieved the feat this Century, so bettors may want to look elsewhere for inspiration. 

Rory McIlroy is currently priced as the second favourite, playing on home turf at Royal Portrush. He will be hoping to make significant improvements on his last outing at the course, having scored a 79 in the opening round in 2019. Even with a course record 65 on the second day, the Northern Irishman missed the cut by one shot. 

Since winning his first US Masters earlier this year, McIlroy has struggled for form. But, the former world number one has described this year’s Open as being “another mountain to climb”, suggesting he would find the motivation needed to compete. 

Other fancied players include John Rahm (12/1), Bryson DeChambeau (14/1), Ludvig Aberg (20/1), and Xander Schauffele (20/1).

Odds to win The Open, from Ladbrokes, correct at the time of writing: