Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy favourites for Open Championship

Current world numbers 1 and 2, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, are the favourites for this week’s Open Championship. The event starts on Thursday at Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland, and will see some of the world’s best golfers competing for the major championship. 

The Open Championship is heading to Royal Portrush for only the third time in the event’s history. The course underwent significant changes in preparation for the 2019 event, which was won by Irishman Shane Lowry. 

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The Championship is played at the Dunluce Links, specifically, which is known for being rugged and extremely challenging. Deep bunkers and natural hazards are found throughout the course, which means it favours technical golfers over out-and-out big hitters.

World number 1 Scottie Scheffler has been priced as the favourite to lift the Open trophy. Ladbrokes.com have given him a price of 9/2 to win the four-day event. The American’s last win came at the PGA Championship in May, but he has been there or thereabouts in most recent tournaments, including a tied 8th finish at the Scottish Open last week, where he posted four sub-70 rounds and finished six shots behind the winner.

Despite Scheffler’s consistency, many will fancy Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy to improve on his T2 finish at The Renaissance Club. The world number 2 does enjoy Royal Portrush. He set a course record of 61 when he was just 16 years old, and he will be hoping to add to his 2014 Open Championship victory with a win here. 

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He has been given odds of 6/1 to prevail this week. McIlroy has said winning at Royal Portrush would be “just as emotional” as winning the career slam.

McIlroy’s course record 61 was broken by friend Shane Lowry in 2019, when he won the only modern Open held at the course. The current world number 18 is priced at 22/1 to repeat the feat this time around. 

Those odds put Lowry just behind Xander Schauffele, priced at 20/1, who is not only the current world number 3 but also the holder of the British Open Championship, having won last year when the event was held at Royal Troon. 

Also worthy of mention is Chris Gotterup. Before last week, Gotterup was ranked 158th in the world. His victory at the Scottish Open not only caused a considerable surprise, but it saw him shoot up in the rankings. He is now just inside the top 50, at number 49, but bookmakers do not fancy him to repeat the achievement this week – he is priced at 66/1 to win at Royal Portrush.

Odds on the British Open Championship at Royal Portrush, correct at the time of writing, from Ladbrokes.com: